In Hollywood, Robert De Niro is a well-loved whose storied career goes all the way back to the 60s. As an actor, he’s every bit of success, gaining praise for his performance in films such as The Score, The Untouchables, Backdraft, Cape Fear, Goodfellas, The Godfather: Part II, and more recently, Silver Linings Playbook (which won De Niro an Oscar).
With De Niro coming out in films almost year after year, it’s rather easy to forget that this Oscar-winning actor also happens to be a dedicated family man with six children. Even more interesting, one of his son’s Elliot, had also participated in the Special Olympics.
Who Is Elliot De Niro?
Elliot is De Niro’s son from his second marriage to actress and philanthropist Grace Hightower. De Niro and Hightower separated in 2018, nearly 20 years after De Niro first filed for divorce from his second wife. Back then, there was also a nasty custody over Elliot and despite everything that was going on, De Niro spent as much time with his youngest son as he could. “He would break off a meeting with me if he had to go see Elliot,” Chuck Low, a friend of De Niro’s and a part-time actor once told People.
When they announced their split in 2018, De Niro stressed that the couple’s priority would continue to remain devoted parents to their two children (Elliot has a younger sister named Helen Grace). “Grace and I have two beautiful children together,” De Niro said in a statement. “I honor Grace as a wonderful mother and ask for privacy and respect from all as we proceed to develop our roles as partners in parenting.” It is unclear who had immediate custody of Elliot and Helen Grace at this point.
Robert De Niro Revealed That Elliot Has Autism
De Niro made this revelation about Elliot back in 2016, around the time that he was planning to hold a screening of Andrew Wakefield’s documentary Vaxxed: From Cover-Up to Catastrophe at the Tribeca Film Festival. According to the actor, the condition manifested after Elliot received an MMR vaccine. During an interview with Telegraph, the Oscar winner said that his son “changed overnight” following his inoculation.
This essentially prompted De Niro to support Wakefield’s film. “Grace and I have a child with autism,” the actor explained in a statement. “And we believe it is critical that all of the issues surrounding the causes of autism be openly discussed and examined.”
After the documentary stirred much controversy in the scientific community, however, De Niro made the decision to pull it from the festival. That said, he appeared on Today show saying, “There’s a lot of information about things that are happening with the CDC, the pharmaceutical companies, there’s a lot of things that are not said. I, as a parent of a child who has autism, I’m concerned.” De Niro also made it clear that he is not against vaccines entirely. “I want safe vaccines,” he emphasized.
Elliot Is A Proud Participant Of The Special Olympics
As it turns out, Elliot is quite a sportsman, having been active in tennis since he was a young boy. And if you ask De Niro, the benefits of the sport for his son goes beyond keeping Elliot physically fit. “Finding things for kids to do is a hard part of the whole situation with parents of kids with special needs,” the actor explained in a video presentation for the Special Olympics. “[Playing tennis] helps him. He is more confident when he sees that he is actually good at this. That’s the best self-motivator anyone can have.”
Admittedly, Elliot didn’t really enjoy tennis at first. But now, he’s gotten really good at it and more importantly, he’s proud of what he’s managed to accomplish on the court. “To be able to succeed within themselves, and give them that motivation, that confidence of knowing who they are,” Hightower explained. “When they have that, they can do so much.”
Together with his best friend, Max Richter, Elliot has been participating in the Special Olympics, being named as one of the 50 Game Changers of the organization. “Special Olympics changes the game for athletes like Elliot and Max around the world, improving their health and well-being, and building their confidence, by harnessing the powers of sport and friendship,” Special Olympics New York President and CEO Stacey Hengsterman said in a statement. “We are proud and so thankful to be working with Grace to provide the opportunity of Special Olympics programming for athletes with intellectual differences across New York.”
At the moment, preparations are already underway for the Special Olympics USA Games in Orlando in 2022. And as early as now, fans of the event can already start engaging with their favorite athletes though the newly launched app, which is available in both Apple Store and Google Play Store. While it is unclear if Elliot will be joining next year’s games, it’s safe to say that he’ll be happily cheering from the sidelines if he’s not on the court himself.