Leonardo Wilhelm DiCaprio (born November 11 1974[1]) is a three-time Academy Award-nominated and
Golden Globe Award-winning American actor who garnered
world wide fame for his role as Jack Dawson in Titanic. Dicaprio has
starred in many successful feature films since, including [[William Shakespeare's Romeo + Juliet]] (1996),
The Beach (2000), Catch Me
If You Can (2002), and Blood Diamond (2006). He has been director
Martin Scorsese's favorite actor to direct. He has appeared perennially with Scorsese in
a majority of his most recent films, including Gangs of New York (2002),
The Aviator (2004), and The Departed
(2006), causing people to compare this relationship to the one actor Robert De Niro
benefited from early on in his career.
Biography
Childhood
DiCaprio's mother moved from Oer-Erkenschwick, Germany, to the U.S. during her childhood, while his father is of half Italian
and half German descent.[1] DiCaprio's parents met while attending college together and
subsequently moved to Los Angeles.[1] His
last name means “from Capri” in Italian. He was named after artist Leonardo da Vinci, as his
pregnant mother was standing in front of a da Vinci painting at a museum in Italy when DiCaprio
first kicked.
DiCaprio was born in Los Angeles, California, the son of George DiCaprio, an underground comix artist and distributor
of comic books, and Irmelin Indenbirken, a former legal
secretary.
DiCaprio’s parents divorced when he was one year old. He lived mostly with his mother, although his father was also around.
During his childhood, he attended Canterbury Elementary School. He was interested in baseball
cards, comic books and frequently visited museums,
with his father.[1] He also spent part of
his childhood in Germany, where his maternal grandparents, Wilhelm and Helene, still lived, and still speaks German fluently.
DiCaprio and his mother lived in several poor neighborhoods, such as Echo
Park.
During his teen years, he lived at 1874 Hillhurst Avenue, Los Feliz
district of Los Angeles, California (which was later converted into a local public library) – and his mother worked
several jobs to support them.[1] He
attended John Marshall High School, a few blocks
away, before attending the Los Angeles Center for Enriched
Studies.
DiCaprio was inspired to become an actor after Adam Starr, a stepson of his father’s from his father's re-marriage, began
appearing in commercials.[1] DiCaprio
began looking for an agent at the age of twelve, but was initially turned down several times; one agent suggested that he
anglicize his name to “Lenny Williams”, which DiCaprio rejected.[1]
Early career
DiCaprio’s acting career began in 1989 when he was cast in the role of Garry Buckman on the TV version of the film
Parenthood, where he met Tobey Maguire, with
whom he remains close friends. 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 for his roles in motion pictures. His debut role was as Josh in Critters 3 (1991), a film with a limited theatrical release, which was released on video soon after.
Two years later, his breakthrough 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 a mentally handicapped boy in What's Eating Gilbert Grape (1993). The role earned him an Academy Award nomination at the age of 19.
In 1995, he starred in Total Eclipse, a fictionalized account of the
passionate and violent homosexual relationship between the two 19th century
French poets, Paul Verlaine
(David Thewlis) and Arthur Rimbaud (Leonardo
DiCaprio). River Phoenix was originally cast as the lead in the film, but after his 1993
death, DiCaprio was cast.
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 9, 2001 in Berlin.
In 1995 he starred as Jim Carroll, a heroin addict in The Basketball Diaries. In 1996, DiCaprio also played the male lead in [[Romeo +
Juliet]], a slick and updated modern-day version of William Shakespeare's play,
directed by Australian director Baz Luhrmann. DiCaprio was reportedly so dedicated to the
project, he flew coach class, for free to Australia a year before production started to
workshop the film. Following Romeo + Juliet, in 1996 DiCaprio starred in Marvin's
Room along side 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, the highest grossing movie ever (in nominal
terms—adjusted for inflation it is the sixth highest in the United States, while remaining the highest grossing movie worldwide).
It also received eleven Academy Awards. Over the course of the next few years he would
become a household name worldwide, synonymous with labels such as "teenage heart-throb" and sex
symbol. People placed him in their annual "Most Beautiful People" issue
on numerous occasions. At the peak of his celebrity in 1998, DiCaprio fronted scores of magazine covers ranging from
Vanity Fair to Rolling
Stone,[2] and was once the most searched for
personality in the early years of the Internet. DiCaprio agreed to play the spoof role of his real life "teen idol" persona during this period, in Woody
Allen's satirical parody, Celebrity. What came apropos with fame were
tales in the tabloids of excesses and indulgence. In the Japanese
media, he was referred to as Leo-sama (レオ様), with the "sama" suffix given to show the utmost respect. 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."
Nonetheless, the headlines and controversy failed to let up, peaking when he starred in a project by Danny Boyle based on Alex Garland's backpacker cult classic The Beach that year. Because of
clashes with the Thai authorities over the use of the island of Ko Phi Phi in 1999, the
film garnered more bad press than expected. It was reported that permission granted to the film company to physically alter the
environment inside Phi Phi Islands National Park was illegal. In the end, the film also did not score as well as expected at the
box office, losing mainstream commercial appeal due to its content.
Critically acclaimed acting
In 2002, DiCaprio began a shift away from his stereotypical image and moved to engage himself with critically acclaimed
directors by starring in two epic movies: 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 businessman Howard Hughes in The Aviator, a film that scored
DiCaprio a second Academy Award nomination, for Best Actor.
DiCaprio continued his run with Scorsese (some claim him to be Scorsese's "new De Niro") in the 2006 film The Departed as Billy Costigan, a smart undercover cop in
Boston. His next film was Blood Diamond, released on December 8, 2006. While the film itself received mixed reviews, DiCaprio was
praised for the authenticity of his Zimbabwean Afrikaner accent, known as a difficult accent of
English to emulate. He is also reported to have purchased the rights to Blink,
Malcolm Gladwell's book on the power and validity of first impressions, in order to
produce a film based on it.
Cruise-Wagner Productions, Tom Cruise's film
production company, is said to be developing a screenplay based on Erik
Larson's New York Times bestseller The Devil in the White City, about H. H. Holmes, a
serial killer at the 1893 Chicago World's
Fair. Meanwhile, DiCaprio's production company, Appian Way Productions, is also developing a film about Holmes and the World's Fair, in which DiCaprio will
star.
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, which is an extremely
rare honor for actors. 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.
After working in two Warner Brothers films, DiCaprio will again star in a WB production
for a film about the collapse of Enron, based on the book Conspiracy of Fools. The film's script is currently under negotiations.[3]
He is also reportedly attached to a number of other upcoming projects, including The Chancellor Manuscript, Stephen Gaghan’s
Blink, a biopic of LSD-spokesperson Professor Timothy Leary, and Martin Scorsese's The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt, all of which are in the developmental stages.
On March 22 2007, DiCaprio signed on to re-team with his
Titanic co-star, Kate Winslet, on an adaptation of Richard Yates’s
critically-lauded 1961 novel Revolutionary Road. The film of the same name is being directed by Winslet’s husband, Sam Mendes and was adapted for the screen by Justin Haythe. They are
currently shooting in New York City.[4]
In addition to an already impressive career, DiCaprio is currently ranked the 5th Best Working Actor Today by The Screen
Directory.[5]. In May 2007,
DiCaprio was listed among Time Magazine’s 100 Most Influential People in The World.
Personal life
DiCaprio's best friend is actor Tobey Maguire, whom he beat to get roles in Growing
Pains and This Boy's Life. He is also good friends with Cameron Diaz,
Mark Wahlberg, Lukas Haas, Ethan Suplee, Kevin Connolly, and Ben
Affleck, whom he worked with during the John Kerry presidential campaign. He still remains to be close with
Kate Winslet, his co-star on Titanic. DiCaprio sued Playgirl magazine to stop the New York-based monthly magazine from
publishing unauthorized nude 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. The case was
settled on June 29, 1998, for an undisclosed amount.
A registered Democrat in California, DiCaprio has been active in
promoting liberal causes, and in 2004 supported Senator John Kerry’s presidential
campaign.
A committed environmentalist, DiCaprio has received praise from environmental groups
for opting to fly on commercial flights instead of chartering private jets, which use more fuel. He has also mentioned that he
drives a hybrid car and that his house has solar panels.[6] His actions
have inspired other celebrities, such as Orlando Bloom and Penelope Cruz. In an article in Ukula about his new film
11th Hour (which he co-wrote, co-produced and narrated), DiCaprio cites
global warming as "the number one environmental challenge."[7]. 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.
In 1998, he 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. There are commemorative placards and curious fans are welcomed at the
library.[8][9]
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.[10]
Dicaprio owns a home in Los Angeles and an apartment in New York.
He reportedly ended his relationship with model Bar Refaeli in May 2007 and was spotted
with Daya Fernandez at the Cannes Film Festival that same month. He also dated Brazilian supermodel Gisele Bundchen from 2000 to
2005.
Filmography
Awards and nominations
Academy Award
BAFTA Award
Golden Globe Award
- Nominated: Best Supporting Actor - Motion Picture, What's Eating
Gilbert Grape (1994)
- Nominated: Best Actor - Motion Picture Drama, Titanic (1998)
- Nominated: Best Actor - Motion Picture Drama, Catch Me If You
Can (2003)
- Won: Best Actor - Motion Picture Drama, The Aviator (2005)
- Nominated: Best Actor - Motion Picture Drama, The Departed (2007)
- Nominated: Best Actor - Motion Picture Drama, Blood Diamond (2007)
References
External links
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