Leonardo DiCaprio

Biography

DiCaprio grew up in Los Angeles and worked steadily as a child actor before Titanic turned him into a phenomenon at 23. Rather than coast on that fame, he spent the next two decades chasing demanding roles with directors like Scorsese, Nolan and Iñárritu — a strategy that made him both a box-office anchor and a critics' favourite.

American actor and film producer known for intense, acclaimed performances and for founding the Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation, focused on environmental causes.

Known for

Titanic, Inception, The Wolf of Wall Street and The Revenant.

Notable works & defining projects

• Titanic
• Inception
• The Wolf of Wall Street

Notable achievements

• Won the Academy Award for Best Actor for The Revenant (2015)
• Starred in Titanic (1997), among the highest-grossing films of all time
• Golden Globe winner for The Aviator, The Wolf of Wall Street and The Revenant

Timeline

1. 1993Breakthrough year: This Boy's Life and an Oscar nomination for What's Eating Gilbert Grape
2. 1997Titanic made him the biggest young star on the planet
3. 2016Won the Academy Award for The Revenant at his sixth nomination

Did you know?

• His parents named him Leonardo after he first kicked while his mother was looking at a Leonardo da Vinci painting in Florence — a story he has often retold
• He is an committed environmentalist whose foundation has supported projects in more than 40 countries