Leonardo DiCaprio

Leonardo Wilhelm DiCaprio 

11 November 1974

An American actor and film producer. DiCaprio's parents met while attending college and subsequently moved to Los Angeles. He was named Leonardo because his pregnant mother was looking at a Leonardo da Vinci painting in a museum in Italy when DiCaprio first kicked. His parents divorced when he was a year old, and he lived mostly with his mother. The two lived in several Los Angeles neighborhoods, such as Echo Park, and at 1874 Hillhurst Avenue, Los Feliz district (which was later converted into a local public library), while his mother worked several jobs to support them. He attended Seeds Elementary School and John Marshall High School a few blocks away, after attending the Los Angeles Center for Enriched Studies for four years. However, he dropped out of high school following his third year, eventually earning his general equivalency diploma (GED). DiCaprio spent part of his childhood in Germany with his maternal grandparents, Wilhelm and Helene. He speaks German fluently.

DiCaprio started his career by appearing in television commercials prior to landing recurring roles in TV series such as the soap opera "Santa Barbara" and the sitcom "Growing Pains" in the early 1990s. His major movie debut was in "This Boy's Life" (1993) alongside Robert De Niro. DiCaprio obtained recognition for his subsequent work in a supporting role in "What's Eating Gilbert Grape" (1993), along with a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor. He gained further recognition with leading roles in "The Basketball Diaries" (1995) and "Romeo + Juliet" (1996), before achieving international fame in James Cameron's "Titanic" (1997), which became the highest grossing movie at the time. 

Since the 2000s, DiCaprio has received critical acclaim for his work in such films as "Catch Me If You Can" (2002), "Gangs of New York" (2002), "Blood Diamond" (2006), "The Departed" (2006), "Revolutionary Road" (2008), "Shutter Island" (2010), "Inception" (2010), and "Django Unchained" (2012). DiCaprio owns a production company named Appian Way Productions.

A committed environmentalist, DiCaprio has received praise from environmental groups for his activism. He owns an electric Tesla Roadster, a Fisker Karma plug-in hybrid, and a Toyota Prius. He has also installed solar panels on his house. In an interview with Ukula about his film the "11th Hour", DiCaprio cited global warming as "the number-one environmental challenge".

He has been nominated for five Academy Awards and ten Golden Globe Awards including winning Golden Globes for Best Actor in a Drama for "The Aviator" (2004) and the Best Actor in a Musical or Comedy for "The Wolf of Wall Street" (2013). He has also been nominated by the Screen Actors Guild, Satellite Awards, and the British Academy of Film and Television Arts.
In 2015, DiCaprio played fur trapper Hugh Glass in the survival drama "The Revenant", for which he won the Academy Award for Best Actor.

As actor, producer

• Critters 3 (1991)
• Poison Ivy (1992)
• This Boy's Life (1993)
• What's Eating Gilbert Grape (1993)
• One Hundred and One Nights (1995)
• The Quick and the Dead (1995)
• The Basketball Diaries (1995)
• Total Eclipse (1995)
• Romeo + Juliet (1996)
• Marvin's Room (1996)
• Titanic (1997)
• The Man in the Iron Mask (1998)
• Celebrity (1998)
• The Beach (2000)
• Don's Plum (2001)
• Catch Me If You Can (2002)
• Gangs of New York (2002)
• The Aviator (2004)
• The Assassination of Richard Nixon (2004)
• The Departed (2006)
• Blood Diamond (2006)
• The 11th Hour (2007)
• Gardener of Eden (2007)
• Body of Lies (2008)
• Revolutionary Road (2008)
• Orphan (2009)
• Shutter Island (2010)
• Hubble 3D (2010)
• Inception (2010)
• Red Riding Hood (2011)
• The Ides of March (2011)
• J. Edgar (2011)
• Django Unchained (2012)
• The Great Gatsby (2013)
• Runner Runner (2013)
• Out of the Furnace (2013)
• The Wolf of Wall Street (2013)
• Virunga (2014)
• Cowspiracy (2015)
• The Revenant (2015)
• The Audition (2015)
• Cowspiracy (2015)
• The Ivory Game (2016)
• Before the Flood (2016)
• Live by Night (2016)
• Before the Flood (2016)

Quotations

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I'm not the kind of person who tries to be cool or trendy, I'm definitely an individual.

* * *

To believe in love, to be ready to give up anything for it, to be willing to risk your life for it, is the ultimate tragedy.

* * *

If you can do what you do best and be happy, you're further along in life than most people.

* * *

I grew up when I was 15 when I had my first opportunity in movies. I watched every great movie for a year and a half, and since then I've asked myself how I can emulate such artistry. That's really my motivation. I want to do something as good as my heroes have done.

* * *

My mother is a walking miracle.

* * *

I don't see why I can't have friends of both sexes without wild rumors being circulated. It's crazy.

* * *

School, I never truly got the knack of. I could never focus on things I didn't want to learn.

* * *

I prefer ordinary girls - you know, college students, waitresses, that sort of thing. Most of the girls I go out with are just good friends. Just because I go out to the cinema with a girl, it doesn't mean we are dating.

* * *

I really don't know what I'm doing... I don't. It's terrible. I go in there and I learn how to be like the character and do the best I can, and that's all I really do.

* * *

I just really love doing what I do. I know every career is fleeting and there will be time periods when I don't get the opportunities that I'm getting right now, so I am taking advantage of them.

* * *

I don't think I ever expected anything like an Oscar ever, to tell you the truth. That is not my motivation when I do these roles. I really am motivated by being able to work with great people and create a body of work that I can look back and be proud of.

* * *

My father, George, has also affected the choices in my life regarding films. I like films that take chances or say something different or experiment. Growing up with him, I was surrounded by different artists - not just actors or film-makers but cartoonists, poets, writers.

* * *

I was always the kid in school who tried to get attention, not necessarily the class clown, but I'd do little unexpected performances.

* * *

My mom, Irmelin, taught me the value of life. Her own life was saved by my grandmother during World War II.

* * *

Drugs? Every one has a choice and I choose not to do drugs.

* * *

I want to be a jerk like the rest of my friends, and have fun, and not care about the consequences, but I just can't now.

* * *

I like to be able to play a character and act out a lot of things which I can't or don't do in my normal everyday life.

* * *

I've always been spontaneous and outgoing... I've tried lots of things so I've got some good life experiences, which is great 'cause it means I've got lots of material to work with as an actor.

* * *

I've managed to keep a clear head and remain sane in this business because I remain a kid off-camera.

* * *

Meryl Streep does things I would never have thought possible... Her presence on screen is outstanding.

* * *

I realise that I do not change the course of history. I am an actor, I do a movie, that's the end of it. You have to realise we are just clowns for hire. After I had success it was great, at first, not to worry about money. It was on my mind when I was growing up.

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