by Michelle Graf

Created on: August 13, 2010

At age eighteen, a fresh faced young blond actor appeared in the TV sitcom 'Growing Pains".  His boyish looks allowed him to play much younger.  Although the series itself was on a downhill slide, the young actor's nuanced portrayal of a troubled boy taken in by the Seaver clan was quickly noticed.  It was 1992, and Leonard DiCaprio was taking his first steps toward super stardom.

Leonard DiCaprio was born on Armistice or Remembrance Day, November 11, 1974, to George and Irmelin DiCaprio.  George was a successful comic book artist, working with such cult favorites as Harvey Pekar.  Leonardo grew up in Hollywood, taking performing arts classes from elementary school and making his first television appearance at just five years old.  He obtained small guest roles in the hit sitcom Roseanne and a recurring role on the soap opera Santa Barbara while still attending Marshall High. 

His role on "Growing Pains" led to roles in indies such as "What's Eating Gilbert Grape" and "This Boys Life" , and, in 1996, his breakout role in Baz Luhrmann's "Romeo + Juliet".  But it was his portrayal of a brash young American on the doomed ship in James Cameron's "Titanic" that catapulted him into the stardom stratosphere.  While the ship may have sunk, the movie was a spectacular success, the first to earn over a billion dollars.  Just twenty-three, the young actor was suddenly thrust into the rarefied air of super stardom.  Suddenly, his life was no longer his own, with paparazzi and fans invading every corner of his life.  

He continued to choose his roles carefully, with a mix of smaller films and roles such as "The Beach" and "Celebrity".  His next major blockbuster would be "Gangs of New York" in 2002.  Significantly, this was his first partnership with Martin Scorsese.  The two would go on to work together in "The Aviator", "The Departed", and "Shutter Island".  He was awarded a Golden Globe for his portrayal of Howard Hughes in "The Aviator", and nominated for Academy Awards for his work in "Blood Diamond", "The Aviator" and "What's Eating Gilbert Grape?".

In recent years, Leo has expanded his repertoire to include writing and producing.  He is involved in several environmental organizations, and produced the 2007 documentary "The 11th Hour" about the state of the natural world today.  He has contributed his efforts and talents to several humanitarian campaigns to assist victims of September 11, hurricane Katrina, the Asian tsunami, and the Haitian earthquake. He is politically active, publicly supporting both John Kerry and Barack Obama in their respective presidential campaigns.

What's up for Leo next?  His film "Inception" is currently in the theaters with good reviews and great box office.  He has several possible roles in development, but in his words, "These last couple of films have taken a lot out of me so I don't know what I'm going to do next. I have no idea and it's kind of a cool place to be. This year is going to be the year of really taking care of myself because I've reached 35 and I've taken a lot of things seriously, maybe too seriously at times, so I'm going to make sure that whatever I do next and whatever choices I make are really right for me. And we'll see where that takes me."

Sources:  www.imdb.com

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