American actor/film-producer Leonardo Wilhelm DiCaprio was born November 11, 1974 in Hollywood, California to parents George and Irmelin DiCaprio. Leonardo's father was a comic book artist who had achieved a minor status as an artist and distributor of cult comic books. Leonardo is an only child.

Although Leonardo DiCaprio began his career by appearing on a number of television commercials and educational programs, and then small roles in television programs, his first film debut was in Critters 3, a low-budget horror film. The horror film debut brought with it attention and DiCaprio landed a role on Growing Pains which would carry him for another year until the sitcom was axed.

In the early 90s, Leonardo took up a wide range of acting roles including a mentally challenged youth in What's Eating Gilbert Grape, a young gunslinger in The Quick and the Dead and a drug addict in one of his most challenging roles to date, Jim Carroll in The Basketball Diaries. From humble beginnings, few actors have had a career as diverse as Leonardo's who went from supporting cast member to a major teenage heart throb.

While the various roles helped establish DiCaprio's acting capabilities, it wasn't until DiCaprio starred as Romeo in Baz Luhrmann's Romei + Juliet and afterward in Titanic, that DiCaprio was elevated to superstar status and he became a houshold name. DiCaprio currently earns a salary of $20million a movie and is one of the biggest movie stars in the world.

Leonardo DiCaprio has received many awards, including a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor for his performance in The Aviator (2004). In addition, he has won a Silver Bear, a Chlotrudis Award and a Satellite Award among others, and has been nominated by the Academy Awards, Screen Actors Guild and the British Academy of Film and Television Arts.