birthday: November 11, 1974

birth place: Los Angeles, CA

favorites:

book:

The Old Man by the Sea by Ernest Hemingway

food:

pasta

drink:

lemonade

colors:

black and purple

sports:

basketball and baseball

movie:

all three Godfather films

actors:

Robert De Niro, Jack Nicholson, and Meg Ryan

bands:

Pink Floyd, The Beatles, and Led Zeppelin

Leonardo DiCaprio is mix of Italian and German. His mother,Irmalin, is is a German while his father, George, is an Italian. Leonardo was the only child of Irmalin and Goerge. Unfortunately, his parents were divorced since his first year of birth. However, both of his parents supported his acting career. His father screens the scripts while his mother handles finance.

Leo studied in L.A. at the Center for Enriched Studies and John Marshell High School. However, Leo seemed to have little interest in school. He often cheated in school, especially in Math. Entertaining his classmates seemed more interesting than doing his homework.

When Leo was five years old, Leo made his first acting debut in a television show called Romper's Room. Unfortunately, he was kicked off the show for his uncontrollable behavior. He recalled, "I was the nuttiest little kid, I'd smack the camera and jump around. They couldn't control me." At the age of ten, he was rejected by an agent for having the wrong haircut. The agent even suggested him to change his name to Lenny Williams. That day on his way home from the casting call, he cried to his father, "Dad, I really want to become an actor, but if this is what it's all about I don't want to do it." Leo remembered that his father putting his arm around him and said, "Someday, Leonardo, it will happen for you. Remember these words. Just relax."

At his age of fourteen, he decided to give acting another try. This time, he landed in commercials and bite parts on television shows like Santa Barbara,a The Outsiders, Roseanne, The Critters Three, and The New Lassie. He also made some educational films, including Mickey's Safety Club and How To Deal With a Parent Who Takes Drugs. In 1991, when he was 16, he finally landed in a sucessful role of the homeless boy in the television show Growing Pains.