Leonardo DiCaprio

Leonardo Wilhelm DiCaprio (born November 11, 1974) is an American actor and film producer. His first role was on the sitcom Growing Pains, but his breakthrough film performance came in This Boy's Life. This was quickly followed by What's Eating Gilbert Grape; his performance as the mentally handicapped brother of Gilbert (Johnny Depp) brought him nominations for the Golden Globe and Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor.

He gained fame for his role as Jack Dawson in Titanic, and has starred in many other successful films including Romeo + Juliet, Catch Me If You Can, and Blood Diamond, for which he was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor. Another Academy Award nomination came for his role as Howard Hughes in The Aviator, directed by Martin Scorsese. He has also worked with Scorsese in Gangs of New York, The Departed and Shutter Island. This working partnership brought comparison to the earlier working relationship between Scorsese and actor Robert De Niro, who also benefited from roles in Scorsese films early in his career.

DiCaprio has also been nominated for two BAFTAs, three SAGs, and seven Golden Globes. He is a Golden Globe and a Silver Bear winner.

Early life

DiCaprio was born in Los Angeles, California, the only child of Irmelin (née Indenbirken), a former legal secretary, and George DiCaprio, an underground comic artist and producer/distributor of comic books.His mother moved from Oer-Erkenschwick at the Ruhr, Germany, to the U.S. during the 1950s,[4] while his father is a fourth-generation American of half Italian and half German descent. His maternal grandmother, Helene Indenbirken, who was born Yelena Smirnova, was a Russian immigrant to Germany. DiCaprio's parents met while attending college together and subsequently moved to Los Angeles. He was named Leonardo because his pregnant mother was looking at a Leonardo da Vinci painting in a museum in Italy when DiCaprio first kicked. His parents divorced when he was a year old and he lived mostly with his mother, although his father was around intermittently. During his childhood, DiCaprio was interested in baseball cards, comic books, and frequently visited museums with his father.

DiCaprio and his mother lived in several Los Angeles neighborhoods, such as Echo Park, and at 1874 Hillhurst Avenue, Los Feliz district (which was later converted into a local public library), while his mother worked several jobs to support them. He attended Seeds Elementary School and graduated from John Marshall High School a few blocks away, after attending the Los Angeles Center for Enriched Studies for four years.

Career

Early career

DiCaprio's career began with his appearing in several commercials and educational films. He got his break on television in 1990 when he was cast in the short-lived series based on the movie Parenthood. On set, he met another struggling child actor, Tobey Maguire. The two quickly became friends and made a pact to help each other find roles in TV and movies. After Parenthood, DiCaprio had bit parts on several shows, including The New Lassie and Roseanne, as well as a brief stint on the soap opera Santa Barbara, playing the young Mason Capwell.

His debut film role was Critters 3, a B-grade horror film, which later went straight to video. Soon after, in 1991, he became a recurring cast member on the hit ABC sitcom Growing Pains, playing Luke Brower, a homeless boy who is taken in by the Seavers.

DiCaprio, 2000

His breakthrough came in 1992, when he beat out hundreds of other boys for the role of Toby Wolff in This Boy's Life, co-starring Robert De Niro and Ellen Barkin. His performance as the troubled, abused teenager was critically acclaimed and Hollywood soon took notice. Later in 1993, he co-starred as the mentally handicapped brother to Johnny Depp in What's Eating Gilbert Grape. His performance earned him both Academy Award and Golden Globe nominations for best supporting actor.

1995 was an eventful year for DiCaprio. That year he starred in four movies; in the first one, The Quick and the Dead, he played Gene Hackman's alleged son, Fee, starring alongside Sharon Stone and Russell Crowe.

After The Quick and The Dead, he starred in Total Eclipse, a fictionalized account of the homosexual relationship between Paul Verlaine (David Thewlis) and Arthur Rimbaud. River Phoenix was originally cast as Rimbaud, but died before production.

The black-and-white film Don's Plum, a low budget drama featuring the actor and his friends (including Tobey Maguire) was filmed between 1995 and 1996. Its release was blocked by DiCaprio and Maguire, who argued that they never intended to make it a theatrical release. Nevertheless, it premiered in Berlin in 2001.

Also in 1995, he starred as Jim Carroll in The Basketball Diaries, a life story of drugs and prostitution. Baz Luhrmann's 1996 film Romeo + Juliet, again featured DiCaprio as the male lead and was one of the first films to cash in on DiCaprio's future star-status, with a worldwide box office take of $147 million. Later that year he starred in Marvin's Room, reuniting with Robert De Niro and appearing alongside Meryl Streep and Diane Keaton.

Superstardom and "Leo-Mania"

The move from "star" to "superstar" came when DiCaprio played Jack Dawson in the 1997 blockbuster Titanic, alongside Kate Winslet as Rose DeWitt Bukater, later becoming the highest-grossing film of all time, up to that point, with a worldwide gross of over $1.8 billion, and received a record-setting eleven Academy Awards. In 1998, he made a cameo appearance in Woody Allen's satire Celebrity. That year, he also starred in the dual roles of the villainous King Louis XIV and his secret, sympathetic twin brother Philippe in The Man in the Iron Mask, which was a box office success, despite garnering mixed to negative reviews. Consequently, his popularity skyrocketed, with the media dubbing it "Leo-mania".What came with fame were tales in the tabloids of excesses and indulgence. Time summed up the fame superhighway and its trappings in an interview with the actor in 2000, reporting:

DiCaprio still thinks of himself as an edgy indie actor, not the Tiger Beat cover boy. "I have no connection with me during that whole Titanic Phenomenon and what my face became around the world," DiCaprio commented, adding, "I'll never reach that state of popularity again, and I don't expect to. It's not something I'm going to try to achieve either."

Acting acclaim

In 2002, DiCaprio starred in Gangs of New York (directed by Martin Scorsese) and Catch Me If You Can (directed by Steven Spielberg). Both films were very well received by critics. Forging a collaboration with Scorsese, the two paired again for a biopic of American aviation pioneer Howard Hughes in The Aviator, a film that scored DiCaprio a second Academy Award nomination for Best Actor.

DiCaprio at the Gangs of New York screening at the Cannes Film Festival with Martin Scorsese and Cameron Diaz

DiCaprio continued his run with Scorsese in the 2006 film The Departed as Billy Costigan, a smart undercover cop in Boston. His next film was Blood Diamond, released in December 2006. The film itself received generally favorable reviews and DiCaprio was praised for the authenticity of his South African Afrikaner accent, known as a difficult accent to emulate.

In 2006, the Golden Globes and Broadcast Film Critics Association nominated DiCaprio twice in the same category: Best Actor for Blood Diamond and The Departed. Also in the same year, he received two nominations for the Screen Actors Guild Awards, a lead actor nomination for Blood Diamond and a supporting actor nomination for The Departed. He earned an Oscar nomination for lead actor in Blood Diamond and a BAFTA nod for lead actor for The Departed.

Recent work

DiCaprio starred in 2008's Body of Lies, directed by Ridley Scott and co-starring Russell Crowe, Vince Colosimo, and Golshifteh Farahani. The same year, he appeared in Revolutionary Road, an adaptation of Richard Yates' 1961 novel. The latter reunited DiCaprio with his Titanic costars Kate Winslet and Kathy Bates. DiCaprio was nominated for the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Drama for his performance.

DiCaprio starred in 2010's Shutter Island, a film adaptation of the novel of the same name by Dennis Lehane. He will also play in the science-fiction film Inception, directed and produced by Christopher Nolan.

Environmental activism and charity

A committed environmentalist, DiCaprio has received praise from environmental groups for opting to fly on commercial flights instead of chartering private jets. He has also mentioned that he drives a hybrid car and that his house has solar panels. His actions have inspired other celebrities, such as Orlando Bloom and Penelope Cruz. In an article in Ukula about his 2007 film 11th Hour (which he co-wrote, co-produced and narrated), DiCaprio cited global warming as "the number one environmental challenge." DiCaprio and former vice-president Al Gore announced at the 2007 Oscar ceremony that the Oscars had incorporated environmentally intelligent practices throughout the planning and production processes, thus affirming their commitment to the environment. On July 7, 2007, DiCaprio presented at the American leg of Live Earth. During the 2004 Presidential election, DiCaprio campaigned and donated to John Kerry's presidential bid.

In 1998, DiCaprio and his mother donated $35,000 for a state-of-the-art “Leonardo DiCaprio Computer Center” at the Los Feliz branch of the Los Angeles Public Library (1874 Hillhurst Avenue) which happens to be the site of his childhood home. It was rebuilt after the 1994 Northridge earthquake, and opened in early 1999.

During the filming of Blood Diamond, DiCaprio worked with 24 orphaned children from the SOS Children's Village in Maputo, Mozambique, and was said to be extremely touched by his interactions with the children.

He was invited to the Scottish Parliament at Holyrood in Edinburgh, Scotland, to talk about his environmental foundation to teach people about global warming. It is not yet known[when?] if he has accepted the offer, due to his busy schedule in Hollywood.

FEC showed DiCaprio gave $2300 to Barack Obama's presidential campaign in the 2008 U.S. Presidential election, the maximum contribution an individual can give in an election cycle.

In 2010, he donated $1,000,000 to relief efforts in Haiti after the earthquake.

Personal life

In the 1990s, DiCaprio dated model Kristen Zang on-and-off for several years.

DiCaprio dated Brazilian model Gisele Bündchen on-and-off from 2001 to 2005. Bundchen later married NFL star Tom Brady in 2009.

Since 2005, he has been in an on-and-off relationship with Israeli model and Sports Illustrated swimsuit covergirl Bar Refaeli.

Leo has also been linked with British model and socialite Emma Miller.

He is a close friend of Tobey Maguire and Titanic and Revolutionary Road co-star Kate Winslet. He was a childhood friend of the late Christopher Pettiet.

On August 5, 2008, DiCaprio's maternal grandmother, Helene Indenbirken (b. July 7, 1915), died in Oer-Erkenschwick, Germany, at the age of 93. His grandmother was an important pillar in his life; DiCaprio called her "Oma" (Grandma) and took her to some of his movie premieres. He had visited her in Germany in the last days of her life.

DiCaprio owns a home in Los Angeles and an apartment in TriBeCa, in Manhattan, New York. He bought an island in Belize where he is planning to create an eco-friendly resort, as well as an apartment in Riverhouse, an eco-friendly building overlooking the Hudson River in Manhattan.

DiCaprio has said in interviews that his favorite TV show is The Twilight Zone and he plans to make a series of movies based on episodes written by Rod Serling.

Filmography

As actor

Year Film Role Notes

1991 Critters 3 Josh

1992 Poison Ivy Guy

1993 This Boy's Life Tobias "Toby" Wolff

What's Eating Gilbert Grape Arnie Grape Chicago Film Critics Association Award for Emerging Actor

National Board of Review Award for Best Supporting Actor

Nominated — Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor

Nominated — Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor – Motion Picture

1994 The Foot Shooting Party

1995 The Quick and the Dead Fee Herod, "The Kid"

The Basketball Diaries Jim Carroll

Total Eclipse Arthur Rimbaud

1996 Romeo + Juliet Romeo Montague Blockbuster Entertainment Award for Favorite Actor - Romance

Silver Bear for Best Actor

Nominated — MTV Movie Award for Best On-Screen Duo shared with Claire Danes

Nominated — MTV Movie Award for Best Kiss shared with Claire Danes

Nominated — MTV Movie Award for Best Performance

Marvin's Room Hank Chlotrudis Award for Best Supporting Actor

Nominated — Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Cast - Motion Picture

1997 Titanic Jack Dawson Blockbuster Entertainment Award for Favorite Actor - Drama

MTV Movie Award for Best Performance

Nominated — Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Drama

Nominated — MTV Movie Award for Best On-Screen Duo shared with Kate Winslet

Nominated — MTV Movie Award for Best Kiss shared with Kate Winslet

Nominated — Satellite Award for Best Actor - Motion Picture Drama

Nominated — Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture

1998 The Man in the Iron Mask King Louis XIV/Philippe

Celebrity Brandon Darrow Nominated — Teen Choice Award for Choice Hissy Fit — Film

2000 The Beach Richard Nominated — Teen Choice Award for Choice Actor — Film

Nominated — Teen Choice Award for Choice Chemistry shared with Virginie Ledoyen

2001 Don's Plum Derek filmed in 1995 released in 2001

2002 Catch Me If You Can Frank William Abagnale Jr. Teen Choice Award for Choice Movie Liar

Nominated — Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Drama

Nominated — MTV Movie Award for Best Performance

Gangs of New York Amsterdam Vallon Nominated — MTV Movie Award for Best Kiss shared with Cameron Diaz

Nominated — Teen Choice Award for Choice Movie Liplock shared with Cameron Diaz

2004 The Aviator Howard Hughes Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture 

Drama

MTV Movie Award for Best Performance

Nominated — Academy Award for Best Actor

Nominated — BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role

Nominated — Broadcast Film Critics Association Award for Best Actor

Nominated — London Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actor

Nominated — Online Film Critics Society Award for Best Actor

Nominated — Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture

Nominated — Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role

Nominated — Teen Choice Award for Choice Movie Actor — Drama

Nominated — Visual Effects Society Award for Outstanding Performance by an Actor or Actress in a Visual Effects Film

2006 Blood Diamond Danny Archer Nominated — Academy Award for Best Actor

Nominated — Broadcast Film Critics Association Award for Best Actor

Nominated — Central Ohio Film Critics Association Award for Actor of the Year also for The Departed

Nominated — Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Drama

Nominated — Satellite Award for Best Actor - Motion Picture Drama

Nominated — Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role

Nominated — Teen Choice Award for Choice Movie Actor — Drama

The Departed William "Billy" Costigan Jr. Austin Film Critics Association Award for Best Actor

Central Ohio Film Critics Association Award for Best Actor

Irish Film and Television Audience Award for Best International Actor

National Board of Review Award for Best Cast

Satellite Award for Best Supporting Actor

Nominated — BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role

Nominated — Broadcast Film Critics Association Award for Best Actor

Nominated — Central Ohio Film Critics Association Award for Actor of the Year also for Blood Diamond

Nominated — Chicago Film Critics Association Award for Best Actor

Nominated — Empire Award for Best Actor

Nominated — Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Drama

Nominated — Online Film Critics Society Award for Best Actor

Nominated — People's Choice Award for Best On-Screen Match-Up shared with Matt Damon and Jack Nicholson

Nominated — Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture

Nominated — Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role

Nominated — Teen Choice Awards - Choice Movie Actor: Drama

2007 The 11th Hour Narrator/Producer

2008 Body of Lies Roger Ferris

Revolutionary Road Frank Wheeler Palm Springs International Film Festival Award for Best Ensemble Performance

Nominated — Detroit Film Critics Society Award for Best Actor

Nominated — Detroit Film Critics Society Award for Best Cast

Nominated — Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Drama

Nominated — Satellite Award for Best Actor - Motion Picture Drama

2010 Shutter Island Edward "Teddy" Daniels

Inception Cobb post-production

2011 The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt Theodore Roosevelt announced

The Chancellor Manuscript Peter Chancellor announced

As producer

Year Title Notes

2004 The Assassination of Richard Nixon Executive producer

The Aviator Executive producer

2007 The 11th Hour Producer

Gardener of Eden Producer

2008 Greensburg Producer

2009 Atari Producer

Orphan Producer

2010 Beat the Reaper Producer pre-production

The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt Producer announced

2011 The Chancellor Manuscript Producer announced

Conspiracy of Fools Producer announced

TV series

Year Title Role Notes

1990 Parenthood Garry Buckman Nominated — Young Artist Award for Best Young Actor Starring in a Television Series

The New Lassie Young Boy Episode "Livewire"

Santa Barbara Young Mason Capwell Nominated — Young Artist Award for Best Young Actor in a Daytime Series

1991 Roseanne Darlene's Classmate Episode - "Home-Ec"

1991-92 Growing Pains Luke Brower He joined the cast in the last season.

Nominated — Young Artist Award for Best Young Actor Co-starring in a Television Series

Other awards and nominations

Year Group Award Outcome

1993 Los Angeles Film Critics Association Awards New Generation Award Won

2004 Hollywood Film Festival Actor of the Year Won

(source:wikipedia)