Leonardo Wilhelm DiCaprio 

(/dɪˈkæprioʊ/; Italian: [diˈkaːprjo]; born November 11, 1974) is an

American actor, film producer, activist and environmentalist. He has often played unconventional
roles, particularly in biopics and period films. As of 2019, his films have grossed $7.2 billion
worldwide, and he has placed eight times in annual rankings of the world's highest-paid actors.
Born in Los Angeles, DiCaprio began his career by appearing in television commercials in the
late 1980s. In the early 1990s, he played recurring roles in various television series, such as the
sitcom Parenthood. Leonardo DiCaprio had his first major film role as Tobias "Toby" Wolff in This
Boy's Life (1993). He received critical acclaim and first Academy Award and Golden Globe
Award nominations for his supporting role as a developmentally disabled boy Arnie Grape
in What's Eating Gilbert Grape (1993), and, at only 19 years old of age, he became the seventh-
youngest nominee in the category. He achieved international stardom in the epic
romance Titanic (1997), which became the highest-grossing film to that point. After a few
commercially unsuccessful films, DiCaprio starred in two successful features in 2002: the
biographical crime drama Catch Me If You Can and the historical drama Gangs of New York,
which marked his first of many collaborations with director Martin Scorsese.
DiCaprio portrayed Howard Hughes in The Aviator (2004) and continued to receive acclaim for
his performances in the political thriller Blood Diamond (2006), the crime drama The
Departed (2006), and the romantic drama Revolutionary Road (2008). In the 2010s, he starred in
the science fiction thriller Inception (2010), the western Django Unchained (2012), the biopic The
Wolf of Wall Street (2013), the survival drama The Revenant (2015), and the comedy-
drama Once Upon a Time in Hollywood (2019), all of which were critical and commercial
successes. His accolades include an Academy Award, a BAFTA, Screen Actors Guild Award and
a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role for his performance as Hugh
Glass in The Revenant as well as two other Golden Globes for The Aviator and The Wolf of Wall
Street.
DiCaprio is the founder of Appian Way Productions—a production company that has produced
some of his films and the documentary series Greensburg (2008–2010)—and the Leonardo
DiCaprio Foundation, a nonprofit organization devoted to promoting environmental awareness.
He regularly supports charitable causes and has produced several documentaries on the
environment. In 2005, he was named the commander of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres for his
contributions to the arts, and in 2016, he was named one of the 100 most influential people in the
world by Time magazine.

Contents

 1Early life and acting background

 2Career
o 2.11991–1996: Career beginnings
o 2.21997–2001: Titanic and stardom
o 2.32002–2009: Move into film production
o 2.42010–2013: Collaboration with Martin Scorsese
o 2.52014–present: Emphasis on documentaries
 2.5.1Upcoming projects
 3Reception and acting style
 4Other ventures
o 4.1Environmental activism
o 4.2Political activism
o 4.3Philanthropy
 5Personal life
 6Filmography and awards
 7See also
 8Notes
 9References
o 9.1Citations
o 9.2Sources
 10External links

Early life and acting background

Leonardo Wilhelm DiCaprio was born on November 11, 1974 in Los Angeles, California,[1] the
only child of Irmelin (née Indenbirken), a legal secretary, and George DiCaprio, an underground
comix writer, publisher, and distributor of comic books.[2] His father is of Italian and German
descent. DiCaprio is conversant in Italian.[3][4] His maternal grandfather, Wilhelm Indenbirken, was
German,[5] and his maternal grandmother, Helene Indenbirken, was a Russian-born German
citizen.[6][7] In an interview in Russia, DiCaprio referred to himself as "half-Russian" and said that
two of his late grandparents were Russian.[6] His parents met while attending college and moved
to Los Angeles after graduating.[8] DiCaprio was raised Catholic.[9][10]

DiCaprio was named after Italian polymath Leonardo da Vinci[11]

DiCaprio was named Leonardo because his pregnant mother was looking at a Leonardo da
Vinci painting in the Uffizi museum in Florence, Italy when he first kicked.[11][a] His parents
separated when he was one year old; they initially agreed to live next door to each other so as
not to deprive DiCaprio of his father's presence in his life.[13][14] However, DiCaprio and his mother
later moved around to multiple Los Angeles neighborhoods, such as Echo Park and Los Feliz,
while the latter worked several jobs.[8] He attended Seeds Elementary School and later went
to John Marshall High School a few blocks away after attending the Los Angeles Center for
Enriched Studies for four years.[15] DiCaprio has said he hated public school and often asked his
mother to take him to auditions instead to improve their financial situation.[16] He dropped out of
high school following his third year, eventually earning his general equivalency diploma (GED).[17]
DiCaprio has said his career choice as a child was to become a marine biologist or an actor, but
he eventually favored the latter, as he was fond of impersonating characters and imitating
people.[18] When he was two, he went on stage at a performance festival and danced
spontaneously; the cheerful response from the crowd started his interest in performing.[19] When
his older stepbrother earned $50,000 for a television commercial, DiCaprio, fascinated with this,
decided to become an actor.[20] In 1979, DiCaprio was removed, at age five, from the set of the
children's television series Romper Room for being disruptive.[21][22] He began appearing in several
commercials at age 14 for Matchbox cars by Mattel, which he considered his first role,[21][23] and
later for Kraft Foods, Bubble Yum, and Apple Jacks.[24] In 1989, he played the role of Glen in two
episodes of the television show The New Lassie.[25][26]
At the beginning of his career, DiCaprio had difficulty finding an agent. One agent suggested he
change his name to Lenny Williams to appeal to the American audience, which he declined to
do.[27][28] He remained jobless for a year and a half even after 100 auditions. Disillusioned at this,
he initially decided to quit acting, but his father encouraged him not to give up, and he needed
the money to support his mother.[27] By the early 1990s, he began acting regularly on television,
starting with a role in the pilot of The Outsiders (1990) and one episode of the soap opera Santa
Barbara (1990), in which he played the young Mason Capwell.[29] DiCaprio got a break that year
when he was cast in Parenthood, a series based on a successful comedy film of the same name.
Before being cast in the role of Garry Buckman, a troubled teenager, he analyzed Joaquin
Phoenix's performance in the original film.[30] His work that year earned him two nominations at
the 12th Youth in Film Awards—Best Young Actor in a Daytime Series for Santa Barbara and
Best Young Actor Starring in a New Television Series for Parenthood.[31] DiCaprio was also a
celebrity contestant on the children's game show Fun House, on which he performed several
stunts, including catching the fish inside a small pool using only his teeth.[32][33]