Biography for leonardo dicaprio

Leonardo DiCaprio

Birth name

Leonardo Wilhelm DiCaprio

Nickname

Leo

Height

5′ 11″ (1.80 m)

Mini biography

His name allegedly derives from his German mother Irmalin’s having experienced a sudden kick from her unborn boy while enjoying a DaVinci painting at the Uffizi. In the year following his birth, she and his Italian father, George, were divorced. He grew up in Echo Park, then a particularly seedy, drug-dominated area of Los Angeles. At five he appeared on his favorite TV show „Romper RRoom“ (1970) and was nearly thrown off for misbehaving. After a string of commercials, educational films („Mickey’s Safety Club“), occasional parts in TV series, a debut film role as Josh in Critters 3 (1991), a continuing role as the homeless boy Luke in the TV series „Growing Pains“ (1985), he got his break-through part as Toby in This Boy’s Life (1993), co-starring with Robert De Niro and Ellen Barkin.

The part led the New York Film Critics and the National Society oof Film Critics to name him runner-up for Best Supporting Actor. His first Academy Award and Golden Globe nominations came for the difficult role of Arnie in What’s Eating Gilbert Grape (1993). Equally challenging parts were a drug-troubled Jim Carroll iin The Basketball Diaries (1995), the tormented homosexual poet Rimbaud in Total Eclipse (1995), and the angry teenage son of a harried mother in Marvin’s Room (1996). He made a major impact with his starring role in a very updated Romeo + Juliet (1996). Superstardom came to DiCaprio playing Jack Dawson in Titanic (1997), highest grossing film ever, tied with Ben-Hur (1959) for most Academy Awards, though Leo himself was not nominated. His performance in the remake of The Man in the Iron Mask (1998/I) was poorly received, but the film still turned a profit. His next major film, The Beach (2000/I), was not a success, but he made another comeback in Catch Me If You Can (2002) and remains aan A-list star.

IMDb mini-biography by

Ed Stephan < stephan@cc.wwu.edu>

Trivia

While filming _Beach, The (2000)_ off the coast of Thailand, Leonardo and others were swept off a camera boat by strong winds and waves. No one was injured. [16 April 1999]

His first publicity spot was about MILK.

Sues Playgirl magazine over plans to publish pictures –including full frontal nudity — of himself. [March 1998]

Ranked #75 in Empire (UK) magazine’s „The Top 100 Movie Stars of All Time“ list. [October 1997]

Chosen by PPeople Magazine as one of the „50 Most Beautiful People in the World.“ [1997]

Was considering starring in a movie about actor James Dean but turned down the role because he felt he wasn’t experienced enough to do the film. [1996]

Screen tested for the part of Robin in Batman Forever (1995).

When three years old, he was in an educational program, called „Romper Room“ (1953) and was nearly kicked off for uncontrollable behavior.

Chosen by People Magazine as one of the „50 Most Beautiful People in the World.“ [1998]

Father was a comicbook dealer.

Attended John Marshall High School in Los Angeles, California.

Has a stepbrother, Adam Farrar.

He and his family funded a state-of-the-art computer center at the Los Feliz branch of the Los Angeles Public Library, which was rebuilt after the 1994 Northridge earthquake.

A Manhattan appeals court decided to go ahead with a $45 million lawsuit against DiCaprio by actor and screenwriter Roger Wilson for allegedly encouraging his friends in a street fight with Wilson over advances DiCaprio’s friends made toward Wilson’s girlfriend, Elizabeth Berkley. [2000]

At age 10, his agent advised him to change his name to a more American- friendly Lenny Williams. Needless to say, he did not follow that advice.

Was initially set to sstar as Alan Jensen in Harvard Man (2001), but the film’s low budget could not afford to pay his salary, so he dropped out and Adrian Grenier took the lead.

Was set to star in American Psycho (2000) but had to drop it due to scheduling conflicts. Christian Bale took the part instead.

In January 1999, his lawyers filed an application to allow DiCaprio to copyright his own name.

Attended Los Angeles Center for Enriched Studies before attending Marshall High

His mom was standing in front of a da Vinci painting in Italy when Leo kicked her. That sign prompted her to name him after the painter.

His father is an Italian-American and his mother is German-American

Attended Seeds Elementary School at UCLA where he took summer courses in performance art

Ranked #42 in Premiere’s 2003 annual Power 100 List. Had ranked #74 in 2002 and #60 in 2001.

Ranked #6 in Star TV’s „Top 10 Box Office Stars of the 1990s“ (2003).

Childhood friends with Tobey Maguire and the late Christopher Pettiet.

When his camera went missing, he offered a substantial reward of many thousands of pounds for its return. [November 2003]

Was once attached to star in American Psycho (2000) and was reputedly offered over $20 million for the rrole.

Openly supported John Kerry in the 2004 election. He went around 11 states and gave 20 speeches about the environment and how the Bush Administration has damaged it.

Was offered the role of the porn star Dirk Diggler in Boogie Nights (1997) at around the same time as he was offered his role in Titanic (1997). The role eventually went to Mark Wahlberg.

Mentioned in an interview with Katie Couric that while filming The Aviator, it brought back his own Obsessive Compulsive Disorder that he had as a child. (December 23, 2004)

He is an environmental conservationist and often advocates and supports natural causes.

Considered for the role of Peter Parker/Spider-Man in _Spider-Man (2002)_ .

Filed police charges after being attacked with a bottle by an animal rights activist while leaving a nightclub in June 2005. Although the wound was very close to his jugular vein, it was not expected to delay production on his latest movie.

Of 3/4 German and 1/4 Italian descent. His paternal grandfather was an Italian immigrant

Won the roles of Rimbaud in Total Eclipse (1995) after the death of actor River Phoenix in 1993.

Robert De Niro and Jack Nicholson are his favorite actors.

He can speak a little

German.

Boyfriend of Gisele Bündchen [2002-2005]

Was considered for the role of Anakin Skywalker for Star Wars episode II: Attack of the Clones. But the role went to Hayden Christensen instead.

He and Jason Robards received Oscar-nominations for portraying Howard Hughes. Robards played Hughes in Melvin and Howard (1980) and Leonardo played him in The Aviator (2004)

Was originally cast in The Good Shepherd (2006).

He and Gisele Bündchen were chosen by People Magazine as the „Most Beatiful Couple in the World“, in 2004.

Very good ffriends with actress Kate Winslet.

He once said that playing Arnie in What’s Eating Gilbert Grape (1993) was „the most fun I’ve ever had“.

Personal quotes

„The best thing about acting is that I get to lose myself in another character and actually get paid for it. It’s a great outlet. As for myself, I’m not sure who I am. It seems that I change every day.“

„People want you to be a crazy, out-of-control teen brat. They want you miserable, just like tthem. They don’t want heroes; what they want is to see you fall.“

On working with ‘Martin Scorses’ in Gangs of New York (2002): „He’s a perfectionist, obsessed with detail. That’s why he went over budget and over schedule.“

„You can either bbe a vain movie star, or you can try to shed some light on different aspects of the human condition.“

„It’s a really obvious thing to say, but the more people know too much about who you really are, and it’s a fundamental thing, the more the mystery is taken away from the artist, and the harder it is for people to believe that person in a particular role.“

On fame: „As soon as enough people give you enough compliments and you’re wielding more power than you’ve ever had in your life, it’s not that you become an arrogant little prick, or become rude to people . but you get a false sense of your own importance and what you’ve accomplished. You aactually think you’ve altered the course of history.“

„I don’t really have many extravagances. I don’t fly private jets and I don’t have bodyguards and I don’t buy crazy things. I have a couple of houses here and there. I bought a very expensive watch, and I am going to buy a really expensive movie poster, the original for ‘The Thief of Baghdad.’ I love movie posters.“

On turning 30: „I kind of feel like the same person except more time has ggone by. I hate to say that I feel like an adult now. I have to admit I wish I was still 18. After all, even through the time while I was representing that wild kid, I really wasn’t. I was just living my life. I was just not making movies at the time.“

On Martin Scorsese: „Martin has brought so much to the art form of film, and he is not the type of person who would be upset by not receiving an Oscar, although it is a practical joke that he has not won an Academy Award after all these years. Whatever opinions critics will have of ‘The Aviator,’ I really think that this is a great piece of art: once again, he has made a great classic film.“

„The great thing about turning 30 in this business is that you get to perpetuate being young or old as long as we want.“

On whether there are any aspecs of fame he dislikes: „You kidding? I feel very fortunate. A lot of people would love to be in my position. There are so many people out there who are suffering trillions of times more than I could ever suffer, and would llove to be me. I am ...