Leonardo Wilhelm DiCaprio was born November 11, 1974 to George and Irmelin DiCaprio. He was named after Leonardo Da Vinci because while his mom was pregnant with Leo she saw a picture by him and Leo kicked. He is also named after his grandfather, whose middle name was Leon.
When Leo was one his parents got divorced. Leo lived with his mom. But his parents vowed to stay friends and both take care of him. Leo thinks he's a lot luckier than most kids with divorced parents. "My dad has always been there for me. I've never missed out on a so-called normal father-son relationship because I saw him anytime I wanted. Before I could drive he took me to all my auditions and helped me start my career. We've always had a lot of fun together."(Leonardo DiCaprio:Modern Day Romeo, Catalano, 9)
Since his mom was from Germany, she took him seven times to go see his family there. She helped him out by teaching him German. The first words he learned were Oma (grandma) and Opa (grandpa).
Leo's first acting experience was when he was five. He was supposed to be on the TV show "Romper Room," a preschool show. He was fired his very first day of work there for disruptive behavior.
When Leo was fourteen, he decided to try acting again. He wanted to earn some extra money so his mom could live better. His stepbrother Adam Starr had just starred in a Golden Grahams commercial. So Leo thought he had found out how to earn the money. Soon he joined an acting agency where a family friend worked. Soon he was in his first commercial. He played a 10 year old boy in love with Matchbox cars.
When commercials got boring, Leonardo started finding different places to work. He started working in the educational films "Mickey's Safety Club" and "How to Deal with a Parent Who Takes Drugs", then soon started guest appearing on episodes of "The New Adventures of Lassie" and "The Outsiders." Still Leo wanted a role he could keep longer. His dream came true when he was cast as a teenage alcoholic on "Santa Barbara", a soap opera. But that job was only intended to last a few months. Just as that job ended, he was cast as Garry Buckman on "Parenthood." Parenthood was based on the popular movie, but the show wasn't so lucky. It was canceled after only 4 months!
With his popularity gaining with the girls, Leo was cast into a popular television series "Growing Pains." 
He would play a homeless boy named Luke Bower. This was his big break. While he was working on Growing pains, he achieved teen idol status. To help him out with this he turned to another teen idol, Kirk Cameron. "He gave me a constant positive perspective on life."(Leonardo DiCaprio:A Biography, Krulik, 13) Leo says about Kirk, but after just one season, Growing Pains ended.
Leo already had plans. He was only 16 and cast in the film "This Boys Life" with Robert Deniro. After the success of this movie, Leo never went back to TV. His futer in acting was found in the movies. 
Leo went on to play in many more movies, including Critters 3, Poison Ivy, This Boy's Life, What's eating Gilber Grape, Total Eclipse, The Foot Shooting Party, The Quick and the Dead, The Basketball Diaries, Romeo and Juliet, Marvins Room, Don's Plum, and Titanic.
At the age of 23, Leo has accomoplished more than most actors accomplish in their lifetime. He has been very succesful and will continue to be.
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