Parnell: Good godfather Pacino, a dad at 83? No thank you!

You’ve also got to admire the vim and vigour of Pacino and De Niro having the energy to keep dating, let alone procreating – but Kerry Parnell writes even the thought of it is exhausting.

Good godfather, now Al Pacino has joined the grand-baby-daddy club.

This week, it was revealed The Godfather star, 83, is about to become a father for the fourth time, with his new partner Noor Alfallah, 29.

Pacino already has three children – daughter Julie, 33, with Jan Tarrant, and twins Anton and Olivia, 22, with Beverly D’Angelo. With a 54-year age difference, Noor, an ex of Mick Jagger, is younger than his oldest daughter. It’s reported they have been dating since the pandemic.

The happy news means he pips The Godfather alumnus Robert De Niro to the post of oldest dad, as he has also just become a father again at 79, with girlfriend Tiffany Chen, 45. They welcomed baby daughter Gia Virginia Chen-De Niro in April. She’s the actor’s seventh child, joining Drena, 51, Raphael, 46, Julian and Aaron, 27, Elliot, 25 and Helen, 11.

Noor Alfallah is pregnant with Al Pacino's child. Picture: nooralfallah/Instagram

De Niro told Gayle King on CBS they were overjoyed, as they had wanted to have a child together. “It’s always good and mysterious and you don’t know what the hell’s going to happen,” he said about fatherhood, on the red carpet.

Friend and Analyze This co-star, Billy Crystal, told People Magazine the couple, “just love each other, and they want to do this together. I think it’s a beautiful thing. It’s wonderful.”

Robert De Niro and Tiffany Chen. Picture: Arnold Jerocki/Getty Images

And while the keyboard warriors hurried to “be unkind” with the usual social media judgement; you know what, I’m not going to Analyze This at all. Al Pacino and Robert De Niro are perfectly well-aware of their age, as are their much-younger partners. Life is life and they chose to give it to offspring who they know, can’t have decades and decades with their fathers, but hopefully, will still enjoy many years.

And yes, they won’t be action dads, winning the parents’ race at school sports’ day, but at least as they slow down, they’ll have plenty of time for their toddlers.

I’m an older mum – not Pacino/De Niro old, despite my byline photo suggesting otherwise – but aside from panicking about your own mortality, there are some positives to having babies later. The main one being I was completely done with partying by the time I became a parent, so I never felt like I was missing out on anything.

You’ve also got to admire the vim and vigour of Al Pacino. Picture: Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images/AFP

Also, there’s no chance of being past it as an older parent, as you are forced to keep up-to-date with popular culture via Gen Z/Alpha – you have to sing along to Miley Cyrus, watch Mr Beast videos and listen to an endless monologue on the merits of Roblox and Minecraft whether you like it or not. You do not like it.

You’ve also got to admire the vim and vigour of Pacino and De Niro. Truly, where do they get the energy to keep dating, let alone procreating? I can barely bring myself to brush my hair, never mind getting spruced up enough to go out and date someone half my age. The thought of it is exhausting.

I know that by the time you are in your eighties you can do as you please, but for me, I’m expecting that to mean enjoying a second slice of cake and being rude.

Oh wait, I’m already doing that.