We're seeing real-life godfather potential here.
Robert De Niro's recent revelation that he had just welcomed his seventh child at 79 was trumped only by the confirmation that his longtime friend and occasional co-star Al Pacino is due to become a dad for the fourth time at 83.
"He's a few years older than me, God bless him," De Niro said on TODAY June 1, reacting to the news that Pacino's 29-year-old girlfriend, Noor Alfallah, was eight months pregnant. "Very happy for him."
Now that is some guy talk.
Thankfully, it's no longer breaking news when a woman has a child in her 40s (well, unless she's famous, but in that case she's making headlines no matter what age she is)—but there is, at some point, an end to the physical possibility.
Not so much for men, though, and a number of famous ones have served as prominent reminders that fathering children knows far fewer bounds than giving birth to them.
A number of stars we all know and love didn't become dads until they were in their fifties, the George Clooneys and Hugh Grants of the world. Pretty average these days, really. In fact, it's a not-infrequent refrain to hear them say they wouldn't have been ready any earlier.
And then there are the ones who started even later—or who didn't limit themselves to any one decade, having more kids when they were in their sixties, seventies and beyond, the more the merrier.
Scroll on to see the celebrity fathers who welcomed babies on the older side of life:
The never-married Oscar winner was already dad to daughter Julie Marie (1989) with Jan Tarrant and twins Anton James and Olivia Rose (Jan. 25, 2001) with ex Beverly D'Angelo, when he became a father of four at 83.
Pacino's rep confirmed June 15, 2023, that the actor and girlfriend Noor Alfallah had welcomed son Roman Pacino.
"It's very special," Pacino told a photographer on June 6, before the baby arrived. "It always has been. I've got many kids. But this is really special coming at this time."
The 79-year-old and girlfriend Tiffany Chen welcomed his seventh child, daughter Gia Virginia Chen De Niro, on April 6, 2023.
De Niro is also dad to daughter Drena De Niro (Sept. 3, 1971), who he adopted when he married her mother Diahnne Abbot in 1976, and his and Diahnne's son together, Raphael De Niro (Nov. 9, 1976); twin sons Julian and Aaron (Oct. 20, 1995) with Touki Smith; and son Elliot (March 18, 1998) and daughter Helen Grace with second wife Grace Hightower.
When it comes to being a good father, the actor told Access Hollywood, "you know you have your responsibility."
Ultimately, he said, "it's a mystery, it's a lot of excitement. But it's scary and you do your best."
The joie de vivre may channel agelessness, but first-time dad Goldblum was technically 62 when he and wife Emilie Livingston welcomed son Charlie Ocean on July 4, 2015. Brother River Joe was born April 7, 2017.
In 2022, Goldlbum called being a dad at 70 "revivifying"—because, of course he did.
Seeing Emilie "in this new role is unbelievable," he gushed on TODAY. "She's heroic beyond imagination." And, in general, parenting was "challenging and it's sometimes maddening and very volatile. As you know, at 3 and 5, 5 and 7, they can be like feral creatures unleashed. Oh yeah, and sweet and amazing. It's great."
The legendary Rolling Stones frontman continues to get satisfaction from fatherhood: He became a dad for the eighth time at 73 when he and ballerina girlfriend Melanie Hamrick welcomed son Deveraux Octavian Basil Jagger on Dec. 8, 2016.
Mick is also dad to daughter Karis Hunt Jagger (Nov. 4, 1970) with Marsha Hunt; daughter Jade Sheena Jezebel Jagger (Oct. 21, 1971) with first wife Bianca Pérez-Mora Macias; daughters Elizabeth "Lizzy" Scarlett Jagger (March 2, 1984) and Georgia May Ayeesha Jagger (Jan. 12, 1992) and sons James Leroy Augustin Jagger (1985) and Gabriel Luke Beauregard Jagger (1987) with longtime partner Jerry Hall; and son Lucas Maurice Morad Jagger (1999) with Luciana Gimenez.
Meanwhile, the granddad of five is also a great-grandfather to daughter Jade's two granddaughters.
"It's very hard to be a good father, it doesn't matter what your profession," Mick said in an interview years ago when asked if it was difficult to be a good dad and a rock 'n' roll star. "I think it's very hard to be a good parent. It's a lot of work—you need a lot of time. I see my children on the road, but they behaved so badly [laughs] because they have everything open. And I see their behavior and I think, Oh, they're just behaving like me."
For instance, they didn't want to go to bed when they were told, or get up when they were supposed to. "They get into this rock 'n' roll routine," he said. "And I think, 'Oh my god, 6 and you're already doing it.'"
A romantic like his band's lead singer, the Rolling Stones guitarist and granddad of six is a father of six, including two with third wife Sally Humphreys. Their twin daughters, Gracie Jane and Alice Rose, were born May 30, 2016—two days before Ronnie's 69th birthday.
"Ronnie and I are so happy with life," Sally told Hello! in September 208. "We're very grateful for everything we have."
The twins loved going to visit Daddy at the recording studio, she said, noting, "They wear their little ear defenders and he lets them press all the buttons on the sound desk...The girls definitely have him wrapped around their little fingers."
The "Forever Young" singer was 60 when he and third wife Penny Lancaster welcomed son Alastair Wallace Stewart on Nov. 27, 2005, and 66 when their youngest, Aiden Patrick Stewart, arrived Feb. 16, 2011.
And Rod was 65 when he met Sarah Streeter, the daughter he had at 18 with Susannah Boffey and put up for adoption. "Rod has actually come into my life in a big way since mother's gone," Sarah said in 2010 following the death of her adoptive mother, "and I don't think that's a coincidence. Now we're at the start of a new chapter, and that's wonderful."
The "Forever Young" artist is also dad to daughter Kimberly Stewart (Aug. 21, 1979) and son Sean Stewart (Sept. 1, 1980) with first wife Alana Hamilton; daughter Ruby Stewart (June 17, 1987) with Kelly Emberg; and daughter Renee (June 1, 1992) and son Liam (Sept. 5, 1994) with second wife Rachel Hunter.
During his 29-year marriage to Linda Eastman McCartney, who died in 1998, Paul fathered daughters Mary and Stella and son James, and adopted Linda's daughter Heather.
He was 61 when his daughter Beatrice with second wife Heather Mills was born on Oct. 28, 2003. They divorced in 2008 and Paul's been married to Nancy Shevell since 2011.
"As far as being a dad is concerned, I've always just tried to give my kids a bit of guidance, if they seem to need it—but that was mainly when they were younger," the Beatles legend, who turns 81 on Father's Day, shared on his website in January. "Now that they are older, they're guiding me! They don't need so much guidance these days but if there's ever a problem, I'm very happy to be the guy they come to."
Almost as prolific off-screen as on, the movie star turned Oscar-winning filmmaker is a father of eight and was 66 when he and then-wife Dina Ruiz welcomed daughter Morgan Eastwood on Dec. 12, 1996.
But he didn't meet his eldest daughter until she was in her 30s. Laurie Murray was born in 1954—reportedly without his knowledge—and put up for adoption, but sought out to reconnect with her famous father in the 1980s and they've maintained a relationship since.
Clint also shares Kimber Lynn Eastwood (b. June 17, 1964) with Roxanne Tunis; musician son Kyle Eastwood (May 19, 1968) and daughter Alison Eastwood (May 22, 1972) with his first wife Maggie Johnson; son Scott Eastwood (March 21, 1986) and daughter Kathryn Ann Eastwood (Feb. 2, 1988) with Jaclyn Reeves; and daughter Francesca Eastwood (Aug. 7, 1993) with former partner Frances Fisher.
The Dirty Harry star also has five grandchildren.
"My father's definitely old-school," Scott, who spent his childhood in Hawaii and went to live with his dad in California to attend high school, told Esquire in 2016. "And he raised me with integrity—to be places on time, show up, and work hard."
It was only grown-ups in the building until Martin was 67 and he and second wife Anne Stringfield welcomed a daughter in early 2013—whose name they've never even shared, let alone a photo.
"If I'd had a child earlier, I would have been a lousy father," the Father of the Bride star told AARP The Magazine in 2017, "because I would have misplaced my attention on my career."
Taking stock of the trajectory his life had taken, he noted, "It's been a gentle up-hill slope to a real, real happiness."
Lust for Life was the name of the game for the two-time Oscar winner and father of 12.
Quinn had five children with first wife Katherine DeMille (Cecil B.'s daughter), three with second spouse Jolanda Addolori, two with Friedel Dunbar, and two with eventual third wife Katherine Benvin, whom he married in 1997 when he was 82 and their daughter Antonia Patricia Rose Quinn was 4 and son Ryan Nicholas Quinn was 17 months old.
The actor and Benvin were together until his death at 86 in 2001.
"I think that this time I'm a better father," Anthony, by then living with his family in Rhode Island, said on Larry King Live in 2000. "I'm absolutely madly in love with my two children, not that I don't love the others. I have great love affairs with my other kids. But these kids I haven't spent a day away from. I only spent one day, and I resented that day that I had to go away."
The silent-film pioneer and iconic "Little Tramp" shared sons Charles Spencer Chaplin III (May 5, 1925) and Sydney Earl Chaplin (March 30, 1926) with second wife Lita Grey and then had eight children with fourth wife Oona O'Neill, who was 18 when she married the 54-year-old in 1943 (much to her playwright father Eugene O'Neill's consternation).
The pair would remain together until Chaplin's death in 1977, welcoming Geraldine Leigh (July 31, 1944), Michael John (March 7, 1946), Josephine Hannah (March 28, 1949), Victoria Agnes (May 19, 1951), Eugene Anthony (Aug. 23, 1953), Jane Cecil (May 1957), Annette Emily (December 1959) and Christopher James (July 8, 1962).
Chaplin was 73 when Christopher was born.
Geraldine played her own paternal grandmother, Hannah Chaplin (who had three sons by as many fathers), in the 1992 biopic Chaplin starring Robert Downey Jr. as the titular legend. "There was no rule that we weren't allowed to see other movies, but the movies that were shown in our house were Charlie Chaplin movies," she recalled to the Baltimore Sun at the time. "And one didn't talk of other comedians like Laurel and Hardy. I think he did it because he was very insecure and couldn't bear that someone else's film might be good."
The constantly touring Rocket Man couldn't be slowed down in the 1970s, '80s, '90s or '00s. But when he was 63, John and husband David Furnish kicked the next decade off right, welcoming son Zachary Jackson Levon Furnish-John via surrogate on Dec. 25, 2010. The same surrogate carried their younger son, Elijah Joseph Daniel Furnish-John, who was born Jan. 11, 2013.
"Having children changed everything about my life," John told The Mirror in 2016. "I've learned that the simplest things in life—like having a minute with them—are worth more than any painting, any photograph, any house or any hit record."
Furnish, who's 12 years John's junior, told the U.K.'s Sunday Times in 2015, "I'm actually very grateful that I've come to parenting when I've come to parenting. Nothing prepares you for the responsibility and the changes in life...I feel much more comfortable in my skin professionally that I'd have felt 20 years ago."
The Piano Man welcomed daughter Alexa Ray Joel with second wife Christie Brinkley on Dec. 29, 1985.
Fast-forward a few decades and he became a dad again at 66 when he and fourth wife Alexis Roderick welcomed daughter Della Rose Joel on Aug. 12, 2015. She was joined by little sister Remy Anne Joel on Oct. 22, 2017.
"It feels fantastic," Billy told Extra after Remy was born. Asked if he was a hands-on father, he cracked, "People think we don't see our kids… We're awake when they're awake and we're sleeping when they're sleeping."
The iconic talk show host was famously married eight times to seven women (wedding Alene Akins twice between 1961 and 1972) and was a father of five.
Sadly, his and Alene's son Andy, 65, and daughter Chai, 51, predeceased him, dying within weeks of each other in 2020 from a heart attack and lung cancer, respectively.
When Larry died at 87 in 2021, he was survived by son Larry Jr. (born in 1961 to Larry and second wife Annette Kaye) and his boys with seventh wife Shawn Southwick, son Chance, born in March 1999 when his dad was 65, and Cannon, born in May 2000.
"Before Chance and Cannon I was so work-oriented," he told The Guardian in 2015. "I loved my kids and I tried to be a good father, but work always came first. I paid a price for that because at the end of the day, nothing is more important than your home life."