Leonardo Wilhelm DiCaprio (born November 11, 1974) is an Academy Award-nominated American actor well known for roles in blockbuster movies like Titanic (1997) and The Aviator (2004), and was famed for his far reaching global celebrity influence dubbed as 'Leo-Mania' in the late 1990s. DiCaprio was born in Los Angeles, California, the son of George DiCaprio, a half Italian-half German distributor of comic books, and Irmelin Idenbirkin, a former legal secretary who was born in Germany. His name allegedly came about because his pregnant mother was standing in front of a Leonardo da Vinci painting at a museum in Italy when he kicked, which made her decide to name him after the famous artist. His parents divorced when he was a year old. He grew up in Echo Park. |
