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Image: Leonardo Dicaprio

Fall

Life and times of Leo

Actor Leonardo DiCaprio has come a long way from “Growing Pains.” He’s played gangsters, gamblers, kings and con men during his lively Hollywood career.

/ 38 PHOTOS
Image: Leonardo DiCaprio

'The Wolf of Wall Street'

Leonardo DiCaprio as Jordan Belfort in a scene from "The Wolf of Wall Street." The movie is based on the true story of Jordan Belfort, from his rise to a wealthy stockbroker living the high life to his fall involving crime, corruption and the federal government.

Mary Cybulski / Paramount Pictures
Image: The Academy Of Motion Picture Arts And Sciences Hosts An Official Academy Members Screening Of The Wolf Of Wall Street

Movie discussion

Moderator Brian Rose, director Martin Scorsese and actor Leonardo DiCaprio attend the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Official Academy Members screening of 'The Wolf Of Wall Street' at the Academy Theater at Lighthouse International in New York on December 18, 2013.

Cindy Ord / Getty Images North America
Image: BESTPIX - Giorgio Armani Presents: The Wolf Of Wall Street World Premiere

World premiere

Actors Jonah Hill and Leonardo DiCaprio attends "The Wolf Of Wall Street" world premiere at the Ziegfeld Theatre in New York on Dec. 17, 2013..

Stephen Lovekin / Getty Images North America

'The Great Gatsby'

Leonardo DiCaprio plays Jay Gatsby and Carey Mulligan his beloved Daisy Buchanan in Baz Luhrmann's 2013 film of F. Scott Fitzgerald's famed novel.

The Weinstein Company With The Hollywood Reporter, Samsung Galaxy And The Cinema Society Host A Screening Of \"Django Unchained\"  - Arrivals

Red-carpet man

DiCaprio attends a screening of "Django Unchained" in New York on Dec. 11, 2012. The actor said that the role, in which he must mistreat slaves, made him uncomfortable, but he knew he had to take it.

Stephen Lovekin / Getty Images North America
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'Django Unchained'

In "Django Unchained," DiCaprio plays a cruel plantation owner, Calvin Candie, who stages fights to the death between his slaves.

Andrew Cooper
69th Annual Golden Globe Awards - Arrivals

Golden night

DiCaprio looked dapper in black tie at the Golden Globe Awards on Jan. 15, 2012. He was nominated for best actor for his role in "J. Edgar," but lost to George Clooney, who starred in "The Descendants."

Jason Merritt / Getty Images North America
Image: Actor Leonardo DiCaprio poses at the opening night gala for AFI Fest 2011 in Hollywood

Man of a thousand faces

DiCaprio, here posing at the premiere of "J. Edgar," likes playing enigmatic characters. "When I can't immediately define the character, and there's an element of mystery to it and still a lot to be explored, that's when I say yes," says the actor.

Fred Prouser / X00224
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Deep thoughts

DiCaprio is almost unrecognizable as an aging J. Edgar Hoover in Clint Eastwood's 2011 film "J. Edgar," which focuses on the career and private life of the former FBI director.

Image: DiCaprio poses with co-stars Cotillard and Page at the premiere of \"Inception\" at the Grauman's Chinese theatre in Hollywood

He must be dreaming

DiCaprio, center, poses with his "Inception" co-stars Marion Cotillard, right, and Ellen Page at the premiere of the film at Grauman's Chinese theatre in Hollywood, Calif., on July 13, 2010.

Mario Anzuoni / X90045
Image: Leonardo DiCaprio

Mind over matter

DiCaprio is shown in a scene from "Inception." The thriller, directed by "Dark Knight" mastermind Christopher Nolan, took the top spot at the box office with a $60.4 million haul the weekend of July 16-18, 2010.

DiCaprio plays Dom Cobb, a thief skilled in the art of extraction, stealing valuable secrets from deep within the subconscious during the dream state. It has made him an international fugitive and cost him everything he has ever loved.

Melissa Moseley / Warner Bros.
ASHECLIFFE

Isle of mystery

Leonardo DiCaprio stars in 2010's "Shutter Island," based on the Dennis Lehane novel. DiCaprio plays a U.S. marshal who's sent to investigate the escape of a murderous patient from an island insane asylum. But are things really what they appear to be?

Image: Hope For Haiti Now: A Global Benefit For Earthquake Relief - Los Angeles

Hello, this is Leo

Robert De Niro, DiCaprio and Jack Nicholson were among the Hollywood stars answering donation phone calls at the Hope For Haiti Now telethon on Jan. 22, 2010, in Los Angeles.

Handout / Getty Images North America
Orlando Magic v Los Angeles Lakers

Watching some hoops

DiCaprio and his girlfriend, Israeli model Bar Rafaeli, attend a game between the Orlando Magic and the Los Angeles Lakers at Staples Center on Jan. 18, 2010, in Los Angeles. DiCaprio is that rare figure among Hollywood actors -- a native Angeleno.

Andrew D. Bernstein / NBAE
US actor Leonardo DiCaprio arrives at th

On the 'Road'

DiCaprio arrives at the European premiere of his 2008 film "Revolutionary Road" at Leicester Square, London, on Jan. 18, 2009. He plays a suburban 1950s husband whose life meets with tragedy when he and his wife cannot realize their dreams.

Carl De Souza / AFP

Before it all broke

DiCaprio starred with Kate Winslet in "Revolutionary Road," based on the novel by Richard Yates. Time magazine named the book one of the 100 best English-language novels from 1923 to the present. The film reunited DiCaprio and Winslet, who were loved by millions in 1997 as ill-fated "Titanic" lovers Jack and Rose.

Body of Lies (2008)  Crowe plays Ed Hoffman, the manipulative CIA boss who teams with operative Roger Ferris (DiCaprio) to trap a dangerous Al Qaeda leader by planting a false rumor that the bomber is in cahoots with the Americans.

I spy

In 2008, DiCaprio starred as a CIA officer chasing terrorists in Iraq in "Body of Lies."

Blood Diamond (2006)

The African adventure is set in Sierra Leone circa 1999, a time when the nation was in the midst of a horrific civil war. DiCaprio plays the role of a smuggler who specializes in the sale of \"blood diamonds,\" also known as \"conflict diamonds\" -- the precious stones used to finance rebellions, privateers and terrorists.

When the smuggler encounters an indigenous Mende farmer whose young son has disappeared into the RUF's army of child soldiers, the two men's fates become linked.

A diamond is forever

In 2006's "Blood Diamond," DiCaprio played a smuggler who specializes in the sale of conflict diamonds, the precious stones used to finance rebellions, privateers and terrorists.

The Departed (2006)
 'The Departed' is set in South Boston, where the state police force is waging war on organized crime. Young undercover cop Billy Costigan (Leonardo DiCaprio) is assigned to infiltrate the mob syndicate run by gangland chief Costello (Jack Nicholson). While Billy is quickly gaining Costello's confidence, Colin Sullivan (Matt Damon), a hardened young criminal who has infiltrated the police department.

Powerhouse performance

Award nominations and recognition flooded in for DiCaprio's performance in 2006's "The Departed," where the young actor held his own against veteran Jack Nicholson.

US actors Leonardo DiCaprio (C) and Vera

Red-carpet rendezvous

DiCaprio, "Departed" co-star Vera Farmiga and director Martin Scorsese posed for pictures at the Rome film festival on Oct. 15, 2006.

Tiziana Fabi / AFP
77th Annual Academy Awards - Arrivals

Model behavior

Before she wed and had a son with quarterback Tom Brady, Brazilian supermodel Gisele Bundchen dated DiCaprio. They attended the Academy Awards together on Feb. 27, 2005, in Los Angeles. DiCaprio was nominated for best actor for his role as Howard Hughes in "The Aviator," but lost out to Jamie Foxx's starring role as Ray Charles in "Ray."

Frank Micelotta / Getty Images North America
TBS And Laurie David Present \"Earth To America!\" - Show

Thanks, Hanks

DiCaprio and Tom Hanks appeared during the taping of the "Earth to America!" television special at The Colosseum at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas on Nov. 17, 2005.

Steve Spatafore
62nd Annual Golden Globe - Pressroom

Spanning the Globe

While DiCaprio didn't take home an Oscar for his "Aviator" role, he did collect the Golden Globe for best performance by an actor in a drama on Jan. 16, 2005.

Kevin Winter / Getty Images North America
The Aviator (2004)
\"The Aviator\" tells the story of aviation pioneer Howard Hughes (DiCaprio), the eccentric billionaire industrialist and Hollywood film mogul famous for romancing some of the world's most beautiful women. The drama recounts the years of his life from the late 1920s through the 1940s, an epoch when Hughes was directing movies and test flying innovative aircraft he designed and created. It also chronicles Hughes' struggle with his physical disabilities and phobias, and his increasingly erratic, obsessive-compulsive behavior that led him ultimately to isolate himself from his associates and withdraw from the world.

Flying high

To play Hughes in "The Aviator," DiCaprio had to portray the aviation pioneer and business tycoon from his youthful days as a daring pilot until his sad and reclusive final days and death at age 70.

WI: Leonardo DiCaprio Stumps For Kerry At The University Of Wisconsin-Madison

Rocking the vote

Always politically active, DiCaprio made the rounds on behalf of Democratic presidential nominee Sen. John Kerry in 2004. Here he appeared at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, urging students to vote.

Shaun Heasley / Getty Images North America
Catch Me if You Can (2002)
The true story of Frank Abagnale (Leonardo DiCaprio), the youngest man to make the FBI's most-wanted list for forgery. Frank posed at various times as a doctor, a lawyer, a pilot, and even an FBI agent. Throughout his life, he passed millions of dollars in bad checks and later, after finally being captured, escaped from prison. Frank Abagnale eventually became a consultant for the FBI, specializing in the field of white-collar crime.

Nice life if you can fake it

In 2002's lively "Catch Me If You Can," DiCaprio played real-life con man Frank Abagnale, who posed as a pilot, doctor, lawyer and FBI agent at various times during his life.

US director Martin Scorsese (C) poses for photogra

The 'Gang's' all here

DiCaprio poses with director Martin Scorsese and his "Gangs of New York" co-star Cameron Diaz at the Cannes Film Festival in France on May 20, 2002.

Anne-christine Poujoulat / AFP
Gangs of New York (2002) Based on a non-fiction book first printed in 1928, this sweeping tale follows the rise of Irish and Italian gangsters in New York, beginning in the Tammany Hall era and moving towards the 20th century. Leonardo DiCaprio plays the son of a murdered gangleader who swears vengeance upon the man who killed his father

Street 'Gang'

In "Gangs of New York," DiCaprio, seen with co-star Daniel Day-Lewis, plays the son of a murdered gang leader who swears vengeance upon the man who killed his father.

Leonardo Di Caprio and Robert De Niro

Cop rock

DiCaprio and Robert De Niro performed on stage at "The Concert for New York City," held just a month after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks in New York.

Dave Hogan / Getty Images Europe
The Beach (2000)
An American traveler in Thailand is given a map to a secret island inhabited by marijuana farmers and a small group living in a quasi-utopian society.

Travelers, not tourists

In 2000's "The Beach," based on the Alex Garland novel, DiCaprio plays a backpacker who learns of an island paradise where a group of young people live secretly without formal governments and laws. Not surprisingly, it ends badly.

The Man in the Iron Mask (1998) The young King Louis XIV becomes intrigued with the beautiful Christine and sends her suitor, Raoul, to the front for an almost certain death. When he is killed, Louis earns the hatred of Raoul's father, the former faithful musketeer Athos. Athos is not alone in his hatred of the king as the entire country has grown weary of his excesses. Louis depends upon another former musketeer, D'Artagnan, to kill the ringleader of the rebellion. What Louis does not know is that D'Artagnan is also his mother's lover. Things are getting out of hand when the king's trusted priest, Aramis, another former musketeer, gathers together his former collegues with a plan to change the course of history. Athos and Porthos join in a plot to spring out of prison a man who, for six years, has lived in his cell with his head in an iron mask. The man is, in fact, Philippe, the younger twin of Louis XIV.

Unmasked

In 1998's "The Man in the Iron Mark," DiCaprio played King Louis XIV of France as well as the king's identical twin, Philippe. The famed Three Musketeers rescue the masked Philippe and fight to put him on the throne in the place of his evil twin brother.

A real looker

DiCaprio was just 24 when he graced the cover of People's "50 Most Beautiful People" issue.

Titanic (1997) A young man and woman from different social classes fall in love aboard the ill-fated voyage.

King of the world!

In the James Cameron-directed mega-hit "Titanic" in 1997, DiCaprio and Kate Winslet play doomed lovers from different social classes who fall in love aboard the mighty ship's lone voyage. The two actors would later reunite as a doomed married couple in 2008's "Revolutionary Road."

ROMEO AND JULIET, Leonardo Di Caprio, Claire Danes, 1996, (c) 20th Century Fox/courtesy Everett Collection

It is the East, and Juliet is the sun

DiCaprio, as Romeo, charms Juliet (Claire Danes) in 1996's "Romeo + Juliet." The film took the famed Shakespeare play and set it in a fictional modern city, giving the warring Montagues and Capulets competing business empires and upgrading their swords to guns with brand names such as "Dagger" and "Rapier."

The Basketball Diaries (1995)
An autobiographical account of poet and rock musician Jim Carroll's delinquent high school years, during which he excelled playing basketball for a boy's club team, meanwhile hustling to support his growing heroin addiction.

Man of the streets

In 1995, DiCaprio played author and punk musician Jim Carroll in the film version of Carroll's autobiographical book, "The Basketball Diaries." While the book recounts Carroll's growing-up years in the 1960s, it was adjusted to the 1990s to fit DiCaprio and the era of the film.

WHAT'S EATING GILBERT GRAPE?, Leonardo Di Caprio, 1993, playing with mailbox

'Grape' expectations

DiCaprio first came to the attention of many critics and fans when he starred in 1993's "What's Eating Gilbert Grape," adapted by Peter Hedges from Hedges' 1991 novel. DiCaprio played mentally handicapped Arnie, who lives with his obese mother, two sisters and frustrated caretaker brother, Gilbert (Johnny Depp).

THIS BOY'S LIFE, Leonardo Di Caprio, Robert De Niro, 1993, in Boy Scout uniforms

Be prepared

DiCaprio played writer Tobias Wolff, with Robert De Niro playing Wolff's stepfather, in 1993's "This Boy's Life." DiCaprio and De Niro would reunite just three years later in 1996's "Marvin's Room."

KIRK CAMERON, JEREMY MILLER, LEONARDO DICAPRIO

One to 'Grow' on

DiCaprio's career really began on television, with his role as Luke in the sitcom "Growing Pains," which he joined in 1991. His character was a homeless boy taken in by the lead family, the Seavers. Here Mike (Kirk Cameron) and Ben (Jeremy Miller) console DiCaprio's character as he prepares for his first day of high school.

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