Leonardo DiCaprio biography

In Baz Luhrmann's modern retelling of Shakespeare's most famous tragic love story, Romeo + Juliet (1996), DiCaprio played Romeo to Claire Danes's Juliet.

'Titanic'

It was another tragic love story that helped propel DiCaprio's career to a new level in 1997. He s He co-starred with Kate Winslet in James Cameron's Titanic about the sinking of the legendary ocean liner Titanic in 1912. In the film, he plays Jack, a poor artist who falls for the rich and beautiful Rose (Winslet) on board. The couple faces danger not only from Rose's fiancé (Billy Zane), but the ship itself after it strikes an iceberg. Capture the splendor of the legendary ship and its brutal demise, the film's production budget topped more than $200 million.

Titanic became both a critical and commercial smash hit. It snapped up 14 Academy Award nominations and took home such distinctive honors as best picture and best director. Audiences flocked to the theaters to see this cinematic epic, driving the film to new box office records. Titanic earned more than $600 million in its initial domestic release, according to boxofficemojo.com.

The success of the film also showed that DiCaprio could handle traditional Hollywood leading man roles. He quickly became a world-famous celebrity with a growing following of admirers. His charm and youthful good looks helped him make People magazine's list of "50 Most Beautiful People"—in 1997 and 1998.

International Film Star

After Titanic, DiCaprio had a bit of a career slump. Both The Man in the Iron Mask (1998) and The Beach (2000) proved to be disappointments both financially and artistically. But DiCaprio soon bounced back. He demonstrated his range as an actor in two noteworthy films Catch Me if You Can and Gangs of New York. In Catch Me if You Can, DiCaprio plays a young con man who excels at forgery and impersonation. The historical drama Gangs of New York served as the first of many projects that DiCaprio would work on with famed director Martin Scorsese.

In The Aviator (2004), DiCaprio took on the challenge of playing one of America's most famous businessmen. He received another Academy Award nomination for his portrayal of the eccentric and later reclusive Howard Hughes. DiCaprio continued to impress critics and audiences alike with his daring roles. In 2006 he starred in a pair of well-received films Blood Diamond and The Departed. DiCaprio earned his third Academy Award nomination for Blood Diamond, a dramatic thriller about the pursuit of a precious gem in war-torn Sierra Leone. For the compelling Martin Scorsese-directed crime saga The Departed, he co-starred with Matt Damon and Jack Nicholson.

In 2008 DiCaprio reunited with Kate Winslet in Revolutionary Road, a tense film about a 1950s suburban couple that struggles to weather a myriad of personal problems. He explored a fantastical future in Christopher Nolan's Inception (2010) where technology allows people to invade the dreams of others. That same year, DiCaprio starred in Martin Scorsese's thriller Shutter Island.