Celebrity Updates

Date of Birth: November 11, 1974

Leonardo DiCaprio Quote(s): "I'm the king of the world!"

At age five, Leonardo Di'Caprio appeared on the educational children's TV series "Romper Room" and was nearly thrown off for misbehaving. After several commercials and a recurring "Growing Pains" (1985) role, his big break came with "This Boy's Life" (1993). He co-starred with Robert DeNiro and Ellen Barkin and was well on his way to super-stardom as a teen heart-throb.Leo has received praise and award nominations for his choice of difficult parts such as Arnie in "What's Eating Gilbert Grape" (1993), Jim Carroll in "The Basketball Diaries" (1995) and Rimbaud in "Total Eclipse" (1995). He cemented his place in Hollywood hearts and minds as Jack Dawson in the highest grossing film to date, "Titanic" (1997).

During his teen years, he lived at 1874 Hillhurst Avenue, Los Feliz district of Los Angeles, California (which was later converted into a local public library) and his mother worked several jobs to support them. He attended John Marshall High School, a few blocks away, before attending the Los Angeles Center for Enriched Studies.Two years later, his breakthrough came with the role of Toby in This Boy's Life (1993) co-starring with Robert De Niro and Ellen Barkin, which led the New York Film Critics and the National Society of Film Critics to name him runner-up for Best Supporting Actor. In the same year he also portrayed a mentally handicapped boy in What's Eating Gilbert Grape (1993). The role earned him an Academy Award nomination at the age of 19.Nonetheless, the headlines and controversy failed to let up, peaking when he starred in a project by Danny Boyle based on Alex Garland's backpacker cult classic The Beach that year. Because of clashes with the Thai authorities over the use of the island of Ko Phi Phi in 1999, the film garnered more bad press than expected. It was reported that permission granted to the film company to physically alter the environment inside Phi Phi Islands National Park was illegal. In the end, the film also did not score as well as expected at the box office, losing mainstream commercial appeal due to its content.He is also reportedly attached to a number of other upcoming projects, including The Chancellor Manuscript, Stephen Gaghan’s Blink, a biopic of LSD-spokesperson Professor Timothy Leary, and two projects in collaboration with Martin Scorsese, Shutter Island, an adaptation of a novel by Dennis Lehane, and The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt. All projects are in the developmental stages.Dicaprio owns a home in Los Angeles and an apartment in New York. He bought an island in Belize where he is planning to create an eco-friendly resort.