LEONARDO DICAPRIO BIOGRAPHY

Leonardo DiCaprio has been an international superstar since the box office megahit Titanic (1997, directed by James Cameron). In front of the camera since childhood, his first big role came in 1991, on the television series Growing Pains. As a young movie actor he won critical raves for his role in This Boy's Life (1993, with Robert DeNiro), and an Oscar nomination for What's Eating Gilbert Grape (1993, with Johnny Depp). His performance in 1996's Romeo and Juliet proved his bankability as a leading man and heartthrob, and after the success of Titanic (with Kate Winslet), DiCaprio became a favorite of the tabloids, with a party-boy reputation. He kept on working, however, and has since grown into one of Hollywood's top movie actors.

Along the way he appeared in Woody Allen's Celebrity (1998, with Gretchen Mol), starred in Steven Spielberg's Catch Me If You Can (2002, with Christopher Walken) and made movies with Martin Scorsese, including Gangs of New York (2002, co-starring Cameron Diaz), The Aviator (he was nominated for an Oscar for playing eccentric innovator Howard Hughes), The Departed (2006, starring Matt Damon) and Shutter Island (2009). His performance in Blood Diamond (2006, with Djimon Hounsou) brought him another Oscar nomination. His other films include The Basketball Diaries (1985), Revolutionary Road (2008, with Kate Winslet) and Inception (2010, co-starring Michael Caine).

Off-screen DiCaprio is an advocate for environmental protection, an issue he became publicly involved with after he and the makers of The Beach (2000) were criticized for the environmental impact their filming had on locations in Thailand.

* Born: Nov 11, 1974 in Los Angeles, California
* Occupation: Actor, Writer
* Active: '90s-2000s
* Major Genres: Drama, Comedy
* Career Highlights: What's Eating Gilbert Grape, Titanic, William Shakespeare's Romeo + Juliet
* First Major Screen Credit: Critters 3 (1991)