Profile of Leonardo DiCaprio on Famous Like Me

Biography

Leonardo Wilhelm DiCaprio (born November 11, 1974), is an American actor.

He was born in Los Angeles, California, the son of George DiCaprio and Irmalin Idenbirkin. His name allegedly came about because his pregnant mother was standing in front of a Leonardo da Vinci painting at a museum in Italy when he kicked, which made her decide to name him after the famous artist.

Leo's father, a distributor of comic books, is half Italian-American and half German-American. His mother, a former legal secretary, is German. His parents divorced when he was a year old. He grew up in Echo Park.

At age five, he appeared on his favorite television series, Romper Room, and was almost fired for misbehaving. He attended John Marshall High School in Los Angeles.

He was rejected by an agent early in his career for having a name that sounded too foreign, suggesting that it should be changed to Lenny Williams, but DiCaprio (thankfully) refused.

His acting career began in 1990 when he was cast in the role of Garry Buckman on the TV version of the hit film Parenthood, where he met his best friend Tobey Maguire while working on an episode. In that same year, DiCaprio appeared on the soap opera Santa Barbara in the role of Mason Capwell (in flashbacks as a teenager). From 1991 to 1992 he had the role of Luke Brower, a homeless boy, on Growing Pains.

However, DiCaprio is most famous (and respected) for his roles in theatrical motion pictures. His debut role was as Josh in Critters 3 (1991).

Two years later, his break-through came with the role of Toby in This Boy's Life (1993) co-starring with Robert De Niro and Ellen Barkin, which led the New York Film Critics and the National Society of Film Critics to name him runner-up for Best Supporting Actor. In the same year he also portrayed an autistic boy so convincingly in What's Eating Gilbert Grape (1993) that many people thought he really was. The role earned him an Academy Award nomination.

The black-and-white movie Don's Plum, a low-budget drama featuring the actor and some of his friends (including Tobey Maguire) was filmed between 1995 and 1996. Its release was later blocked in the United States and Canada by DiCaprio and Maguire, who argued they never intended to make it a theatrical feature. Nevertheless, it later premiered on February 10, 2001 in Berlin.

In 1996, DiCaprio also played the male lead in Romeo + Juliet, a very slick and updated modern-day version of Shakespeare's beloved play.

The move from 'star' to 'superstar' came when DiCaprio played Jack Dawson in Titanic (1997). The highest grossing movie ever, it tied with Ben-Hur (1959) for receiving the most Academy Awards, though DiCaprio himself was not nominated (The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King would later match Ben Hur and Titanic's eleven Oscars).

Leo's rise to stardom did not end there, however. In 2002 DiCaprio starred in two epic movies; Catch me If You Can (directed by Steven Spielberg), and Gangs of New York (directed by Martin Scorsese). Both films were very well critically received.

DiCaprio most recently starred in the award-winning film The Aviator directed (again) by Martin Scorsese, portraying the eccentric Howard Hughes.

DiCaprio continues his run with Scorsese (some claim him to be Scorsese's 'new De Niro') in the upcoming movie, The Departed (2006)

Awards

In 1994, DiCaprio was nominated for an Academy Award for 'Best Supporting Actor' for 'What's Eating Gilbert Grape'. A decade on, he was nominated for his second Academy Award for his utterly breathtaking performance in 'The Aviator'.

At the Golden Globes over the years, he has been nominated for the 'Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role' for 'What's Eating Gilbert Grape'; 'Best Performance by an Actor' for 'Titanic'; and 'Best Performance by an Actor' for 'Catch Me If You Can' (which co-starred Tom Hanks). Leo was nominated and won the 'Best Actor' award (Drama) at the 'Golden Globes 2005' for 'The Aviator'.

Trivia

DiCaprio sued Playgirl to stop the New York-based monthly magazine from publishing unauthorized photos of him in its July 1998 issue. Some reports claim the photos were secretly taken while the actor was lounging in the nude, while others say they came from stills of his nude scenes in, or from outtakes of, the movie Total Eclipse (co-starring David Thewlis). The case was settled on June 29, 1998 for an undisclosed amount.

Recently, DiCaprio has taken to political issues. He is especially fond of environmental causes and has devoted a great deal of his time and money to such issues. His official website (see link below) provides more information on the subject.

Despite widespread rumours and speculations, he denied commenting on whether he was gay or bisexual.

Filmography

• Critters 3 (1991)
• Poison Ivy (1992)
• This Boy's Life (1993)
• What's Eating Gilbert Grape (1993)
• The Foot Shooting Party (1994)
• A Hundred and One Nights (1995)
• The Quick and the Dead (1995)
• The Basketball Diaries (1995)
• Total Eclipse (1995)
• Romeo + Juliet (1996)
• Marvin's Room (1996)
• Titanic (1997)
• The Man in the Iron Mask (1998)
• Celebrity (1998)
• The Beach (2000)
• Don's Plum (2001)
• Gangs of New York (2002)
• Catch Me If You Can (2002)
• The Aviator (2004)
• The Departed (2006) (currently filming)
• The Chancellor Manuscript (2006) (pre-production)
• The Blood Diamond (2007) (pre-production)

Quotes

• "All you math teachers who've been scolding me all my life, HA HA! I laugh."

Trivia

• Leo once "starred" in a Japanese Orico credit card commercial, in which he played a cop/detective, and they punned his name as Dekka Purio (Dekka meaning 'cop' in Japanese). He speaks one line "Orico card, ok!"

This content from Wikipedia is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article Leonardo DiCaprio