Leonardo DiCaprio
Leonardo Wilhelm DiCaprio (born
November 11,
1974) is an
Academy Award-nominated
American actor well known for roles in blockbuster movies like
Titanic (1997) and
The Aviator (2004), and was famed for his far reaching global celebrity influence dubbed as 'Leo-Mania' in the late
1990s.
DiCaprio was born in
Los Angeles,
California, the son of
George DiCaprio, a half
Italian-half
German distributor of comic books, and Irmelin Indenbirken, a former legal secretary who was born in
Germany. 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. 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 refused.
His acting career began in 1989 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 motion pictures. His debut role was as Josh in
Critters 3 (1991), a film with only a limited theatrical release, soon after released on video.
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 convincingly portrayed a
mentally handicapped boy in
What's Eating Gilbert Grape (1993). 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 9, 2001 in
Berlin.
In 1996, DiCaprio also played the male lead in
Romeo + Juliet, a slick and updated modern-day version of
Shakespeare's play, directed by Australian director
Baz Luhrmann.
The move from 'star' to 'superstar' came when DiCaprio played
Jack Dawson in
Titanic (1997). The highest grossing movie ever (unadjusted for inflation; taking inflation into account, it is the third highest), it 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. With a status that spawned fantasy crushes and hysteria worldwide,
E! Online described him as the most gorgeous celebrity on the planet, while his co-star
Kate Winslet said she agreed with others in deeming him the "most beautiful man on Earth". At the peak of his celebrity in
1998, DiCaprio fronted scores of magazine covers ranging from
Vanity Fair to
Rolling Stone[
1], 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.
Perhaps overrun or overhyped by fame from what became known as 'Leo-Mania' the world over - from the shores of
Thailand all the way to
Afghanistan (where the government there banned 'DiCaprio style' haircuts amongst the youth) and Australia (where in
Tullamarine, Victoria, a restaurant called "DiCaprio's" was established in the late 1990s which is still there to this day), what came apropos with fame were tales in the
tabloids of excesses and indulgence.
Time magazine summed up the fame superhighway and its rappings 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.", also commenting "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 culture 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. Also, fans of the original novel claimed it did not do justice to Garland's work (?).
In 2002, DiCaprio began a concerted shift away from his stereotypical image and moved to engage himself with critically acclaimed directors by starring 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 received by critics. Forging a collaboration with Scorsese, DiCaprio most recently starred in the award-winning Scorsese-directed film
The Aviator, 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) as a tense undercover cop in the Boston mafia. 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. In April 2006, DiCaprio received a minor leg injury while filming
The Blood Diamond in Mozambique. The film will most likely be released in 2007.
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 a serial killer at the
Chicago World's Fair. Meanwhile, Leonardo DiCaprio's production company, Appian Way, is also developing a film about Holmes and the World's Fair, in which DiCaprio will star.[
2]
Blink (2007) (announced)
The Chancellor Manuscript (2007) (announced)
Peter ChancellorThe Blood Diamond (2007) (filming)
*
11th Hour (2006) (in production)
NarratorThe Departed (2006) (post-production)
Billy CostiganThe Aviator (2004)
Howard HughesCatch Me If You Can (2002)
Frank Abagnale Jr.Gangs of New York (2002)
Amsterdam VallonDon's Plum (2001)
The Beach (2000)
RichardCelebrity (1998)
Brandon DarrowThe Man in the Iron Mask (1998)
King Louis XIV/PhilippeTitanic (1997)
Jack Dawson Marvin's Room (1996)
HankRomeo and Juliet (1996) Romeo Montague
*Total Eclipse (1995) Arthur Rimbaud
*The Basketball Diaries (1995) Jim Carroll
*The Quick and the Dead (1995) Kid
*A Hundred and One Nights (1995)
*The Foot Shooting Party (1994)
*What's Eating Gilbert Grape (1993) Arnie Grape
*This Boy's Life (1993) Toby
*Poison Ivy (1992)
*Critters 3 (1991) Josh''
*Is good friends with Titanic co-star
Billy Zane. In an interview, Zane went as far as describing Dicaprio as the little brother he never had.
* 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 (co-starring
David Thewlis). The case was settled on
June 29 1998 for an undisclosed amount.
* DiCaprio 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!"
* In
Catch Me If You Can DiCaprio plays
Frank Abagnale, Jr. who takes advantage of
Pan Am Airlines, whilst in
The Aviator he plays
Howard Hughes who gets taken advantage of by Pan Am.
* A registered Democrat in California, DiCaprio has been active in promoting moderately progressive causes, and in
2004 supported Senator
John Kerry's unsuccessful presidential campaign.
* Shortly after break-up with light-haired, blue-eyed, Brazilian model
Gisele Bündchen, he began his current relationship with light-haired, blue-eyed, sultry Israeli model
Bar Refaeli.
* DiCaprio's name is derived from the fact that when his mother was pregnant with him, he kicked while she was looking at an image of one of
Leonardo Da Vinci's paintings.
* American
professional wrestler Brian Kendrick uses the alias
Leonardo Spanky when working in
Japan due to his perceived physical resemblance to DiCaprio.
* Has been romantically linked to models Kristen Zang (who also dated
Nicolas Cage, after
DiCaprio),
Bar Refaeli, and
Victoria's Secret underwear model
Gisele Bündchen, [
3] [
4].
*Leonardo is approximately 6' 1" in height (may vary slightly)
*
Leonardo DiCaprio Official Website*
LeoFans.com - Most active DiCaprio Forum Online*
Leonardo DiCaprio pictures
*
Entry in NNDB, includes a thorough list of women who are believed to have dated and/or slept with DiCaprio*
Leonardo DiCaprio Official Eco-site*
Leonardo DiCaprio's new home in Las Vegas*
DiCaprio Web
