Leonardo Wilhelm DiCaprio (born November 11, 1974)
is an
American film 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. He has appeared in
Martin Scorsese's recent films
Gangs of New York,
The Aviator and
The Departed, causing people to compare this relationship to that from which actor
Robert De Niro benefited early in his career.
[Scorsese Likens DiCaprio To De Niro] DiCaprio has also been nominated two times for
BAFTA, three times for
SAG and is a
Silver Bear Award 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.
[Leonardo DiCaprio Biography (1974?-)] His mother moved from
Oer-Erkenschwick,
Germany, to the U.S. during her childhood, while his father is a fourth-generation American of half
Italian and half German descent.
[LEONARDO DICAPRIO; Scumsville superstar; HIS PARENTS WERE HIPPIES AND HE GREW UP IN THE POOREST PART OF TOWN.(Features) - The People (London, England) - HighBeam Research][Poverty and family split spurred Leo to pounds 3m a film Titanic stardo m; Gran tells of screen idol's battle.(Features) - The Mirror (London, England) - HighBeam Research] DiCaprio's parents met while attending
college together and subsequently moved to Los Angeles.
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.
