Leonardo DiCaprio Short biography
Leonardo Wilhelm DiCaprio (born November 11, 1974, in Los Angeles, California) is an American actor, film producer, and renowned environmental activist. He is the only child of George DiCaprio, a former comic book artist and distributor, and Irmelin Indenbirken, a former legal secretary. His parents separated shortly after his birth, and he was primarily raised by his mother in impoverished areas of East Los Angeles. DiCaprio began his career appearing in television commercials and educational films in the late 1980s. He gained early recognition for his recurring role on the sitcom Growing Pains (1991–1992) and earned his first Academy Award nomination at age 19 for his nuanced portrayal of a developmentally disabled teenager in What's Eating Gilbert Grape (1993). Beyond his acting career, he is dedicated to environmentalism, having established the Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation in 1998 and being designated a United Nations Messenger of Peace in 2014.
