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Leonardo DiCaprio

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Leonardo DiCaprio to star in Casino Jack

Leonardo Wilhelm DiCaprio (born November 11, 1974) is a three-time Academy Award-nominated and Golden Globe Award-winning American actor who garnered world wide fame for his role as Jack Dawson in Titanic. DiCaprio has starred in many other successful feature films including William Shakespeare's Romeo + Juliet (1996), The Beach (2000), Catch Me If You Can (2002), and Blood Diamond (2006). He has appeared in Martin Scorsese's recent films, including Gangs of New York (2002), The Aviator (2004), and The Departed (2006), causing people to compare this relationship to the one actor Robert De Niro benefited from early on in his career.

Biography

Childhood

Leonardo DiCaprio was born in Los Angeles, California, the son of George DiCaprio, an underground comic artist and distributor of comic books, and Irmelin Indenbirken, a former legal secretary. His mother moved from Oer-Erkenschwick, Germany, to the U.S. during her childhood, while his father is of half Italian and half German descent. 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.

DiCaprio's parents divorced when he was one year old. He lived mostly with his mother, although his father was also around. During his childhood, he attended Canterbury Elementary School. He was interested in baseball cards, comic books and frequently visited museums, with his father. He also spent part of his childhood in Germany, where his maternal grandparents, Wilhelm and Helene, still lived. DiCaprio and his mother lived in several neighborhoods, such as Echo Park.

During his teen years, he lived at 1874 Hillhurst Avenue, Los Feliz district of Los Angeles, California (which was later converted into a local public library) and his mother worked several jobs to support them. He attended John Marshall High School, a few blocks away, before attending the Los Angeles Center for Enriched Studies.

DiCaprio was inspired to become an actor after Adam Starr, a stepson of his father’s from his father's re-marriage, began appearing in commercials. DiCaprio began looking for an agent at the age of twelve, but was initially turned down several times; one agent suggested that he anglicize his name to “Lenny Williams”, which DiCaprio rejected.

Early career

DiCaprio’s acting career began in 1989 when he was cast in the role of Garry Buckman on the TV version of the film Parenthood, where he met Tobey Maguire, with whom he remains close friends. In that same year, DiCaprio appeared on the soap opera Santa Barbara in the role of Mason Capwell (in flashbacks as a teenager). From 1991 to 1992 he had the role of Luke Brower, a homeless boy, on Growing Pains.

However, DiCaprio is most famous for his roles in motion pictures. His debut role was as Josh in Critters 3 (1991), a film with a limited theatrical release, which was released on video soon after.

Two years later, his breakthrough came with the role of Toby in This Boy's Life (1993) co-starring with Robert De Niro and Ellen Barkin, which led the New York Film Critics and the National Society of Film Critics to name him runner-up for Best Supporting Actor. In the same year he also portrayed a mentally handicapped boy in What's Eating Gilbert Grape (1993). The role earned him an Academy Award nomination at the age of 19.

In 1995, he starred in Total Eclipse, a fictionalized account of the passionate and violent homosexual relationship between the two 19th century French poets, Paul Verlaine (David Thewlis) and Arthur Rimbaud (Leonardo DiCaprio). River Phoenix was originally cast as the lead in the film, but after his 1993 death, DiCaprio was cast.

The black-and-white movie Don's Plum, a low-budget drama featuring the actor and some of his friends (including Tobey Maguire) was filmed between 1995 and 1996. Its release was later blocked in the United States and Canada by DiCaprio and Maguire, who argued they never intended to make it a theatrical feature. Nevertheless, it later premiered on February 9, 2001 in Berlin.

In 1995 he starred as Jim Carroll, a heroin addict in The Basketball Diaries. In 1996, DiCaprio also played the male lead in Romeo + Juliet, a slick and updated modern-day version of William Shakespeare's play, directed by Australian director Baz Luhrmann. DiCaprio was reportedly so dedicated to the project, he flew coach class, for free to Australia a year before production started to workshop the film. Following Romeo + Juliet, in 1996 DiCaprio starred in Marvin's Room along side Meryl Streep and Diane Keaton.

Superstardom and "Leo-Mania"

The move from "star" to "superstar" came when DiCaprio played Jack Dawson in the 1997 blockbuster Titanic, the highest grossing movie ever (in nominal terms—adjusted for inflation it is the sixth highest in the United States, while remaining the highest grossing movie worldwide). It also received eleven Academy Awards. Over the course of the next few years he would become a household name worldwide, synonymous with labels such as "teenage heart-throb" and sex symbol. People placed him in their annual "Most Beautiful People" issue on numerous occasions. At the peak of his celebrity in 1998, DiCaprio fronted scores of magazine covers ranging from Vanity Fair to Rolling Stone,[2] and was once the most searched for personality in the early years of the Internet. DiCaprio agreed to play the spoof role of his real life "teen idol" persona during this period, in Woody Allen's satirical parody, Celebrity. What came apropos with fame were tales in the tabloids of excesses and indulgence. In the Japanese media, he was referred to as Leo-sama (???), with the "sama" suffix given to show the utmost respect. Time summed up the fame superhighway and its trappings in an interview with the actor in 2000, reporting:

DiCaprio still thinks of himself as an edgy indie actor, not the Tiger Beat cover boy. "I have no connection with me during that whole Titanic Phenomenon and what my face became around the world," DiCaprio commented, adding, "I'll never reach that state of popularity again, and I don't expect to. It's not something I'm going to try to achieve either."

Nonetheless, the headlines and controversy failed to let up, peaking when he starred in a project by Danny Boyle based on Alex Garland's backpacker cult classic The Beach that year. Because of clashes with the Thai authorities over the use of the island of Ko Phi Phi in 1999, the film garnered more bad press than expected. It was reported that permission granted to the film company to physically alter the environment inside Phi Phi Islands National Park was illegal. In the end, the film also did not score as well as expected at the box office, losing mainstream commercial appeal due to its content.

Critically acclaimed acting

In 2002, DiCaprio began a shift away from his stereotypical image and moved to engage himself with critically acclaimed directors by starring in two epic movies: Gangs of New York (directed by Martin Scorsese), and Catch Me If You Can (directed by Steven Spielberg). Both films were very well received by critics. Forging a collaboration with Scorsese, the two paired again for a biopic of American businessman Howard Hughes in The Aviator, a film that scored DiCaprio a second Academy Award nomination, for Best Actor.

DiCaprio continued his run with Scorsese (some claim him to be Scorsese's "new De Niro") in the 2006 film The Departed as Billy Costigan, a smart undercover cop in Boston. His next film was Blood Diamond, released on December 8, 2006. While the film itself received mixed reviews, DiCaprio was praised for the authenticity of his Zimbabwean Afrikaaner accent, known as a difficult accent of English to emulate. He is also reported to have purchased the rights to Blink, Malcolm Gladwell's book on the power and validity of first impressions, in order to produce a film based on it.

Cruise/Wagner Productions, Tom Cruise's film production company, is said to be developing a screenplay based on Erik Larson's New York Times bestseller The Devil in the White City, about H. H. Holmes, a serial killer at the 1893 Chicago World's Fair. Meanwhile, DiCaprio's production company, Appian Way Productions, is also developing a film about Holmes and the World's Fair, in which DiCaprio will star.

In 2006, the Golden Globes and Broadcast Film Critics Association nominated DiCaprio twice in the same category: Best Actor for Blood Diamond and The Departed, which is an extremely rare honor for actors. Also in the same year, he received two nominations for the Screen Actors Guild Awards, a lead actor nomination for Blood Diamond and a supporting actor nomination for The Departed. He earned an Oscar nomination for lead actor in Blood Diamond and a BAFTA nod for lead actor for The Departed.

After working in two Warner Brothers films, DiCaprio will again star in a WB production for a film about the collapse of Enron, based on the book Conspiracy of Fools. The film's script is currently under negotiations.

He is also reportedly attached to a number of other upcoming projects, including The Chancellor Manuscript, Stephen Gaghan’s Blink, a biopic of LSD-spokesperson Professor Timothy Leary, and two projects in collaboration with Martin Scorsese, Shutter Island, an adaptation of a novel by Dennis Lehane, and The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt. All projects are in the developmental stages.

On March 22, 2007, DiCaprio signed on to re-team with his Titanic co-star, Kate Winslet, on an adaptation of Richard Yates’s critically-lauded 1961 novel Revolutionary Road. The film of the same name is being directed by Winslet’s husband, Sam Mendes and was adapted for the screen by Justin Haythe. They are currently shooting in New York City.

In addition to an already impressive career, DiCaprio is currently ranked the 5th Best Working Actor Today by The Screen Directory. In May 2007, DiCaprio was listed among Time Magazine’s 100 Most Influential People in The World.

Personal life

A committed environmentalist, DiCaprio has received praise from environmental groups for opting to fly on commercial flights instead of chartering private jets, which use more fuel. He has also mentioned that he drives a hybrid car and that his house has solar panels. His actions have inspired other celebrities, such as Orlando Bloom and Penelope Cruz. In an article in Ukula about his new film 11th Hour (which he co-wrote, co-produced and narrated), DiCaprio cites global warming as "the number one environmental challenge." DiCaprio and former vice-president Al Gore announced at the 2007 Oscar ceremony that the Oscars had incorporated environmentally intelligent practices throughout the planning and production processes, thus affirming their commitment to the environment. On July 7, 2007, DiCaprio presented at the American leg of Live Earth. During the 2004 Presidential election, DiCaprio campaigned and donated to John Kerry's presidential bid.

In 1998, he and his mother donated $35,000 for a state-of-the-art “Leonardo DiCaprio Computer Center” at the Los Feliz branch of the Los Angeles Public Library (1874 Hillhurst Avenue) which happens to be the site of his childhood home. It was rebuilt after the 1994 Northridge earthquake, and opened in early 1999. There are commemorative placards and curious fans are welcomed at the library.

During the filming of Blood Diamond, DiCaprio worked with 24 orphaned children from the SOS Children's Village in Maputo, Mozambique, and was said to be extremely touched by his interactions with the children.

DiCaprio owns a home in Los Angeles and an apartment in New York. He bought an island in Belize where he is planning to create an eco-friendly resort.

On January, 2008, extradition processes began against Aretha Wilson, 37, who escaped to Toronto, Canada after seriously injuring Leonardo DiCaprio with a broken beer bottle at a June 20, 2005 Hollywood Hills party. She also has pending aggravated assault cases.

Awards and nominations

Academy Award

* Nominated: Best Supporting Actor, What's Eating Gilbert Grape (1993)
* Nominated: Best Actor, The Aviator (2004)
* Nominated: Best Actor, Blood Diamond (2006)

BAFTA Award

* Nominated: Best Actor, The Aviator (2005)
* Nominated: Best Actor, The Departed (2007)

Golden Globe Award

* Nominated: Best Supporting Actor - Motion Picture, What's Eating Gilbert Grape (1994)
* Nominated: Best Actor - Motion Picture Drama, Titanic (1998)
* Nominated: Best Actor - Motion Picture Drama, Catch Me If You Can (2003)
* Won: Best Actor - Motion Picture Drama, The Aviator (2005)
* Nominated: Best Actor - Motion Picture Drama, The Departed (2007)
* Nominated: Best Actor - Motion Picture Drama, Blood Diamond (2007) (Credit: Wikipedia).

Websites

Leonardo DiCaprio official website

Leonardo DiCaprio Official Eco-site

Official MySpace

Official DiCaprio Environmental Eleventh Hour film site

Internet Movie Database

Profiles

The 11th Hour

Live Earth

Environmentalists and the environment

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