Leonardo DiCaprio was born in Los Angeles on November 11, 1974, to
George and Irmelin DiCaprio. Irmelin, the story goes, was in a museum
and pregnant when she came upon the work of Leonardo Da Vinci and
felt a strong kick in her belly. At that point, she knew she had a
name for her future son.
Raised as an only child (he has a stepbrother named Adam), his parents divorced soon after Leo was born. His heritage is a mixture of German (mother) and Italian (father) and in spite of the divorce, Leo remained very close to his parents, as he is today.
Leo's dad is a producer of comic books and comic art and his mother was a legal secretary before becoming Leo's manager of affairs. Some have discribed the parents as your traditional 60's-type parents--liberal hippies. Leo found this to actually have a very stabilizing effect on himself growing up. "Whatever I did would be something they'd already done," Cappy once said. "I mean, my dad would welcome it if I got a nose ring."
Leo remembers growing up among such household guests as comic book artist and legend, Robert Crumb, cult poet/writer Charles Bukowski, and the novelist Hubert Selby, Jr. who came to visit his father.
"We're not the hippie family who only eats organic and the children meditate and go to a school of the arts," Leo once said. "But we're not apple-pie and Republican, either." Leo attended the Center for Enriched Studies and later, John Marshall High School in Los Angeles. Admittedly, school was not a primary interest in his life, and Cappy admits to being something of a dreamer when he should have been studying. His concentration was often someplace else, most notably acting. There, he had no troubles concentrating. At the age of five, Leo got his television debut in the children's show, Romper Room. However, he was deemed to be somewhat uncontollable on the set, and he was asked to leave.
However, DiCaprio hung in and his parents shuffled him around town for castings, auditions and general go-sees. He just wouldn't quit, despite being rejected for everything he went up for. Cappy even suffered the indignity of having one agent attempt to change his name from his original, ethnic-sounding name to Lenny Williams. Other attempts to give him a more traditional haircut also failed. DiCaprio was expressing his individualism even as a child, when conforming to the "proper" show business etiquette may have helped him.
If it delayed Leo's success, it vertainly helped him break into show business under his own terms. He eventually signed on with an agent at fourteen, and his path led him through dozens of obscure and almost ridiculous commercials. He even did industrial film, "How to Deal With a Parent Who Takes Drugs," and "Mickey's Safety Club."
Eventually, Cappy snagged some guest appearances on such television shows as "Lassie," "The Outsiders," "Roseanne," and "Parenthood." Though he's never caught bragging about it, Cappy got his first big screen credit in 1991, in the movie "Critters III," where his brief scenes earned no critical praise. His big break actually came back in the world of television, where Leo, at the age of 16, landed a long running, 24 episode recurring role as a homeless kid in the sitcom, "Growing Pains." It was in that series where Cappy simply blew the main star, Kirk Cameron right off the television screen, and the film world quickly took notice. The experience also gave him his first real taste of what it was like to be a working professional. It was an experience that helped Cappy mature, and convinced him beyond a shadow of a doubt that better things lie ahead for him.
It wasn't long after his work in "Growing Pains" that DiCaprio finally received the big break he was waiting for. This time, he beat out over 400 hoepfuls to play the part of Tobais Wolff in the film, "This Boy's Life". Not just any film, this movie would put Leo in a confrontational role opposite one of the greatest living actors (and one of Leo's idols), Robert DeNiro.
DiCaprio's work in this movie gained him instant recognition as one of the very best and brightest young actors working today. He handled the very difficult and emotional role with such aplomb, that even DeNiro was impressed with the young man. The film did not draw the kind of crowds DiCaprio would later draw with "Titanic," but his performance enabled him to gain the respect he needed to be considered for better and more respected roles.
Ultimately, he went on to star opposite Johnny Depp in "What's Eating Gilbert Grape?" where he played, Arnie, the developmentally challenged younger brother of Gilbert. DiCaprio's performance landed him an Oscar nomination for best supporting actor, and afforded him the pick of the litter when it came to great roles for young actors in Hollywood.
His choices have befuddled some, as DiCaprio often chooses more artistic, small films as opposed to playing the rold of Robin in "Batman Forever" which he turned down. "I want to take my time with each role," Cappy once said. "That's how you plan a long career rather than doing it all at once in a big explosion. I turned down a lot of movies about death and a few cheesy little comedies as well."
Leo knew well to take on the leading role of "Titanic" when many of those around him felt it was a bad idea to align himself with the potentially disastrous, big budget movie. The result, Leonardo has only become more popular than ever!
Leo himself probably put it best. "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 everyday."
Thanks to a great head on his shoulders, we can all look forward to following the changes in Leo's career for a long time to come!