Leonardo DiCaprio
Leonardo Wilhelm Di Caprio was born on the 11th November, 1974 in Los Angeles California. He is an American actor and film producer. He attended Seeds Elementary School and John Marshall High School. The first major movie Di Caprio starred in was This Boys Life alongside Robert De Niro. In 1993 Di Caprio was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role in What’s eating Gilbert Grape. In 1997 he achieved International Fame after starring in James Cameron's Titanic, which became the highest grossing movie at the time. From 2000 onwards he has starred in a number of high profile films including Gangs of New York (2002), The Departed (2006), Inception (2010) and Django Unchained (2012).
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Engagement in Cultural Diplomacy
Leonardo has built a great understanding with some of the greatest leaders and Thinkers on the Planet in order to engage with them on the main issues we face including climate change, access to clean water, protecting biodiversity, ocean conservation and disaster relief. Additionally Leonardo has produced a number of short films with the intention of communicating the urgency of these issues to the public.
Humanitarian Causes
Di Caprio and his mother donated $35, 000 for a Leonardo Di Caprio Computer Centre ‘ at the Los Feliz branch of the Los Angeles Public Library. Upon filming Blood Diamond in 2010, Di Caprio worked with 24 orphaned children from the SOS Children’s Village in Maputo, Mozambique. After 2010, he donated $1 million to relief efforts in Haiti after the earthquake. In 2013, Di Caprio donated $61,000 to GLAAD, an organisation which promotes the image of LGBT people in the media.
Philanthropic Donations
In 1998, Di Caprio set up the ‘Leonardo Di Caprio’ foundation. The foundation is dedicated to protecting the remaining wild places of the Earth and attempting to find solutions that create a peaceful relationship between humanity and the natural world. The foundation mainly focuses on areas concerning land, oceans and species conservation, climate change and disaster relief. Recent philanthropic efforts include: Protecting tigers from extinction in Nepal, saving the last rainforests, protecting the oceans, saving sharks, protecting Antarctica and providing access to clean water for the people of Tanzania, Mozambique, Sierra Leone and Darfur. Leonardo also currently serves on the board of the [www.worldwildlife.org World Wildlife Fund], Oceans 5, Pristine Seas, The Natural Resource Defense Council and International Fund for Animal Welfare.
Notable Actions
On September 16th, 2014 Di Caprio was appointed as a United Nations Representative on Climate Change.
Further Information
Leonardo Di Caprio (UN Messenger of Peace) speech at the opening of the 2014 Climate Summit
External Links
Leonardo di caprio official website world wildlife biography
