Leonardo Wilhelm DiCaprio

DiCaprio as the young
Howard Hughes in THE AVIATOR.
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The name DiCaprio may not sound very German, but Leonardo DiCaprio's middle name is Wilhelm, he speaks a little German, his mom is German, and his 90-year-old Oma (grandma) lives in Germany.

Leonardo Wilhelm DiCaprio, whose fame hit tsunami heights with Titanic, got his middle name from his late grandfather, who was a mineworker in Germany's coal-and-steel Ruhr region. Over the years Leonardo has remained close to his Oma Helene, spending many summers in the small German town of Oer-Erkenschwick where she lives, and inviting her to share special occasions—such as an on-location visit to Mexico during the filming for Titantic, and the London premiere of that huge hit film. More recently, Leo and Oma (along with his Brazilian girlfriend Gisele Bündchen) were seen in Cologne, Germany in November 2004 visiting the local chocolate museum. (According to granny, Leo is a big fan of museums.)

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Not that he's the total model citizen. DiCaprio smokes, he has been known to down a few drinks, and he has a reputation (deserved or otherwise) as a heavy partyer and something of a prankster on and off the set (deserved). In school he was more class clown than student (which earned him the horrible nickname of Leonardo Retardo). But he would rather hang with his pals—who call him D, Leo, or Noodle—than act on a movie set, so he can't be all bad. DiCaprio remains loyal to new and former friends. His so-called “posse” often goes with him, not only to shooting locations but also to exotic party locales. Once, DiCaprio spent a week in Cuba with his friends and the Canadian music star Alanis Morissette. Reportedly, Leo has insisted on a proviso in his contracts that the studio fly his friends to his film locations—first-class.

DiCaprio grew up in a down-at-the-heels neighborhood on the wrong side of the Hollywood tracks. He was an only child except for stepbrother Adam. His mom and dad separated before little Leo was talking (in either German or English). But the split-up was amicable, and Leonardo's parents were there to support the budding actor, who started his acting career when he was still in junior high school, appearing in commercials and doing the occasional bit part.

The cover of Grace Catalano's book about
"one of the best young actors around."

After roles in various television productions, DiCaprio appeared in Critters 3 (1991). His career survived that forgettable first movie, and he was able to make a better impression as Toby in the 1993 film This Boy's Life with Robert DeNiro. But it was his role as the retarded Arnie in What's Eating Gilbert Grape (1993) that led to an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor before he was 20. Although DiCaprio didn't win the award, the nomination did help him win increased recognition and respect. But Titanic was the blockbuster that DiCaprio had been looking for since his Gilbert Grape success, despite being left out of the 14 Academy Award nominations the picture received.

There has been much speculation on the source of DiCaprio's talent. At least part of it is hereditary. His dad, George DiCaprio, half German and half Italian, is an underground comic book artist. He has helped his son screen the steady stream of film scripts that come Leonardo's way. And who knows what else the young DiCaprio inherited from the rest of his German and Italian ancestors.

DiCaprio's mother, Irmelin Indenbirken (sometimes spelled In Den Birken), was born in a German air raid shelter in the midst of a World War II air raid. After the war, in the 1950s, she emigrated to the US with her parents as a young child. She lived with her family in New York City until she met George DiCaprio in college, married him, and moved to California. DiCaprio's maternal grandparents, Wilhelm and Helene Indenbirken, continued to live in the US for many years before returning to Germany to enjoy their retirement.

DiCaprio wisely resisted an agent's suggestion early in his acting career that he change his name to Lenny Williams. He is proud of his name (“Don't call me 'Leonard'! I hate that!”) and remains close to his extended family—mom, dad, and grandmother Helene in Germany. Irmelin often took young Leo on trips to Germany to visit his grandparents in Oer-Erkenschwick (in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia near Dortmund and Recklinghausen), and it was during these family reunions that he learned to speak a little German and enjoy aspects of German culture.

It was only a few years ago, long after he had already become a star and certified teenage heartthrob, that he stopped living at home with mom and got a place of his own. (But not before buying a new place for mom.) He can also easily afford his own $3.5-million Hollywood mansion. But with all his film work these days, he rarely gets to enjoy his fancy digs.

Leonardo DiCaprio in Catch Me If You Can. FOTO: Andrew Cooper/DreamWorks

DiCaprio traveled to Berlin for the German premiere of The Beach in February 2000 as part of the Berlin International Film Festival. The young actor is extremely popular in Germany, and his fans (mostly female) were on hand in great numbers at the 50th Berlinale to make Leonardo “willkommen” in Berlin. Some indications of the stir he caused: A news conference held for the film was broadcast live on local television; a Berlin tabloid offered 1,000 marks to any girl who could manage to steal a kiss from the American heartthrob. (No winners. Security was very tight.) During that same week, DiCaprio's face was on the cover of Stern magazine, Germany's biggest circulation illustrated weekly. At the Berlin news conference, DiCaprio commented on the Leomania he has to endure so often: “The love I have for acting far outweighs all that. What remains is the work you do as an actor. In 20 years I hope people will see my work.”

Reaction to DiCaprio in The Beach was mixed. Many critics described the film itself as “confused” or even “boring.” Most agree, however, that Dicaprio's acting abilities are strong, and the film represents a return to his previous darker work in Gilbert Grape or A Boy's Life. The Beach is about as “anti-Titanic” as you can get, and DiCaprio wanted it that way. Newsweek's analysis: “Dark and visceral, 'The Beach' is Leo's postadolescent rebellion against his preadolescent fans—a titanic kiss-off to Leomaniacs.” And DiCaprio took an almost two-year hiatus following Titanic before deciding to do The Beach, a film he felt wouldn't bore him after his Hollywood-pap experience.

His role in Steven Spielberg's Catch Me If You Can is slightly more conventional — if you can call the true story of con man Frank Abagnale, Jr. conventional. Although it was a little darker than I expected, and it started out slowly, I enjoyed this film in which Tom Hanks plays FBI agent Carl Hanratty, playing a cat-and-mouse game with DiCaprio's character. In Johnny Depp-like fashion, very reminiscent of Depp's character in Blow (complete with Boston accent), DiCaprio does an excellent job with this dysfunctional-family, con-man role.

His fans looked forward to his portrayal of billionaire Howard Hughes in The Aviator. DiCaprio convincingly played a young Hughes in 1940s Hollywood.

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