Coordinates	40°42′15.0″N73°55′4.0″N
name	The Times
type	Daily newspaper
format	Compact
price	UK£0.90 (Monday–Friday)£2 (Saturday) £1.30(Sat., Scotland)
foundation	1 January 1785
owners	News Corporation
sister newspapers	''The Sunday Times''
political	Moderate Conservative
headquarters	Wapping, London, UK
editor	James Harding
issn	0140-0460
website	www.thetimes.co.uk
circulation	502,436 March 2010 }}

''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper published in London since 1785, when it was known as ''The Daily Universal Register''.

''The Times'' and its sister paper ''The Sunday Times'' are published by Times Newspapers Limited, since 1981 a subsidiary of News International. News International is entirely owned by the News Corporation group, headed by Rupert Murdoch. Though traditionally a moderately centre-right newspaper and a supporter of the Conservatives, it supported the Labour Party in the 2001 and 2005 general elections. In 2004, according to MORI, the voting intentions of its readership were 40% for the Conservative Party, 29% for the Liberal Democrats, 26% for Labour.

''The Times'' is the original "Times" newspaper, lending its name to many other papers around the world, such as ''The New York Times'', ''The Los Angeles Times'', ''The Seattle Times'', ''The Daily Times (Malawi)'', Jimma Times (Ethiopia), ''The Times of India'', ''The Straits Times'', ''Polska The Times'' ''The Times of Malta'' and ''The Irish Times''. For distinguishing purposes it is therefore sometimes referred to, particularly in North America, as the 'London Times' or 'The Times of London'. The paper is also the originator of the ubiquitous Times Roman typeface, originally developed by Stanley Morison of ''The Times'' in collaboration with the Monotype Corporation for its legibility in low-tech printing.

The Times was printed in broadsheet format for 219 years, but switched to compact size in 2004 partly in an attempt to appeal to younger readers and partly to appeal to commuters using public transport. An American edition has been published since 6 June 2006.

Today

The newspaper's cover price in the United Kingdom is £1 on weekdays (30p for students at some university campus shops) and £1.50 on Saturday. ''The Times's'' sister paper, ''The Sunday Times'', is a broadsheet and priced at £2.20. Although ''The Times'' and ''The Sunday Times'' are both owned by News International, a subsidiary of Rupert Murdoch's Newscorp, they do not share editorial staff, were founded independently and have shared the same owner only since 1967. In November 2006 ''The Times'' began printing headlines in its new font, Times Modern.

History

''The Times'' was founded by publisher John Walter on 1 January 1785 as ''The Daily Universal Register'', with Walter in the role of editor. Walter changed the title after 940 editions on 1 January 1788 to ''The Times''. In 1803, John Walter handed ownership and editorship to his son of the same name. John Walter Sr. had already spent sixteen months in Newgate prison for libel printed in ''The Times'', but his pioneering efforts to obtain Continental news, especially from France, helped build the paper's reputation among policy makers and financiers.

''The Times'' used contributions from significant figures in the fields of politics, science, literature, and the arts to build its reputation. For much of its early life, the profits of ''The Times'' were very large and the competition minimal, so it could pay far better than its rivals for information or writers.

In 1809, John Stoddart was appointed general editor, replaced in 1817 with Thomas Barnes. Under Barnes and his successor in 1841, John Thadeus Delane, the influence of ''The Times'' rose to great heights, especially in politics and amongst the City of London. Peter Fraser and Edward Sterling were two noted journalists, and gained for ''The Times'' the pompous/satirical nickname 'The Thunderer' (from "We thundered out the other day an article on social and political reform.").The increased circulation and influence of the paper was based in part to its early adoption of the steam driven rotary printing press. Distribution via steam trains to rapidly growing concentrations of urban populations helped ensure the profitability of the paper and its growing influence.

''The Times'' was the first newspaper to send war correspondents to cover particular conflicts. W. H. Russell, the paper's correspondent with the army in the Crimean War, was immensely influential with his dispatches back to England. In other events of the nineteenth century, ''The Times'' opposed the repeal of the Corn Laws until the number of demonstrations convinced the editorial board otherwise, and only reluctantly supported aid to victims of the Irish Potato Famine. It enthusiastically supported the Great Reform Bill of 1832 which reduced corruption and increased the electorate from 400 000 people to 800 000 people (still a small minority of the population). During the American Civil War, ''The Times'' represented the view of the wealthy classes, favouring the secessionists, but it was not a supporter of slavery.

The third John Walter (the founder's grandson) succeeded his father in 1847. The paper continued as more or less independent. From the 1850s, however, ''The Times'' was beginning to suffer from the rise in competition from the penny press, notably ''The Daily Telegraph'' and ''The Morning Post''.

During the 19th century, it was not infrequent for the Foreign Office to approach ''The Times'' and ask for continental intelligence, which was often superior to that conveyed by official sources.

''The Times'' faced financial extinction in 1890 under Arthur Fraser Walter, but it was rescued by an energetic editor, Charles Frederic Moberly Bell. During his tenure (1890–1911), ''The Times'' became associated with selling the ''Encyclopædia Britannica'' using aggressive American marketing methods introduced by Horace Everett Hooper and his advertising executive, Henry Haxton. However, due to legal fights between the ''Britannica's'' two owners, Hooper and Walter Montgomery Jackson, ''The Times'' severed its connection in 1908 and was bought by pioneering newspaper magnate, Alfred Harmsworth, later Lord Northcliffe.

In editorials published on 29 and 31 July 1914 Wickham Steed, the ''Times'''s Chief Editor argued that the British Empire should enter World War I. On 8 May 1920, under the editorship of Wickham Steed, the ''Times'' in an editorial endorsed the anti-Semitic forgery ''The Protocols of the Learned Elders of Zion'' as a genuine document, and called Jews the world's greatest danger. In the leader entitled "The Jewish Peril, a Disturbing Pamphlet: Call for Inquiry", Steed wrote about ''The Protocols of the Elders of Zion'':

What are these 'Protocols'? Are they authentic? If so, what malevolent assembly concocted these plans and gloated over their exposition? Are they forgery? If so, whence comes the uncanny note of prophecy, prophecy in part fulfilled, in part so far gone in the way of fulfillment?".

The following year, when Philip Graves, the Constantinople (modern Istanbul) correspondent of the ''Times'', exposed ''The Protocols'' as a forgery, the ''Times'' retracted the editorial of the previous year.

In 1922, John Jacob Astor, a son of the 1st Viscount Astor, bought ''The Times'' from the Northcliffe estate. The paper gained a measure of notoriety in the 1930s with its advocacy of German appeasement; then-editor Geoffrey Dawson was closely allied with those in the government who practised appeasement, most notably Neville Chamberlain.

Kim Philby, a Soviet double agent, served as a correspondent for the newspaper in Spain during the Spanish Civil War of the late 1930s. Philby was admired for his courage in obtaining high-quality reporting from the front lines of the bloody conflict. He later joined MI6 during World War II, was promoted into senior positions after the war ended, then eventually defected to the Soviet Union in 1963.

Between 1941 and 1946, the left-wing British historian E.H. Carr was Assistant Editor. Carr was well known for the strongly pro-Soviet tone of his editorials. In December 1944, when fighting broke out in Athens between the Greek Communist ELAS and the British Army, Carr in a ''Times'' editorial sided with the Communists, leading Winston Churchill to condemn him and that leader in a speech to the House of Commons. As a result of Carr's editorial, the ''Times'' became popularly known during World War II as the threepenny ''Daily Worker'' (the price of the ''Daily Worker'' was one penny)

In 1967, members of the Astor family sold the paper to Canadian publishing magnate Roy Thomson, and on 3 May 1966 it started printing news on the front page for the first time. (Previously, the paper's front page featured small advertisements, usually of interest to the moneyed classes in British society.) The Thomson Corporation merged it with ''The Sunday Times'' to form Times Newspapers Limited.

An industrial dispute prompted the management to shut the paper for nearly a year (1 December 1978 – 12 November 1979).

The Thomson Corporation management were struggling to run the business due to the 1979 Energy Crisis and union demands. Management were left with no choice but to save both titles by finding a buyer who was in a position to guarantee the survival of both titles, and also one who had the resources and was committed to funding the introduction of modern printing methods.

Several suitors appeared, including Robert Maxwell, Tiny Rowland and Lord Rothermere; however, only one buyer was in a position to meet the full Thomson remit. That buyer was the Australian media magnate Rupert Murdoch.

Rupert Murdoch

In 1981, ''The Times'' and ''The Sunday Times'' were bought from Thomson by Rupert Murdoch's News International. The acquisition followed three weeks of intensive bargaining with the unions by company negotiators, John Collier and Bill O'Neill.

Murdoch soon began making his mark on the paper, replacing its editor, William Rees-Mogg, with Harold Evans in 1981. One of his most important changes was the introduction of new technology and efficiency measures. In March–May 1982, following agreement with print unions, the hot-metal Linotype printing process used to print ''The Times'' since the 19th century was phased out and replaced by computer input and photo-composition. This allowed print room staff at ''The Times'' and ''The Sunday Times'' to be reduced by half. However, direct input of text by journalists ("single stroke" input) was still not achieved, and this was to remain an interim measure until the Wapping dispute of 1986, when ''The Times'' moved from New Printing House Square in Gray's Inn Road (near Fleet Street) to new offices in Wapping.

In June 1990, ''The Times'' ceased its policy of using courtesy titles ("Mr", "Mrs", or "Miss" prefixes for living persons) before full names on first reference, but it continues to use them before surnames on subsequent references. The more formal style is now confined to the "Court and Social" page, though "Ms" is now acceptable in that section, as well as before surnames in news sections.

In November 2003, News International began producing the newspaper in both broadsheet and tabloid sizes. On 13 September 2004, the weekday broadsheet was withdrawn from sale in Northern Ireland. Since 1 November 2004, the paper has been printed solely in tabloid format.

The Conservative Party announced plans to launch litigation against ''The Times'' over an incident in which the newspaper claimed that Conservative election strategist Lynton Crosby had admitted that his party would not win the 2005 General Election. ''The Times'' later published a clarification, and the litigation was dropped.

On 6 June 2005, ''The Times'' redesigned its Letters page, dropping the practice of printing correspondents' full postal addresses. Published letters were long regarded as one of the paper's key constituents. Author/solicitor David Green of Castle Morris Pembrokeshire has had more letters published on the main letters page than any known contributor – 158 by 31 January 2008. According to its leading article, "From Our Own Correspondents", removal of full postal addresses was in order to fit more letters onto the page.

In a 2007 meeting with the House of Lords Select Committee on Communications, which was investigating media ownership and the news, Murdoch stated that the law and the independent board prevented him from exercising editorial control.

In May 2008 printing of ''The Times'' switched from Wapping to new plants at Broxbourne on the outskirts of London, and Merseyside and Glasgow, enabling the paper to be produced with full colour on every page for the first time.

Controversy and image

Long considered the UK's newspaper of record, ''The Times'' is generally seen as a serious publication with high standards of journalism. It is not without trenchant critics: Robert Fisk, seven times British International Journalist of the Year, resigned as foreign correspondent in 1988 over what he saw as "political censorship" of his article on the shooting-down of Iran Air Flight 655 in July 1988. He wrote in detail about his reasons for resigning from the paper due to meddling with his stories, and the papers' pro-Israel stance.

Some allege that ''The Times''' partisan opinion pieces also damage its status as 'paper of record,' particularly when attacking interests that go against those of its parent company – News International. In 2010 it published an opinion piece attacking the BBC for being 'one of a group of' signatories to a letter criticising BSkyB share options in October 2010.

Readership profile and image

The British Business Survey 2005 named ''The Times'' as the UK's leading daily newspaper for business people. This independent survey was sponsored by ''The Financial Times'', ''The Guardian'', ''The Daily Telegraph'', ''The Economist'', and ''The Times''.

The latest figures from the national readership survey show ''The Times'' to have the highest number of ABC1 25–44 readers and the largest numbers of readers in London of any of the "quality" papers. The certified average circulation figures for November 2005 show that The Times sold 692,581 copies per day. This was the highest achieved under the last editor, Robert Thomson, and ensured that the newspaper remained ahead of ''The Daily Telegraph'' in terms of full-rate sales, although the ''Telegraph'' remains the market leader for broadsheets, with a circulation of 905,955 copies. Tabloid newspapers, such as ''The Sun'' and middle-market newspapers such as the ''Daily Mail'', at present outsell both papers with a circulation of around 3,005,308 and 2,082,352 respectively. By March 2010 the paper's circulation had fallen to 502,436 copies daily and the ''Telegraph's'' to 686,679, according to ABC figures.

Format and supplements

''The Times'' features news for the first half of the paper with the leading articles on the second page, the Opinion/Comment section begins after the first news section, the world news normally follows this. The business pages begin on the centre spread, and are followed by The Register, containing obituaries, Court & Social section, and related material. The sport section is at the end of the main paper.

''Literary Supplement''

''The Times Literary Supplement'' (TLS) is a separately-paid-for weekly literature and society magazine.

''Science Reviews''

Between 1951 and 1966 ''The Times'' published a separately-paid-for quarterly science review, ''The Times Science Review''. Remarkably, in 1953 both the newspaper and its science supplement failed to report on the discovery of the structure of DNA in Cambridge, which was reported on by both the ''News Chronicle'' and ''The New York Times''.

''The Times'' started another new (but free) monthly science magazine, ''Eureka'', in October 2009.

''Times2''

''The Times'''s main supplement was the ''times2'', featuring various lifestyle columns. It was discontinued on 1 March 2010, most of its regular features being absorbed into the main paper, the puzzles into a new supplement called ''Mind Games''. Its previous incarnation began on 5 September 2005, before which it was called ''T2'' and previously ''Times 2''. Regular features included columns by a different columnist each weekday. There was a column by Marcus du Sautoy each Wednesday, for example. The back pages were devoted to puzzles and contain sudoku, "Killer Sudoku", "KenKen", word polygon puzzles, and a crossword simpler and more concise than the main "Times Crossword". The penultimate page was "Young Times", with puzzles and news for children. All these features are now found in ''Mind Games''.

The supplement also contained arts and lifestyle features, TV and radio listings and reviews which have now become their own weekly supplements.

''The Game''

''The Game'' is included in the newspaper on a Monday, and details all the weekend's football activity (Premier League and Football League Championship, League One and League Two.) The Scottish edition of ''The Game'' also includes results and analysis from Scottish Premier League games.

Saturday supplements

The Saturday edition of ''The Times'' contains a variety of supplements. These supplements were relaunched in January 2009 as: ''Sport'', ''Weekend'' (including travel and lifestyle features), ''Saturday Review'' (arts, books, and ideas), ''The Times Magazine'' (columns on various topics), and ''Playlist'' (an entertainment listings guide).

''Saturday Review'' is the first regular supplement published in broadsheet format again since the paper switched to a compact size in 2004.

At the beginning of Summer 2011 ''Saturday Review'' switched to the tabloid format

''The Times Magazine'' features columns touching on various subjects such as celebrities, fashion and beauty, food and drink, homes and gardens or simply writers' anecdotes. Notable contributors include Giles Coren, Food And Drink Writer of the Year in 2005.

Online presence

The ''Times'' and ''Sunday Times'' have had an online presence since March 1999, originally at ''the-times.co.uk'' and ''sunday-times.co.uk'', and later at ''timesonline.co.uk''. In April 2009, the ''timesonline'' site had a readership of 750,000 readers per day.

Paywall

Rupert Murdoch argued that readers should pay for online content, and since July 2010, News International requires readers that do not already subscribe to the print edition to pay £1 per day or £2 per week to access ''Times'' and ''Sunday Times'' content.

There are now two websites, instead of one: ''thetimes.co.uk'' is aimed at daily readers, and the ''thesundaytimes.co.uk'' site at providing weekly magazine-like content.

According to figures released in November 2010 by ''The Times'', 100,000 people had paid to use the service in its first four months of operation, and another 100,000 received free access because they subscribe to the printed paper. Visits to the websites have decreased by 87% since the paywall was introduced, from 21 million unique users per month to 2.7 million.

Typeface

''The Times'' commissioned the serif typeface ''Times New Roman'', created by Victor Lardent at the English branch of Monotype, in 1931. It was commissioned after Stanley Morison had written an article criticizing ''The Times'' for being badly printed and typographically antiquated. The font was supervised by Morison and drawn by Victor Lardent, an artist from the advertising department of ''The Times''. Morison used an older font named Plantin as the basis for his design, but made revisions for legibility and economy of space. ''Times New Roman'' made its debut in the 3 October 1932 issue of ''The Times'' newspaper. After one year, the design was released for commercial sale. ''The Times'' stayed with ''Times New Roman'' for 40 years, but new production techniques and the format change from broadsheet to tabloid in 2004 have caused the newspaper to switch font five times since 1972. However, all the new fonts have been variants of the original New Roman font:

''Times Europa'' was designed by Walter Tracy in 1972 for The Times, as a sturdier alternative to the Times font family, designed for the demands of faster printing presses and cheaper paper. The typeface features more open counter spaces.

''Times Roman'' replaced Times Europa on 30 August 1982. ''Times Millennium'' was made in 1991, drawn by Gunnlaugur Briem on the instructions of Aurobind Patel, composing manager of News International. ''Times Classic'' first appeared in 2001. Designed as an economical face by the British type team of Dave Farey and Richard Dawson, it took advantage of the new PC-based publishing system at the newspaper, while obviating the production shortcomings of its predecessor Times Millennium. The new typeface included 120 letters per font. Initially the family comprised ten fonts, but a condensed version was added in 2004. ''Times Modern'' was unveiled on 20 November 2006, as the successor of ''Times Classic''. Designed for improving legibility in smaller font sizes, it uses 45-degree angled bracket serifs. The font was published by Elsner + Flake as ''EF Times Modern''; it was designed by Research Studios, led by Ben Preston (deputy editor of The Times) and designer Neville Brody.

Sponsored events

''The Times'', along with the British Film Institute, sponsors the London Film Festival (or more specifically, The Times ''bfi'' London Film Festival). As of 2005, it is Europe's largest public event for motion pictures.

''The Times'' also sponsors the Cheltenham Literature Festival and the Asia House Festival of Asian Literature at Asia House, London.

Political allegiance

''The Times'' was a traditional Conservative Party supporter, even after its 18-year rule in government was ended by the Labour landslide of 1997, but for the 2001 general election the paper declared its support for Tony Blair's Labour government, which was re-elected by a landslide. It supported Labour again in 2005, when it achieved a third successive election win, though with a reduced majority. For the 2010 general election, however, the newspaper declared its support for the Tories once again; the election ended in the Tories taking the most votes and seats but having to form a coalition with the Liberal Democrats in order to form a government as they had failed to gain an overall majority.

The Times had declared its support for Clement Attlee's Labour at the 1945 general election; the party went on to win the election by a landslide over Winston Churchill's Conservative government. However, the newspaper reverted to the Tories for the next election five years later. It would not switch sides again for more than 50 years.

Ownership

John Walter (1785–1803)

John Walter, 2nd (1803–1847)

John Walter, 3rd (1847–1894)

Arthur Fraser Walter (1894–1908)

Lord Northcliffe (1908–1922)

Astor family (1922–1966)

Roy Thomson (1966–1981)

News International (subsidiary of News Corporation), run by Rupert Murdoch (1981– )

Editorship

!Editor's name	!Years
	1785–1803
	1803–1812
John Stoddart	1812–1816
	1817–1841
John Delane	1841–1877
Thomas Chenery	1877–1884
George Earle Buckle	1884–1912
George Geoffrey Dawson	1912–1919
	1919–1922
George Geoffrey Dawson	1923–1941
Robert McGowan Barrington-Ward	1941–1948
William Francis Casey	1948–1952
William Haley	1952–1966
William Rees-Mogg	1967–1981
Harold Evans	1981–1982
	1982–1985
	1985–1990
Simon Jenkins	1990–1992
Peter Stothard	1992–2002
	2002–2007
	2007–

Columnists and journalists

Murad Ahmed

Michael Atherton

Guillem Balague

Simon Barnes

Alice Bowe

Peter Brookes, leader-page cartoonist

David Brown

Kaya Burgess

Rachel Campbell-Johnston

Sam Coates

Giles Coren

Robert Crampton

Ginny Dougary

Stephen Farrell

Daniel Finkelstein

Richard Ford

Adam Fresco

Joanna Geary

Frances Gibb

Brian Glanville

Ruth Gledhill

Michael Gove

Nico Hines

Anthony Howard

Philip Howard

Ben Hoyle

Mick Hume

Anatole Kaletsky

Patrick Kidd

Magnus Linklater

Richard Lloyd Parry

Anthony Loyd, war correspondent on retainer

Ben Macintyre

Sam Marlowe, theatre reviewer

Stefanie Marsh

Hugh McIlvanney

Alice Miles

Caitlin Moran

Michael Moran

Morten Morland, political cartoonist

Richard Morrison

Kate Muir

Matthew Parris

Grayson Perry

Catherine Philp

Libby Purves

Lord Rees-Mogg

Peter Riddell

Hugo Rifkind

Aki Riihilahti

Nick Robinson

Alyson Rudd

Dan Sabbagh

Sathnam Sanghera

Marcus du Sautoy

David Sinclair

Graham Stewart

Andrew Sullivan

Richard Susskind

Ann Treneman

Janice Turner

Philip Webster

Tom Whipple

Tom Whitwell

Tony Halpin

Alexander Williams, cartoonist

Jeremy Clarkson

Other publications

(Times Books Group Ltd)

The Times Comprehensive Atlas of the World, 2007 ISBN 978-0-00-780150-3

Biography

Harold Evans, ''Good Times, Bad Times''. Includes sections of black-and-white photographic plates, plus a few charts and diagrams in text pages.

In fiction

In the dystopian future world of George Orwell's ''Nineteen Eighty-Four'', ''The Times'' has been transformed into the organ of the totalitarian ruling party, its editorials—of which several are quoted in the book—reflecting Big Brother's pronouncements.

Rex Stout's fictional detective Nero Wolfe is described as fond of solving the London ''Times'' crossword puzzle at his New York home, in preference to those of American papers.

In the James Bond series, written by Ian Fleming, the title character, James Bond, reads ''The Times''. As described by Fleming in ''From Russia, with Love'': "The Times was the only paper that Bond ever read."

See also

List of newspapers by date

References

External links

The Sunday Times site

Times World Atlases official website including a History and Heritage section detailing landmark Times atlases

Archive from 1785 to 1985 – full text and original layout, searchable (not free of charge, registration required)

The Times editor Robert Thomson lecture online: From the editorial desk of ''The Times'', RMIT School of Applied Communication Public Lecture series

Anthony Trollope's satire on the mid-nineteenth century Times

Journalism Now: The Times Winchester University Journalism History project on the Times in the nineteenth century

Category:Newspapers published in the United Kingdom Category:News Corporation subsidiaries * Category:Publications established in 1785 Category:1785 establishments in Great Britain

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Coordinates	40°42′15.0″N73°55′4.0″N
name	Leonardo DiCaprio
birth name	Leonardo Wilhelm DiCaprio
birth date	November 11, 1974
birth place	Los Angeles, California, U.S.
occupation	Actor, film producer
years active	1989–present
website	http://www.leonardodicaprio.com/ }}

Leonardo Wilhelm DiCaprio (; born November 11, 1974) is an American actor and film producer. He has received many awards, including a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor for his performance in ''The Aviator'' (2004). In addition, he has won a Silver Bear, a Chlotrudis Award and a Satellite Award among others, and has been nominated by the Academy Awards, Screen Actors Guild and the British Academy of Film and Television Arts.

Born and raised in Los Angeles, California, DiCaprio started his career by appearing in television commercials prior to landing recurring roles in TV series such as the soap opera ''Santa Barbara'' and the sitcom ''Growing Pains'' in the early 1990s. He made his film debut in the comedic sci-fi horror film ''Critters 3'' (1991) and received first notable critical praise for his performance in ''This Boy's Life'' (1993). DiCaprio obtained recognition for his subsequent work in supporting roles in ''What's Eating Gilbert Grape'' (1993) and ''Marvin's Room'' (1996), as well as leading roles in ''The Basketball Diaries'' (1995) and ''Romeo + Juliet'' (1996), before achieving international fame in James Cameron's ''Titanic'' (1997).

Since the 2000s, DiCaprio has been nominated for awards for his work in such films as ''Catch Me If You Can'' (2002), ''Gangs of New York'' (2002), ''The Aviator'' (2004), ''Blood Diamond'' (2006), ''The Departed'' (2006), and ''Revolutionary Road'' (2008). His latest films ''Shutter Island'' (2010) and ''Inception'' (2010) rank among the biggest commercial successes of his career. DiCaprio owns a production company named Appian Way Productions, whose productions include the films ''Gardener of Eden'' (2007) and ''Orphan'' (2009).

A committed environmentalist, DiCaprio has received praise from environmental groups for his activism.

Early life and family

DiCaprio, an only child, was born in Los Angeles, California. His German-born mother, Irmelin (née Indenbirken), is a former legal secretary, and his father, George DiCaprio, is an underground comic artist and producer/distributor of comic books. DiCaprio's mother moved from Oer-Erkenschwick at the Ruhr, Germany, to the U.S. during the 1950s, while DiCaprio's father is a fourth-generation American of half south-Italian (from the Naples region) and half German descent (from Bavaria in southern Germany). DiCaprio's maternal grandmother, Helene Indenbirken (1915–2008), who was born Yelena Smirnova, was a Russian immigrant to Germany. In a 2010 conversation with Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, DiCaprio stated that two of his grandparents were Russian.

DiCaprio's parents met while attending college and subsequently moved to Los Angeles. He was named Leonardo because his pregnant mother was looking at a Leonardo da Vinci painting in a museum in Italy when DiCaprio first kicked. DiCaprio was raised Catholic. His parents divorced when he was a year old and he lived mostly with his mother.

DiCaprio and his mother lived in several Los Angeles neighborhoods, such as Echo Park, and at 1874 Hillhurst Avenue, Los Feliz district (which was later converted into a local public library), while his mother worked several jobs to support them. He attended Seeds Elementary School and graduated from John Marshall High School a few blocks away, after attending the Los Angeles Center for Enriched Studies for four years.

Career

Early career

DiCaprio's career began with his appearance in several commercials and educational films. After being booted off the set of children's television series ''Romper Room'' for being disruptive at the age of five, DiCaprio followed his older stepbrother Adam Farrar into television commercials, landing an ad for Matchbox cars at 14. In 1990, he got his break on television when he was cast in the short-lived series based on the movie ''Parenthood''. After ''Parenthood'', DiCaprio had bit parts on several shows, including ''The New Lassie'' and ''Roseanne'', as well as a brief stint on the soap opera ''Santa Barbara'', playing the young Mason Capwell. His involvement in ''Parenthood'' and the daily soap earned him a nomination for the Young Artist Award for Best Young Actor each.

1991–1995

His debut film role was in the comedic sci-fi horror film ''Critters 3'', in which he played the stepson of an evil landlord, a role that DiCaprio described as "your average, no-depth, standard kid with blond hair." Released in 1991, the movie went direct-to-video. Soon after, he became a recurring cast member on the ABC sitcom ''Growing Pains'', playing Luke Brower, a homeless boy who is taken in by the Seaver family. DiCaprio made his big screen breakthrough in 1992, when he was handpicked by Robert De Niro out of 400 young actors to play the lead role in ''This Boy's Life'', co-starring Ellen Barkin and De Niro himself.

Later in 1993, DiCaprio co-starred as the mentally handicapped brother to Johnny Depp in ''What's Eating Gilbert Grape'', a comic-tragic odyssey of a dysfunctional Iowa family. Director Lasse Hallström admitted he was initially looking for a less good-looking actor but finally settled on DiCaprio as he had emerged as "the most observant [actor]" among all auditioners. Budgeted at US$11.0 million, the film became a financial and critical success, resulting in a domestic box office total of US$9.1 million and various accolades for DiCaprio, who was awarded the National Board of Review Award and nominated for both an Academy Award and a Golden Globe for his portrayal. ''New York Times'' critic Janet Maslin praised DiCaprio's performance, writing "the film's real show-stopping turn comes from Mr. DiCaprio, who makes Arnie's many tics so startling and vivid that at first he is difficult to watch. The performance has a sharp, desperate intensity from beginning to end."

DiCaprio's first effort of 1995 was Sam Raimi's ''The Quick and the Dead'', a western film in which he appeared alongside Gene Hackman, Sharon Stone, and Russell Crowe, playing the role of Hackman's alleged son named Kid. Sony Pictures was dubious over DiCaprio's casting, and as a result, Stone decided to pay for the actor's salary herself. The film was released to a dismal box office performance, barely grossing US$18.5 million in the United States, and received mixed reviews from critics. Jonathan Rosenbaum from the ''Chicago Reader'' observed that "Raimi tries to do a Sergio Leone, and though ''The Quick and the Dead'' is highly enjoyable in spots, it doesn't come across as very convincing." Afterwards DiCaprio starred in ''Total Eclipse'', a fictionalized account of the homosexual relationship between Arthur Rimbaud and Paul Verlaine, played by David Thewlis. He replaced River Phoenix in the role of Rimbaud, who had died during pre-production on the project. A minor arthouse success, the film grossed US$0.34 million throughout its domestic theatrical run.

DiCaprio appeared alongside friends Kevin Connolly and Tobey Maguire in the mostly improvised short film called ''Don's Plum'' as a favor to aspiring director R.D. Robb. When Robb decided to expand the black-and-white film to feature length however, DiCaprio and Maguire obtained its blocking, arguing that they never intended to make it a theatrical release as it would have commercial value thanks to their stardom. Nevertheless, the film eventually premiered at the 2001 Berlin International Film Festival, where it was well-received by critics, with ''Time Out New York'' writer Mike D'Angelo calling it "the best film [I saw] in Berlin." DiCaprio's last film of the year 1995 was ''The Basketball Diaries'', a biopic about Jim Carroll.

1996–2001

In 1996, DiCaprio appeared opposite Claire Danes in Baz Luhrmann's film ''Romeo + Juliet'', an abridged modernization of William Shakespeare's romantic tragedy of the same name which retained the original Shakespearean dialogue. The project was one of the first films to cash in on DiCaprio's future star-status, with a worldwide box office take of $147 million.

Later that year, he starred in Jerry Zaks' family drama ''Marvin's Room'', reuniting with Robert De Niro. Based on Scott McPherson's screenplay adaptation of his own 1991 stage play of the same name, the film revolves around two sisters, played by Meryl Streep and Diane Keaton, who are reunited through tragedy after 17 years of estrangement. DiCaprio portrayed the character of Hank, Streep's troubled son, who has been committed to a mental asylum for setting fire to his mother's house. On his Chlotrudis Award-winning performance, Lisa Schwarzbaum of ''Entertainment Weekly'' commented: "The deeply gifted DiCaprio [..] keeps right up with these older pros [Keaton and Streep]. The three are so full-bodied and so powerfully affecting that you're carried along on the pleasure of being in the presence of their extraordinary talent."

In 1997, DiCaprio starred in James Cameron's ''Titanic'' (1997), alongside Kate Winslet. Cast as twenty-year-old Jack Dawson, a penniless Wisconsin man who wins two tickets for the third-class on the fated RMS ''Titanic'', DiCaprio initially refused to portray the character but was eventually encouraged to pursue the role by Cameron who strongly believed in his acting ability. Against expectations, the film went on to become the highest-grossing film to date (it was surpassed in 2010 by Cameron's directorial follow-up, ''Avatar''), grossing more than US$1.843 billion in box-office receipts worldwide, and transformed DiCaprio into a commercial movie superstar, resulting in fan worship among teenage girls and young women in general that became known as "Leo-Mania." He was nominated for most of the high-profile awards, including a second Golden Globe nomination. Upon the success of ''Titanic'', DiCaprio stated in 2000: "I have no connection with me during that whole ''Titanic'' phenomenon and what my face became around the world [...] I'll never reach that state of popularity again, and I don't expect to. It's not something I'm going to try to achieve either."

The following year, DiCaprio made a self-mocking cameo appearance in Woody Allen's caustic satire of the fame industry, ''Celebrity'' (1998). That year, he also starred in the dual roles of the villainous King Louis XIV and his secret, sympathetic twin brother Philippe in Randall Wallace's ''The Man in the Iron Mask'', based on the same-titled 1939 film. Despite receiving a rather mixed to negative response, the film became a box office success, grossing US$180 million internationally. Though DiCaprio's performance was generally well-received, with ''Entertainment Weekly'' critic Owen Gleiberman writing that "the shockingly androgynous DiCaprio looks barely old enough to be playing anyone with hormones, but he's a fluid and instinctive actor, with the face of a mischievous angel," he was awarded a Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Screen Couple for both incarnations the following year.

DiCaprio's next project was the drama film ''The Beach'' (2000), an adaption of Alex Garland's same-titled 1996 novel. Starring alongside Tilda Swinton and Virginie Ledoyen, he played an American backpacking tourist looking for the perfect way of life in a secret island commune in the Gulf of Thailand. Budgeted at $US50 million, the film became a financial success, grossing $US144 million worldwide, but as with DiCaprio's previous project, the film was largely panned by critics. Todd McCarthy of ''Variety'' noted that "Richard [DiCaprio's role] is too much the American Everyman and not enough of a well-defined individual to entirely capture one's interest and imagination, and DiCaprio, while perfectly watchable, does not endow him with the quirks or distinguishing marks to make this man from nowhere a dimensional character." The next year, he was nominated for another Razzie Award for his work on the film.

2002–2007

DiCaprio's first film of 2002 was the crime-comedy ''Catch Me If You Can'', based on the life of Frank Abagnale Jr., who, before his 19th birthday, used his charm, confidence, and several different personas, to make millions in the 1960s writing bad checks. Directed by Steven Spielberg and co-starring Tom Hanks and Christopher Walken, the film was shot in 147 different locations in only 52 days, making it "the most adventurous, super-charged movie-making" DiCaprio had experienced yet. ''Catch Me If You Can'' received favourable reviews and proved to be an international success, becoming Dicaprio's highest-grossing film since ''Titanic'' with a total of US$351.1 million worldwide. Roger Ebert praised his performance, and noted that while "DiCaprio, who in recent films [...] has played dark and troubled characters, is breezy and charming here, playing a boy who discovers what he is good at, and does it." The following year, DiCaprio received his third Golden Globe nomination for his work on the film.

Also in 2002, DiCaprio appeared in Martin Scorsese's ''Gangs of New York'', a historical film set in the mid-19th century in the Five Points district of New York City. Director Scorsese initially struggled selling his idea of realizing the film until DiCaprio became interested in playing protagonist Amsterdam Vallon, a young leader of the Irish faction, and thus, Miramax Films got involved with financing the project. Nonetheless production on the film was plagued by blown-out budgets and producer-director squabbles, resulting in a marathon eight-month shoot and, at US$103 million, the most expensive film Scorsese had ever made. Upon its release, ''Gangs of New York'' became a financial and critical success however. DiCaprio's acting was well-received but remained overshadowed by Daniel Day-Lewis' performance among most critics.

Forging a collaboration with Scorsese, the two paired again for a biopic of the eccentric and obsessive American film director and aviation pioneer Howard Hughes in ''The Aviator'' (2004). Centering on Hughes' life from the late 1920s to 1947, DiCaprio initially developed the project with Michael Mann, who decided against directing it after back-to-back film biographies in ''Ali'' and ''The Insider''. The actor eventually pitched John Logan's script to Scorsese, who quickly signed on to direct. Altogether, DiCaprio reportedly spent more than a year and a half in preparation for the film which was not necessarily shot in continuity because of actors and locations schedules. ''The Aviator'' became a critical and financial success. DiCaprio received rave reviews for his performance and won a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor, also receiving another Academy Award nomination.

In 2006, DiCaprio starred in both ''Blood Diamond'' and ''The Departed''. In Edward Zwick's war film ''Blood Diamond'', he co-starred alongside Jennifer Connelly and Djimon Hounsou as a diamond smuggler from Rhodesia who is involved in the Sierra Leone Civil War. The film itself received generally favorable reviews, and DiCaprio was praised for the authenticity of his South African Afrikaner accent, known as a difficult accent to imitate. In Scorsese's ''The Departed'' he played the role of Billy Costigan, a state trooper working undercover in an Irish Mob in Boston. Highly anticipated, the film was released to overwhelmingly positive reviews and became one of the highest-rated wide release films of 2006. Budgeted at US$90 million, it also emerged as DiCaprio and Scorsese's highest-grossing collaboration to date, easily beating ''The Aviator''´s previous record of US$213.7 million. DiCaprio's performance in ''The Departed'' was applauded by critics and earned him a Satellite Award for Best Supporting Actor. The same year, both the Golden Globes and the Screen Actors Guild nominated DiCaprio twice in the Best Actor category for both of his 2006 features, and in addition, DiCaprio earned his third Academy Award nomination for ''Blood Diamond''.

2008–present

In 2008, DiCaprio starred in ''Body of Lies'', a spy film based on the novel of the same name by David Ignatius, set in context of the Middle East and the War on Terror, unfolding the story of three men battling a terrorist organization, and each other. Directed by Ridley Scott and co-starring Russell Crowe and Vince Colosimo, DiCaprio dyed his hair brown and wore brown contacts for the role, which he chose to pursue because he considered it a throwback to political films in the 1970s such as ''The Parallax View'' (1974) and ''Three Days of the Condor'' (1975). The film received mixed reviews from critics, and at a budget of US$67.5 million, became a moderate box office success, grossing US$115 million worldwide.

The same year, DiCaprio reunited with Kate Winslet to film the drama ''Revolutionary Road'' (2008), directed by Winslet's then-husband Sam Mendes. As both actors had been reluctant to make romantic films similar to ''Titanic'', it was Winslet who suggested that both should work with her on a film adaptation of the 1961 novel of the same name by Richard Yates after reading the script by Justin Haythe, knowing that plot had little in common with the 1997 blockbuster. Once DiCaprio agreed to do the film, it went almost immediately into production. He noted that he saw his character as "unheroic" and "slightly cowardly" and that he was "willing to be just a product of his environment." Portraying a couple in a failing marriage in the 1950s, DiCaprio and Winslet watched period videos promoting life in the suburbs to prepare themselves for '' Revolutionary Road'', which earned them favorable reviews. For his portrayal DiCaprio garnered his seventh nomination from the Golden Globes.

DiCaprio continued his run with Scorsese in the 2010 psychological thriller film ''Shutter Island'' (2010), based on the 2003 novel of the same name by Dennis Lehane. Co-starring Ben Kingsley, Mark Ruffalo and Michelle Williams in supporting roles, the actor played U.S. Marshal Edward "Teddy" Daniels, who is investigating a psychiatric facility located on an island and comes to question his own sanity. With US$41 million, the film opened at number-one at the box office, giving both DiCaprio and Scorsese their best box office opening yet.

Also in 2010, DiCaprio starred in director Christopher Nolan's science-fiction film ''Inception''. Inspired by the experience of lucid dreaming and dream incubation, DiCaprio portrays the character of Dom Cobb, an "extractor" who enters the dreams of others to obtain information that is otherwise inaccessible. Cobb is promised a chance to regain his old life in exchange for planting an idea in a corporate target's mind. DiCaprio, the first actor to be cast in the film, was "intrigued by this concept — this dream-heist notion and how this character's gonna unlock his dreamworld and ultimately affect his real life." Released to critical acclaim, the film grossed over US$21 million on its opening day, with an opening weekend gross of US$62.7 million.

DiCaprio is also set to star in Clint Eastwood's ''J. Edgar'', a biopic about J. Edgar Hoover, the controversial first director of the FBI. He was cast in the title role in Oliver Stone's film ''Travis McGee'', in which he is expected to play a salvage consultant who helps his clients on recover lost property, and is attached to star as a father who kidnaps and tortures the man who kidnapped his daughter in the thriller ''Prisoners''. In addition, DiCaprio is said to be involved in the pre-production of Ridley Scott's projects ''The Wolf of Wall Street'' and ''Brave New World'', Marc Forster's ''The Chancellor Manuscript'' and the biopic ''Sinatra'', a film about Frank Sinatra to be directed by Martin Scorsese. In July 2010, it was announced that DiCaprio had pulled out of a Viking movie to be directed by Mel Gibson amid controversy over Gibson's rage-fueled rant tapes and domestic violence probe. On November 1, 2010, it was announced that DiCaprio's production company had acquired the rights to the Erik Larsen novel, ''The Devil in the White City''. The novel tells the true story of Dr. H. H. Holmes, a serial killer responsible for the death of hundreds of women during the Chicago World's Fair. It has also been announced that DiCaprio will star in the film, playing the role of serial killer H. H. Holmes. He was also cast in the role of Jay Gatsby in Baz Luhrmann's upcoming adaptation of the novel ''The Great Gatsby''.

On November 19, 2010, it was announced that DiCaprio will produce and star in the upcoming 2013 movie based on the book ''Legacy of Secrecy'' by Lamar Waldron and Thom Hartmann. The storyline examines how, in the early 1960s, the combined forces of the Central Intelligence Agency and the Mafia conspired to initiate and execute the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. DiCaprio is expected to play FBI informant Jack Van Laningham. The book asserts that Mafia godfather Carlos Marcello confessed to Van Laningham that he had ordered JFK's assassination, while the CIA and the Mafia were conspiring together to try to assassinate Fidel Castro. After the assassination, as part of a dangerous and long-secret undercover operation, the FBI positioned Van Laningham to become a confidant to Marcello, who ruled organized crime in Louisiana and most of Texas for decades.

On June 8, 2011, DiCaprio was announced to be in talks for the role of the villainous Calvin Candie for the upcoming Quentin Tarantino film, ''Django Unchained''.

Personal life

DiCaprio is a close friend of Tobey Maguire, whom he met while auditioning for the ''Parenthood'' series in 1990 and is a longtime friend of both fellow actors Kevin Connolly and Lukas Haas, and ''Titanic'' and ''Revolutionary Road'' co-star Kate Winslet. He was a childhood friend of the late Christopher Pettiet.

thumb|right|upright|DiCaprio at the red carpet at the 2007 Tribeca Film Festival. His romantic relationships have been widely covered in the media. DiCaprio has dated women including model Kristen Zang on-and-off for several years, and British model and socialite Emma Miller. In 2001, he met Brazilian model Gisele Bündchen with whom he had an on-and-off relationship until their separation in 2005. DiCaprio began a relationship with model Bar Refaeli in November 2005 after meeting her at a Las Vegas party thrown for members of U2. In the course of their trip to Israel in March 2007, the couple met with Israeli president Shimon Peres and visited Refaeli's hometown of Hod HaSharon. The relationship was on hold for a period of six months starting in June 2009; in early 2010, the romance was rekindled. In May 2011, it was reported that the couple had ended their romantic relationship, although still remaining friends. In August 2011, it was reported that he was in a relationship with actress Blake Lively since mid-May.

DiCaprio owns a home in Los Angeles and an apartment in the TriBeCa neighborhood in Lower Manhattan. In 2009, he bought an island in Belize on which he is planning to create an eco-friendly resort. He also owns an apartment in Riverhouse, an eco-friendly building overlooking the Hudson River in Manhattan.

Environmental activism and philanthropy

A committed environmentalist, DiCaprio has received praise from environmental groups for his activism. In the past, he has opted to fly on commercial flights instead of chartering private jets, and it was reported that he drives a hybrid car and has solar panels installed on his house. In an interview with ''Ukula'' about his 2007 film ''11th Hour'', DiCaprio cited global warming as "the number-one environmental challenge."

At the 2007 Oscar ceremony, DiCaprio and former Vice President Al Gore appeared to announce that the Academy Awards had incorporated environmentally intelligent practices throughout the planning and production processes, thus affirming their commitment to the environment, and on July 7, 2007, DiCaprio presented at the American leg of Live Earth. In 2010, his environmental work earned DiCaprio a nomination for the VH1 Do Something Award. The awards show, produced by VH1, is dedicated to honoring people who do good and is powered by Do Something, an organization that aims to empower and inspire young people.

In 1998, DiCaprio and his mother donated $35,000 for a "Leonardo DiCaprio Computer Center" at the Los Feliz branch of the Los Angeles Public Library, the site of his childhood home. It was rebuilt after the 1994 Northridge earthquake and opened in early 1999. During the filming of ''Blood Diamond'', DiCaprio worked with 24 orphaned children from the SOS Children's Village in Maputo, Mozambique, and was said to be extremely touched by his interactions with the children. In 2010, he donated $1,000,000 to relief efforts in Haiti after the earthquake.

During the 2004 Presidential election, DiCaprio campaigned and donated to John Kerry's presidential bid. FEC showed DiCaprio gave $2300 to Barack Obama's presidential campaign in the 2008 U.S. Presidential election, the maximum contribution an individual can give in an election cycle.

In November 2010, DiCaprio donated $1,000,000 to the Wildlife Conservation Society at Russia's tiger summit. DiCaprio arrived late after two near-miss flights, causing Prime Minister Vladimir Putin to describe him as a "muzhik" or "real man".

In 2011, DiCaprio joined the Animal Legal Defense Fund's campaign to free Tony, a tiger who has spent the last decade at the Tiger Truck Stop in Grosse Tete, Louisiana.

Filmography

Acting

+ Film
! Year	! Title	! Role	! Notes
1991	''Critters 3''	Josh
1992		Guy
1993
1993	''What's Eating Gilbert Grape''	Arnie Grape
1994	''The Foot Shooting Party''	Bud
1995		Fee Herod, "The Kid"
1995		Jim Carroll
1995		Arthur Rimbaud
1996	''Romeo + Juliet''	Romeo Montague
1996		Hank	Chlotrudis Award for Best Supporting ActorNominated—Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture
1997
1998		King Louis XIV/Philippe
1998		Brandon Darrow
2000		Richard	Nominated—Teen Choice Awards
2001	''[[Don's Plum''	Derek	Filmed in 1995
2002	''Catch Me If You Can''	Frank William Abagnale Jr.	Teen Choice Awards
2002	''[[Gangs of New York''	Amsterdam Vallon
2004		Howard Hughes	Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture DramaMTV Movie Award for Best PerformanceNominated—Academy Award for Best ActorNominated—BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading RoleNominated—Broadcast Film Critics Association Award for Best ActorNominated—Dallas-Fort Worth Film Critics Association Award for Best ActorNominated—Italian Online Movie Award for Best ActorNominated—London Film Critics Circle Award for Best ActorNominated—Online Film Critics Society Award for Best ActorNominated—Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion PictureNominated—Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading RoleNominated—Teen Choice Award for Choice Movie Actor – DramaNominated—Visual Effects Society Award for Outstanding Performance by an Actor or Actress in a Visual Effects Film
2006	''The Departed''		Austin Film Critics Association Award for Best ActorCentral Ohio Film Critics Association Award for Best ActorCentral Ohio Film Critics Association Award for Best EnsembleIrish Film and Television Award for Best International ActorGransito Movie Award Best ActorItalian Online Movie Award for Best ActorNational Board of Review Award for Best CastSatellite Award for Best Supporting Actor – Motion PictureSatellite Award for Best Cast – Motion PictureNominated—BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading RoleNominated—Broadcast Film Critics Association Award for Best ActorNominated—Central Ohio Film Critics Association Award for Actor of the Year Nominated—Chicago Film Critics Association Award for Best ActorNominated—Dallas-Fort Worth Film Critics Association Award for Best ActorNominated—Empire Award for Best ActorNominated—Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture DramaNominated—Online Film Critics Society Award for Best ActorNominated—People's Choice Award for Best On-Screen Match-Up Nominated—Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion PictureNominated—Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting RoleNominated—Teen Choice Award for Choice Movie Actor – DramaNominated—Vancouver Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actor
2006		Danny Archer	Nominated—Academy Award for Best ActorNominated—Broadcast Film Critics Association Award for Best ActorNominated—Central Ohio Film Critics Association Award for Actor of the Year Nominated—Dallas-Fort Worth Film Critics Association Award for Best ActorNominated—Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture DramaNominated—Satellite Award for Best Actor - Motion Picture DramaNominated—Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading RoleNominated—St. Louis Gateway Film Critics Association for Best ActorNominated—Teen Choice Award for Choice Movie Actor – Drama
2007		Narrator/Producer	Documentary
2008		Roger Ferris
2008		Frank Wheeler	Palm Springs International Film Festival Award for Best Ensemble PerformanceNominated—Detroit Film Critics Society Award for Best ActorNominated—Detroit Film Critics Society Award for Best CastNominated—Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture DramaNominated—Houston Film Critics Society Award for Best ActorNominated—Satellite Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture DramaNominated—St. Louis Gateway Film Critics Association for Best Actor
2010		Teddy Daniels	Italian Online Movie Award for Best ActorTeen Choice Award for Choice Movie Actor – Horror/ThrillerNominated—Central Ohio Film Critics Association Award for Actor of the Year Nominated—National Movie Award for Performance of the YearNominated—People's Choice Award for Favorite Movie Actor Nominated—Saturn Award for Best ActorNominated—Scream Awards for Best Horror Actor
2010	''Hubble 3D''	Narrator	Documentary
2010	''Inception''	Dom Cobb	Scream Award for Best Science Fiction ActorNominated—Central Ohio Film Critics Association Award for Best ActorNominated—Central Ohio Film Critics Association Award for Actor of the Year Nominated—Central Ohio Film Critics Association Award for Best EnsembleNominated—Empire Award for Best ActorNominated—Irish Film and Television Award for Best International ActorNominated—MTV Movie Award for Best WTF Moment Nominated—People's Choice Award for Favorite Movie Actor Nominated—People's Choice Award for Favorite On-Screen TeamNominated—Las Vegas Film Critics Society Award for Best ActorNominated—Phoenix Film Critics Society Award for Best CastNominated—Saturn Award for Best ActorNominated—Satellite Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture DramaNominated—Scream Award for Best EnsembleNominated—Washington D.C. Area Film Critics Association Award for Best Ensemble
2011	''J. Edgar''	J. Edgar Hoover	Completed
2012		Jay Gatsby	Filming

+ Television
! Year	! Title	! Role	! Notes
1990		Kid Fighting Scout	Episode: "Pilot"
1990		Garry Buckman
1990	''The New Lassie''	Young Boy	Episode: "Livewire"
1990		Young Mason Capwell
1991		Darlene's Classmate	Episode: "Home-Ec"
1991–1992	''Growing Pains''	Luke Brower

As producer

+ Film
! Year	! Title	! Notes
2004	''The Assassination of Richard Nixon''	Executive producer
2004		Executive producer
2007		Producer
2007	''Gardener of Eden''	Producer
2008–2010		Producer
2009		Producer
2011		Producer
2011		Executive producer

Other accolades

! Year	! Group	! Category	! Result
1993	Los Angeles Film Critics Association Awards	New Generation Award
2004	Hollywood Film Festival	Actor of the Year
2007	TV Land Award	Little Screen/Big Screen Star
2009	Kids' Choice Awards	Big Green Help Award

References

External links

Category:1974 births Category:Actors from California Category:American child actors Category:American environmentalists Category:American film actors Category:American soap opera actors Category:American television actors Category:Best Drama Actor Golden Globe (film) winners Category:California Democrats Category:American Roman Catholics Category:American people of German descent Category:American people of Italian descent Category:American people of Russian descent Category:Living people Category:People from Los Angeles, California Category:People from Echo Park, Los Angeles

af:Leonardo DiCaprio ar:ليوناردو دي كابريو bn:লিওনার্ডো ডিক্যাপ্রিও zh-min-nan:Leonardo DiCaprio bg:Леонардо ди Каприо ca:Leonardo DiCaprio cs:Leonardo DiCaprio co:Leonardo DiCaprio cy:Leonardo DiCaprio da:Leonardo DiCaprio de:Leonardo DiCaprio et:Leonardo DiCaprio el:Λεονάρντο Ντι Κάπριο es:Leonardo DiCaprio eo:Leonardo DiCaprio eu:Leonardo DiCaprio fa:لئوناردو دی‌کاپریو fr:Leonardo DiCaprio ga:Leonardo DiCaprio gv:Leonardo DiCaprio gl:Leonardo DiCaprio ko:레오나르도 디카프리오 hy:Լեոնարդո ԴիԿապրիո hi:लियोनार्डो डि कैप्रियो hr:Leonardo DiCaprio id:Leonardo DiCaprio is:Leonardo DiCaprio it:Leonardo DiCaprio he:לאונרדו דיקפריו jv:Leonardo DiCaprio kn:ಲಿಯೊನಾರ್ಡೊ ಡಿಕಾಪ್ರಿಯೊ ka:ლეონარდო დიკაპრიო la:Leonardus DiCaprio lv:Leonardo Di Kaprio lt:Leonardo DiCaprio hu:Leonardo DiCaprio mk:Леонардо ди Каприо mg:Leonardo DiCaprio ml:ലിയോനാർഡോ ഡികാപ്രിയോ mr:लिओनार्डो डिकॅप्रियो ms:Leonardo DiCaprio nl:Leonardo DiCaprio ja:レオナルド・ディカプリオ no:Leonardo DiCaprio pl:Leonardo DiCaprio pt:Leonardo DiCaprio ro:Leonardo DiCaprio qu:Leonardo DiCaprio ru:Ди Каприо, Леонардо sq:Leonardo DiCaprio simple:Leonardo DiCaprio sk:Leonardo DiCaprio sl:Leonardo DiCaprio sr:Леонардо Дикаприо sh:Leonardo DiCaprio fi:Leonardo DiCaprio sv:Leonardo DiCaprio tl:Leonardo DiCaprio ta:லியோனார்டோ டிகாப்ரியோ th:ลีโอนาโด ดิคาปริโอ tg:Леонардо Вилгелм ДиКаприо tr:Leonardo DiCaprio uk:Леонардо ДіКапріо vi:Leonardo DiCaprio yi:ליאנארדא דיקאפריא zh:莱昂纳多·迪卡普里奥

Coordinates	40°42′15.0″N73°55′4.0″N
name	Andrew Klavan
birth place	New York City, New York, United States
occupation	Writer
website	http://www.andrewklavan.com}}

Andrew Klavan, (born 1954) is an American author and screenwriter of "tough-guy" mysteries and psychological thrillers. Two of Klavan's books have been adapted into motion pictures: ''True Crime'' (1999) and ''Don't Say A Word'' (2001). He has been nominated for the Edgar Award four times and has won twice. Playwright and novelist Laurence Klavan is his brother.

Early life

Klavan was born in New York City. His father was Gene Klavan, a New York City disk jockey and one-half of the radio show "Klavan and Finch." He grew up on Long Island with his three brothers. He was raised in the Jewish tradition by his parents, but he did not believe in any of the tenets of the faith and later said that he felt "dishonesty" and "shame" pretending to do so. He became an agnostic shortly after his Bar mitzvah. He later converted to Christianity.

He attended the University of California, Berkeley, where he met his future wife, Ellen Flanagan. He dropped out of school temporarily to work in local radio news. He then worked as a reporter for a small Putnam County, New York newspaper, as a reader for Columbia Pictures, and as a news writer for both WOR Radio and the ABC Radio Network. At this time, he self-identified as a liberal while opposing some policies, such as Affirmative Action.

Career

Klavan wrote his first novel, ''Face of the Earth'', in 1977. He then moved to Putnam County, New York, where he worked as a reporter for a local newspaper. His experience covering local crime later formed the basis for his novel ''Corruption''.

After ''Face of the Earth'' was published, Klavan returned to New York, where he took a series of jobs (as a script reader for Columbia Pictures and a news writer for WOR Radio and ABC Radio Networks) while writing mysteries and freelance book reviews. During this time he wrote ''The Scarred Man'' using the pseudonym Keith Peterson. Klavan's book, ''The Rain'', won an Edgar Award for Best Original Paperback.

He also began to write supernatural thrillers, publishing such novels as ''The Animal Hour'', ''Don't Say A Word'' — which was also nominated for an Edgar — and ''Corruption,'' and wrote the screenplay for the film version of Simon Brett's novel ''A Shock to the System''.

Klavan and his family then moved to London, where he wrote True Crime, and two other novels. After seven years, he moved back to the United States, settling in Santa Barbara, California, where he completed the novel ''Man and Wife'' (currently in motion picture development), and wrote his Weiss/Bishop trilogy: ''Dynamite Road'', ''Shotgun Alley'', and ''Damnation Street''.

In 2008, he released a war-on-terror political novel, ''Empire of Lies''. In 2009, he published ''The Last Thing I Remember'', a thriller aimed at young adults.

Klavan has been a regular contributor of short video commentaries under the general title "Klavan on Culture", posted at PJTV.com. He also became a contributor to the center-right social networking and blogging Web site Ricochet.com on May 17, 2010.

Political philosophy

Identifying himself as a conservative, Klavan has expressed the view that "rightists" are the victims of discrimination in Hollywood. In his view, people in the American arts are not fulfilling their inherent role of "speaking truth to power," since they are not willing to criticize those of the Left in power. In July 2008, he likened George W. Bush to Batman in ''The Dark Knight'', starting with their public vilification. The article set off a firestorm of criticism.

Klavan has said,

Bibliography

''Face of the Earth'' (1977)

''Agnes Mallory'' (1985)

''Mrs. White'' (1987) (as Margaret Tracy, with Laurence Klavan)

''There Fell A Shadow'' (1988) (as Keith Peterson)

''The Rain'' (1988) (as Keith Peterson)

''Darling Clementine'' (1988)

''The Trap Door'' (1988) (as Keith Peterson)

''Son of Man'' (1988)

''The Scarred Man'' (1989) (as Keith Peterson)

''Rough Justice'' (1989) (as Keith Peterson)

''Don't Say a Word'' (1991)

''The Animal Hour'' (1992)

''Corruption'' (1993)

''True Crime'' (1995)

''Suicide'' (1995)

''The Uncanny'' (1998)

''Hunting Down'' Amanda (1999)

''Man and Wife'' (2001)

''Dynamite Road'' (2003)

''Shotgun Alley'' (2004)

''Damnation Street'' (2006)

''Empire of Lies'' (2008)

''The Homelanders: The Last Thing I Remember'' (2009)

''The Homelanders: The Long Way Home'' (2010)

''The Homelanders: The Truth of the Matter'' (2010)

''The Identity Man'' (2010)

''The Homelanders: The Final Hour'' (2011)

''Schizophrenia'' (2012)

Filmography

''White of the Eye (film)'' (1987)

''A Shock to the Call (2008) (Screenplay)

References

External links

Klavan, Andrew Crime Time Interview

Apuzzo, Jason. Liberty Film Festival

Curtis, Brian. "Do You Fear Me Now?" ''Slate'', February 2006

Klavan, Andrew. "Clinton Doth Protest Too Much." ''Los Angeles Times'', September 2006

Category:1954 births Category:American novelists Category:American bloggers Category:American screenwriters Category:Converts to Christianity from Judaism Category:Former atheists and agnostics Category:Living people Category:People from New York City Category:University of California, Berkeley alumni

it:Andrew Klavan

Coordinates	40°42′15.0″N73°55′4.0″N
birth name	Robert H. Rozakis
birth date	April 4, 1951
spouse	Laurie Rozakis
children	Charles Rozakis and Samantha Rozakis
nationality	American
write	y
edit	y
alias	The Answer Man Boris ZabokTed P. Skimmer
notable works	'''Mazing Man''
website	http://bobrozakis.blogspot.com
sortkey	Rozakis, Bob
subcat	American
yob	1951
mob	4
dob	4 }}

Robert "Bob" Rozakis (born April 4, 1951) is a comic book writer and editor known mainly for his work in the 1970s and 1980s at DC Comics, as the writer of '''Mazing Man'' and in his capacity as DC's "Answer Man".

Biography

Rozakis is well known as DC's Answer Man, answering trivia questions from readers in the ''Daily Planet'' promotional page in many late-1970s comics. He has also had an online presence in that capacity since the mid-1990s.

Rozakis got his start in the comics industry through his many letters to comic book letter columns. Among his earliest credits is that of editor (both managing and contributing) on DC Comics "Pro-zine" ("Professional fanzine") ''The Amazing World of DC Comics'' between 1974 and 1978. In addition to editing, Rozakis wrote for the bi-monthly publication and also oversaw the letters page.

DC Comics

Comics credits

His first comics credit was in ''Detective Comics'' #445 (March 1975), as writer of the back-up feature "The Touchdown Trap", with back-up stories in ''Action Comics'', ''The Flash'' and ''Batman Family'' (among others) soon following. He was assistant editor for Julius Schwartz on the landmark issue ''Superman'' #300, and also served editorially on issues of ''Action Comics'' and ''Detective Comics''. His writing credits consist largely of back-up features and, in particular, dozens of "Action Comics Featuring:..." (Air-Wave, Hero Hotline, Aquaman, etc.), between #461 and #640. Additionally, Rozakis wrote the 1985 four-issue miniseries ''Superman: The Secret Years'' (with art by Curt Swan and Kurt Schaffenberger), and the comics adaptations of such diverse movies as ''Superman IV: The Quest for Peace'' (1987), ''Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure'' (1989) and ''Rainbow Brite and the Star Stealer'' (1985). Rozakis was also the writer of the syndicated comic strip ''The Superman Sunday Special'' for two years.

Arguably, his most well-known writing came in the twelve-issue 1986 series '''Mazing Man'', featuring the misadventures of self-declared homemade hero Sigfried Horatio Hunch III, which Rozakis co-created with artist Stephen DeStefano. The two returned to the character for three specials and for June 1987's ''Secret Origins'' #16, to tell "The Closest Thing To A Secret Origin of 'Mazing Man You Will Ever Get". Rozakis also co-created the series ''Hero Hotline'' with DeStefano, on which Rozakis also provided the coloring, a job he also undertook on the "Action Comics Featuring: Hero Hotline" back-up features.

Among his other creations are Mister E, the Bumblebee and Duela Dent (of the Teen Titans, created during his run on the ''Teen Titans'' title in the late 1970s), and The Calculator (a character who later played a major role in DC's ''Infinite Crisis'' event). His credits during his 25-year career with DC total "almost four hundred stories" featuring most DC characters, "plus dozens of features, puzzles, and activities pages".

Rozakis' comic book work in 1998-2000 was a variety of custom publications including the "Celebrate the Century" comic books for the United States Postal Service, as well as publications for Con Edison, the San Francisco Giants and the United Nations Land Mine Awareness program. In 2008, he began writing a series of "alternate reality" articles titled "The Secret History of All-American Comics Inc." for ''Alter Ego'' and ''Back Issue'' magazines.

Behind the scenes

Between 1981 and 1998, Rozakis ran DC Comics' production department, and as Executive Director of Production he was instrumental in the development of offset-printed comic books in a wide variety of formats. He was also the leading proponent of "computerized color separations and typesetting, electronic page preparation, and computer-to-plate printing", and as a result of his efforts on DC's behalf, the look of comic books across the entire industry changed, DC won "over one hundred awards for printing excellence", and Rozakis himself was profiled in ''Publishing & Production Executive'' on two separate occasions.

In 2003, Rozakis announced his retirement from the comic book industry.

Personal life

Rozakis is married to prolific author Dr. Laurie E. Rozakis PhD, a professor of English, grammar-expert and "author of more than 100 books", and Rozakis' co-writer on ''Detective Comics'' #464 (Oct, 1976). The two have collaborated on ''The Complete Idiot's Guide to Office Politics'' (Alpha Books, 1998) (ISBN 0028623975). They have two children: son Charles "Chuck" (who wrote his Princeton University thesis on the business viability of webcomics), and daughter Samantha "Sammi". In 1974, Laurie and Bob drove the DC Comic-mobile, a van that served as a lending library for comic books.

Rozakis has also taught creative writing courses for the Farmingdale, New York Youth Council and CTY, a Johns Hopkins University summer program for gifted students.

Notes

References

Bob Rozakis at the DC Database Project

External links

Category:People from New York City Category:Living people Category:American people of Greek descent

de:Bob Rozakis

Coordinates	40°42′15.0″N73°55′4.0″N
birthname	James Edward Franco
birth date	April 19, 1978
birth place	Palo Alto, California, U.S.
occupation	Actor, director, author, screenwriter, producer, professor, painter, pilot, model, musician
yearsactive	1997–present

James Edward Franco (born April 19, 1978) is an American actor, film director, producer, screenwriter, author, painter, performance artist and professor at New York University. He left college in order to pursue acting and started off his career by making guest appearances on television series in the 1990s. Franco landed a lead part on the short-lived cult hit television program ''Freaks and Geeks'' and later achieved recognition for playing the titular character in the TV biographical film ''James Dean'' (2001), for which he was awarded a Golden Globe Award. He achieved international fame with his portrayals of Harry Osborn in Sam Raimi's ''Spider-Man'' trilogy.

Franco is critically acclaimed as an actor. He has done both dramatic and comedic work in projects and has appeared in an eclectic range of projects since the 2000s, ranging from period to contemporary pieces, and from major Hollywood productions to less publicized indie films, as well as fantasy movies to biopics and soap operas. Other notable films include ''Pineapple Express'', a stoner comedy that earned him his second Golden Globes nomination, the Harvey Milk-biopic ''Milk'' (both 2008) as well as Danny Boyle's 2010 movie ''127 Hours'', about real-life mountain climber Aron Ralston's struggle to free his hand from a boulder. His performance in ''127 Hours'' earned him nominations for many high-profile awards, including the Academy Awards, Golden Globe and SAG Awards.

Franco has hosted ''Saturday Night Live'' twice as well as the 83rd Academy Awards with Anne Hathaway. He volunteers for the Art of Elysium charity.

Franco is currently teaching a class at New York University about transferring poetry to film.

Early life and family

Nicknamed "Ted", James Edward Franco was born in Palo Alto, California. His mother, Betsy Lou (née Verne), is a poet, author, and editor, and his father, Douglas Eugene Franco, runs a non-profit agency and a shipping container company; the two met as students at Stanford University. Franco's father is of Portuguese and Swedish descent and Franco's mother is Jewish, a descendant of immigrants from Russia (her family's surname had been changed from "Verovitz" to "Verne"). His paternal grandmother, Marjorie (Peterson) Franco, is a published author of young adult books; his maternal grandmother, Mitzie (Levine) Verne, owns the Verne Art Gallery, a prominent art gallery in Cleveland, and was an active member in the National Council of Jewish Women.

Franco's family upbringing was "academic, liberal and largely secular." He grew up in California with his two younger brothers, Tom and Dave ("Davy"), the latter of whom is also an actor. Talented at mathematics, Franco interned at Lockheed Martin. Franco was often encouraged by his father to get good grades and did exceptionally well on his SATs. He graduated from Palo Alto High School in 1996, where he acted in plays. In his high school years, Franco was arrested for underage drinking, graffiti and for being a part of a group that stole designer fragrances from department stores and sold them to classmates. These arrests led to him briefly becoming a ward of the state. Facing the possibility of juvenile hall, a judge decided to give Franco a second chance. "It was teen angst. I was uncomfortable in my own skin. I was shy. I changed my ways just in time to get good grades", he recalled of his troubles with the law.

Although the idea of becoming a marine zoologist interested him, Franco had always secretly wanted to become an actor but feared rejection. He enrolled at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) as an English major, but dropped out after his freshman year against his parents' wishes to pursue a career as an actor, since he would have to have waited two years to audition for their acting program. Franco instead chose to take acting lessons with Robert Carnegie at the Playhouse West. Around this time, Franco took up a late-night job at McDonald's to support himself since his parents refused to do so. He was a vegetarian until working there. While working at the establishment, for his acting classes, he would practice accents on customers. Knowing that the aspiring actor was doing his best to follow his passion, Carnegie poignantly told Franco to pay him what he could and later on pay him back.

Acting career

Early work

After 15 months of training, he began auditioning in Los Angeles, and started professionally acting in 1997 with guest roles on television shows. His first break came in 1999, after he was cast in a leading role on the short-lived but well-reviewed television series ''Freaks and Geeks''. The program, which ran for 18 episodes and was canceled due to low viewership, later became a cult hit among audiences. He has since described the series as "one of the most fun" work experiences that he has had. In another interview, Franco said: "When we were doing ''Freaks and Geeks'', I didn’t quite understand how movies and TV worked, and I would improvise even if the camera wasn’t on me ... So I was improvising a little bit back then, but not in a productive way." Franco made his film debut in a brief role in the 1999 Drew Barrymore-starring ''Never Been Kissed'' and his first major movie was the romantic teen comedy ''Whatever It Takes'' (2000), in which he played popular jock Chris. The latter is a modern day remake of the 1897 play ''Cyrano de Bergerac''.

He was subsequently cast as the title role in director Mark Rydell's 2001 TV biographical film ''James Dean''. To immerse himself in the role, Franco went from being a non-smoker to smoking two packs of cigarettes a day, dyed his dark brown hair blond, and learned to ride a motorcycle as well as play guitar and the bongos. To have a greater understanding of Dean, Franco spent hours with two of Dean's associates. Other research included reading books on Dean and studying his movies. While filming ''James Dean'', the actor, to get into character, cut off communication with his family and friends, as well as his then-girlfriend. "It was a very lonely existence," he notes. "If I wasn't on a set, I was watching James Dean. That was my whole thinking. James Dean. James Dean." Despite already being a fan of Dean, Franco feared he might be typecast if he'd captured the actor too convincingly. Ken Tucker of ''Entertainment Weekly'' wrote: "Franco could have walked through the role and done a passable Dean, but instead gets under the skin of this insecure, rootless young man." He received a Golden Globe Award and nominations for an Emmy Award and a Screen Actors Guild Award (SAG).

2002–2007

In the 2002 superhero film ''Spider-Man'', Franco played Harry Osborn, the son of the villainous Green Goblin (Willem Dafoe) and best friend of the title character (Tobey Maguire). Originally, Franco was considered for the lead role of Spider-Man/Peter Parker in the film, though the lead went to Maguire. Todd McCarthy of ''Variety'' noted that there are "good moments" between Maguire and Franco in the film. ''Spider-Man'' was a commercial and critical success. The movie grossed $114 million during its opening weekend in North America and went on to earn $822 million worldwide. He next starred in ''Sonny'', a 2002 release in which he was directed by fellow actor Nicolas Cage. It was Cage's involvement that had attracted Franco to the film. Set in 1980s New Orleans, ''Sonny'' follows the titular character (Franco) returning home after just being discharged from the Army. To prepare for his role, he met with sex workers or people who had previously been prostitutes. The movie was panned by critics, with the ''New York Post''s Lou Lumenick calling it an "instant candidate for worst movie of the year." Franco was cast as a homeless drug addict in the drama ''City by the Sea'' (2002) after co-star Robert De Niro saw a snippet of his work in ''James Dean''. He lived on the streets for several days to better understand the subject of the matter as well as talk to former or still using drug addicts. Both projects were released in September.

Following ''City by the Sea'', he co-starred alongside Neve Campbell in Robert Altman's ballet movie ''The Company'' (2003). The success of the first ''Spider-Man'' film led Franco to reprise the role in the 2004 sequel, ''Spider-Man 2''. The movie was well received by critics, and it proved to be a big financial success, setting a new opening weekend box office record for North America. With revenue of $783 million worldwide, it became the second highest grossing film in 2004. The following year he made and starred in the black comedy ''The Ape'' and the 2005 war film ''The Great Raid'', in which he portrayed Robert Prince, a captain in the United States Army's elite Sixth Ranger Battalion. In 2006, Franco co-starred with Tyrese Gibson in ''Annapolis'' and played legendary hero Tristan in ''Tristan & Isolde'', a period piece dramatization of the Tristan and Iseult story also starring English actress Sophia Myles. For the former, he did eight months of boxing training and for the latter, he practiced horseback riding and sword fighting. He then completed training for his Private Pilot Licence in preparation for his role in ''Flyboys'', which was released in September 2006; the same month, Franco appeared briefly in ''The Wicker Man'', the remake of the seminal horror film. Also in 2006, he made a cameo appearance in the romantic comedy ''The Holiday''.

He again played Harry Osborn in ''Spider-Man 3'' (2007). In contrast to the previous two films' positive reviews, ''Spider-Man 3'' was met with a mixed reception by critics. Nonetheless, with a total worldwide gross of $891 million, it stands as the most successful film in the series, and Franco's highest grossing film to date. In this same year, Franco made a cameo appearance as himself in the Apatow-directed comedy ''Knocked Up'', which starred ''Freaks and Geeks'' alumni Seth Rogen, Jason Segel and Martin Starr. Franco co-starred with Sienna Miller in the low-budget independent films ''Camille'', a dark fantasy dramedy about a young newly wed couple and ''Interview'', where he appears in a voice only role, both 2007 movies that were ignored by audiences and critics alike. Among his other 2007 projects were ''Good Time Max'', which Franco wrote, directed and starred in. The movie premiered at the 2007 Tribeca Film Festival and centers around two talented brothers who take very diverse paths in life, one going on to become a doctor whilst the other sibling (Franco) experiences unemployment and uses drugs. The actor chose to cast himself in that role because, "It was really just a process of elimination. I was better suited for this role than the responsible surgeon."

2008–2010

He next starred in ''Pineapple Express'' (2008), a stoner comedy co-starring and co-written by Rogen and produced by Apatow. Of Franco's character, Apatow said, "You tell him, 'Okay, you're going to play a pot dealer,' and he comes back with a three-dimensional character you totally believe exists. He takes it very seriously, even when it's comedy." In her ''New York Times'' review, critic Manohla Dargis wrote: "He’s delightful as Saul, loosey-goosey and goofy yet irrepressibly sexy, despite that greasy curtain of hair and a crash pad with a zero WAF (Woman Acceptance Factor). It’s an unshowy, generous performance and it greatly humanizes a movie that, as it shifts genre gears and cranks up the noise, becomes disappointingly sober and self-serious." His performance earned him a second Golden Globe nomination, for Best Actor in a Musical or Comedy. He has stated in some interviews that he no longer uses cannabis (although he has occasionally alluded to his smoking marijuana, most notably during an extended segment on ''The Colbert Report''.) He was awarded ''High Times'' magazine's Stoner of the Year Award for his work in ''Pineapple Express''. In 2008 he also appeared in two films by American artist Carter, exhibited at the Yvon Lambert gallery in Paris. On September 20, 2008, he hosted the sketch comedy show ''Saturday Night Live'' (''SNL''), and a second time on December 19, 2009.

Franco starred opposite Sean Penn, Josh Brolin, and Emile Hirsch in Gus Van Sant's ''Milk'' (2008). In the film, he played Scott Smith, the boyfriend of Harvey Milk (Penn). Kenneth Turan of the ''Los Angeles Times'', in review of the film, wrote: "Franco is a nice match for him [Penn] as the lover who finally has enough of political life." For his performance in the film, Franco won the Independent Spirit Award in the category for Best Supporting Actor. In late 2009, he joined the cast of the daytime soap opera ''General Hospital'' on a recurring basis. He plays Franco, a multimedia artist much like himself, who comes to Port Charles with unfinished business with mob enforcer Jason Morgan (Steve Burton). Franco has called his ''General Hospital'' role performance art. In March 2011, he will reprise his role in two episodes of ''General Hospital''. In September 2011, Franco will reprise his role as Robert "Franco" Frank for an extended stay.

2010 was a prolific year for Franco. He kicked off the year by making an appearance on the sitcom ''30 Rock'' where he played himself and carried on a fake romance with Jenna Maroney (Jane Krakowski) in a scheme concocted by their respective agents. After appearing in the commercial successes ''Date Night'', an action comedy, and ''Eat Pray Love'', an adaption of a self-help novel, Franco played poet Allen Ginsberg in the drama ''Howl'', released on September 24. The latter, about his most known poem and the trial about the work, premiered at the Berlin Film Festival and earned modest reviews.

His next project was ''127 Hours'', directed by Academy Award winner Danny Boyle, where Franco portrayed real-life mountain climber Aron Ralston. It was given a limited release starting on November 5, 2010. ''127 Hours'' centered on Ralston trying to free his hand after it became trapped under a boulder in a ravine while canyoneering alone in Utah and resorting to desperate measures in order to survive, eventually amputating his arm. During the five-week, 12-hours-per-day shoot, Franco would only leave the gully set to use the lavatory and would read books such as academic textbooks to keep busy. Franco later called making ''127 Hours'' a once in a life time experience. To date, ''127 Hours'' is one of his most well-reviewed movies and was also a commercial success, commissioning $57.5 million against an $18 million budget. His performance earned him universal acclaim from critics. Subsequently, he was nominated for most of the high-profile awards, notably an Academy Award, Golden Globe and SAG as well as winning an Independent Spirit Award.

2011–present

On February 23, Franco made a cameo appearance on NBC's ''Minute to Win It'' where the real-life Ralston was participating as a contestant playing for charity. After having an uncredited cameo in the opening scene of ''The Green Hornet'' (2011), he starred opposite Natalie Portman and Danny McBride in the Medieval fantasy comedy ''Your Highness'' on April 8. In it he plays Fabious, a prince who teams up with his brother (McBride) to rescue Fabious' soon to be bride (played by Zooey Deschanel). In May 2010, he was cast to star in Rupert Wyatt's $90 million budgeted ''Rise of the Planet of the Apes'', a reboot of the ''Planet of the Apes'' series which was released on August 5. Franco has also announced that in the fall of 2011, he will appear on Broadway with Nicole Kidman in the upcoming revival of ''Sweet Bird of Youth'' by Tennessee Williams, which will be directed by David Cromer. Franco will star alongside Winona Ryder in a film entitled ''The Stare'', which is to be directed by Jay Anania. Production is expected to begin in New York on May 6, 2011. He was cast as a drug-addicted lawyer in ''Cherry'', which will start shooting the following month in California and also star Heather Graham. He dropped out of the indie ''While We're Young'' to star in ''Oz: The Great and Powerful'', a Disney prequel to L. Frank Baum's ''The Wonderful Wizard of Oz'' (1900), as the Wizard, superseding Johnny Depp. Filming began in July.

At the end of September 2010, the actor acquired the rights to Stephen Elliott's ''The Adderall Diaries'', with the intentions to adapt, direct and star in it. It was announced in January 2011 that the actor has planned to not only star in but direct himself in ''The Night Stalker'', a film version of author Philip Carlo's book about the 1980s serial killer, Richard Ramirez. Co-screenwriter to the screenplay, Nicholas Constantine, was initially unconvinced that Franco would be right for the movie, until he learned of Franco's desire to be a director and later watched three of his short films, one of which featured a serial killer, ultimately confirming to the writer that the actor had a darker side. One of his other upcoming projects, ''The Iceman'', with reunite Franco with Michael Shannon, after the two worked together on the short film ''Herbert White''. The movie is based upon real-life contract murderer Richard Kuklinski, who notoriously froze his victims. The actor also has plans to direct a film version of William Faulkner's ''As I Lay Dying''.

Other projects

Franco produced and directed a documentary titled ''Saturday Night'' documenting a week in the production of an episode of ''SNL''. The film began as a short for an NYU class but grew due to his two episodes as host, while short stories he wrote for other classes appeared in ''Esquire'' and ''McSweeney's''. In summer 2010, the fictional Franco from ''General Hospital'' held an exhibit at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles, while the real Franco held an exhibit at the museum based on his experiences on the soap opera.

One of his short movies, ''The Clerk's Tale'', was screened in competition at the Hamptons Film Festival at the end of 2010. The short was also shown at the Cannes Festival. During an interview with Screen Comment’s Ali Naderzad, Franco had this to say about his Cannes experience: "Cannes is a huge honor. As a film student, having my short play on the closing night of Critic’s Week is the best thing I could ask for. The festival has honored so many of my favorite films and so many of my heroes, it is still hard to believe I will be involved with such an amazing festival. It is so nice to be recognized as a director."

On October 19, 2010 Scribner published a collection of short stories called ''Palo Alto: Stories'' by Franco. The book is named after the California city where Franco grew up and is dedicated to many of the writers he worked with at Brooklyn College. Inspired by some of Franco's own teenage memories, ''Palo Alto'' consists of life in Palo Alto as experienced by a series of teenagers who spend most of their time indulging in driving drunk, using drugs and taking part in unplanned acts of violence. Each passage is told by a young narrator. The book has received mixed reviews; ''Los Angeles Times'' called it "the work of an ambitious young man who clearly loves to read, who has a good eye for detail, but who has spent way too much time on style and virtually none on substance." ''The Guardian'' said that Franco's "foray into the literary world may be met with cynicism in some quarters, but this is a promising debut from a most unlikely source." Writing in the ''New York Times'', reviewer and fellow author Joshua Mohr praised Franco for how, in the story "American History", he juxtaposed historical parts with a present-day social commentary that "makes the we wonder how much we’ve actually evolved in post-bellum America."

Publisher's Weekly reviewed the collection, stating "The author fails to find anything remotely insightful to say in these 11 amazingly underwhelming stories."

In January, the actor screened his multimedia project entitled ''Three's Company The Drama'', in which he merges video and art to update the former sitcom, at the 2011 Sundance Film Festival. Franco reunited with ''Milk'' director Van Sant to make ''Unfinished'', a project that features two movies: ''Endless Idaho'' and ''My Own Private River''. ''Endless Idaho'' showcases edited outtakes, deleted scenes and behind-the-scenes footage from the 1991 movie ''My Own Private Idaho'', while ''My Own Private River'' focuses on the late actor River Phoenix. The idea for the exhibition was conceived after Van Sant introduced unused footage from the 1991 film to Franco, inspiring him to turn it into something more. ''Unfinished'' opened from February 26 to April 9 at the Gagosian Gallery in Beverly Hills.

On February 27, 2011, he and Anne Hathaway hosted the 83rd Academy Awards. The two were selected to help the awards show achieve its goal of attracting a younger audience. Franco had previously said that he accepted the job for the experience and because it was like a once in a lifetime opportunity. Numerous media viewers criticized Franco for his discontent and lack of energy on stage and the show was widely panned, with some reviewers dubbing it the worst telecast in its history. The actor later spoke about his hosting in an interview on ''The Late Show with David Letterman''. He explained that when accepting the job he never had high hopes, adding “It was never on my list of things to do. It doesn’t mean I didn’t care and it doesn’t mean I didn’t try, right?” Regarding allegations that he was under the influence of marijuana while hosting, Franco commented "I think the Tasmanian Devil would look stoned standing next to Anne Hathaway. She has a lot of energy!" He concluded that he tried his best and could have had "low energy" during the telecast.

In May, Franco made his dance-theater directorial debut at New York's Stella Adler studios, where he narrated all the performances. Entitled "Collage" and described as a "mixed-media piece", the show featured live dance, theater, music, and poetry. Tickets were free but were be distributed on a first come, first serve basis. The actor will also direct two short films for songs ("Blue" and "That Someone Is You") by R.E.M. from their album ''Collapse Into Now'' (2011). Franco continued his career as a filmmaker with ''The Broken Tower'', a 90-minute docudrama shot in black and white about poet Hart Crane, who committed suicide by jumping off the steamship ''SS Orizaba''. It originally started out as his masters thesis. After being screened at 2011's Los Angeles Film Festival among more than 200 feature films, short projects, and music videos from more than 30 countries to be selectedit is slated for a 2012 theatrical release.

In the media

He has been described as having "an unusually high metabolism for productivity...a superhuman ability to focus". Viewed as a sex symbol, Franco was named the Sexiest Man Living in 2009 by Salon.com.

There has often been frequent media coverage of Franco, particularly regarding his interest in going to colleges. In addition to that, Franco has also claimed to have been strongly misquoted by reports in the media and news outlets reporting erroneous information about him. This led to the actor being parodied in an episode of ''SNL''s Weekend Update segment, which an ''Entertainment Weekly'' writer deemed "clever". In a 2011 interview, he stated:

"I’ve been perceived as this guy yelling, 'Hey, look at me. I want attention.' I’m not going to school to get articles written about me. I’m just going to school. But the fact that I’m going to school or that someone takes a picture of me sleeping is like, 'We’re gonna jump on that and criticize him for his antics.' What antics? I write. I make movies. I’m going to school. I hosted the Oscars. I take these projects seriously."

In response to questions regarding his sexuality now that he has portrayed three gay characters during his acting career, he insists he finds plenty more dimensions to the characters than their bedroom proclivities. "Or, you know what," he quipped, "maybe I’m just gay." Those rumors led to a Gawker article linking him to a ''New York Post'' Page Six blind item about a closeted gay actor, nicknamed "the Gay Rapist". Despite the victim of the alleged attack denying that it was Franco, two magazines then contacted Franco's lawyer to alert them that they might run stories suggesting his involvement, but were unable to as at least part of their stories were fabricated. However, Gawker refused to take their article down as they were simply reporting what another outlet published and instead offered him a chance to make a comment about the speculation on its website. He declined, hoping it would die down. The actor later called the episode very offensive because he has friends who have been raped.

Personal life

In 2008, he was named as the new face of Gucci's men's fragrance line. Regarding his secular upbringing, Franco told ''The Guardian'' that he feels as if he has "missed out on the Jewish experience", but has been told not to worry about that by his Jewish friends. He said in the same interview that he likes "the idea of religion as a source of community." When asked if he was a "believer", he responded "In God? I don't know. Yes. To a certain extent. It's a complicated question." After meeting on the set of ''Whatever It Takes'', Franco dated co-star Marla Sokoloff for five years. He was in a relationship with actress Ahna O'Reilly for several years since around 2006. He confirmed their separation in an interview for ''Playboy'' magazine's August 2011 issue, saying that his interest in education got between them.

Education

Franco has received an extensive education, and continues to do so. Dissatisfied with his career's direction, Franco reenrolled at UCLA in the fall of 2006 as an English major with a creative writing concentration. He received permission to take as many as 62 course credits per quarter compared to the normal limit of 19, while still continuing to act. He received his undergraduate degree in June 2008 with a GPA over 3.5. For his degree, Franco prepared his departmental honors thesis as a novel under the supervision of Mona Simpson. While at the university, the actor studied French, the Holocaust, philosophy of science, and American literature among other things. To continue acting, he would study on film sets.

He was selected as the commencement speaker at his alma mater, UCLA, and was to speak at the ceremony on June 12, 2009. On June 3, however, a press release announced Franco's cancellation due to a scheduling conflict, making it the second cancellation in a row, after commencement speaker Bill Clinton had canceled the appearance. On January 26, 2011, Franco and the Harvard Lampoon released a satirical video on prominent comedy website Funny or Die mocking his last-minute cancellation.

He moved to New York to simultaneously attend graduate school at Columbia University's MFA writing program, New York University's Tisch School of the Arts for filmmaking (NYU), and Brooklyn College for fiction writing, while occasionally commuting to North Carolina's Warren Wilson College for poetry. He received his MFA from Columbia in 2010. Franco is a Ph.D. student in English at Yale University and will also attend the Rhode Island School of Design. The actor opted against watching the 2011 Academy Award nominees be announced (where he was a top contender) in favor of attending class. "I’m not gonna miss class to go and presume that I’m going to be nominated, but if you want to bring out a camera crew to Yale and wait and see if I get nominated, I’d be happy to step out of class and say I’m very grateful", he commented.

He has been accepted to the University of Houston for the doctoral (Ph.D.) program – one of 20 people to be selected out of 400 applicants – in literature and creative writing and plans to enroll in fall 2012. Having previously shown a desire to teach, in March 2011, it was announced that Franco will teach a fall semester course on modifying poetry into short films to ten to twelve third-year graduate film students at NYU. The course will focus mainly on production, meaning that the students will be in charge of creating their own film based on poetry. At the time of the announcement the actor had yet to put together a syllabus, but has until the summertime to do so.

When asked about his education, Franco said that he loves school and that it keeps him focused as well as grounded. "I go to school because I love being around people who are interested in what I’m interested in and I’m having a great experience… I’m studying things that I love so it’s not like it’s a chore", he told the ''Washington Post'', according to a ''New York Magazine'' article. Franco has also credited his education for helping him "take acting seriously" when his parents did not see it as a successful post-college career. Franco developed an aptitude for art—painting in particular—during his high school years while attending the California State Summer School for the Arts (CSSSA). Franco has said painting was the "outlet" he needed in high school, and he "has actually been painting longer than he has been acting." His paintings were displayed publicly for the first time at the Glü Gallery in Los Angeles, from January 7, through February 11, 2006. He launched his first European art exhibition in 2011 at Peres Projects in Berlin.

He enjoys reading on the set of his films. ''Pineapple Express'' producer Judd Apatow has said of him: "He's a very education-minded person. We used to laugh because in between takes he'd be reading ''The Iliad'' on set. We still haven't read ''The Iliad''. It was a very difficult book. With him, it was always James Joyce or something."

Charitable work

Franco has said aiding others is "the key to life, the key to happiness" and, "as an actor, you can get wrapped up in yourself and your career...A little secret is one of the greatest ways to break that is to stop thinking about yourself for a second." When Franco was at a point in his life where he wanted to give back but was unsure how, he asked his ''Spider-Man'' co-star Kirsten Dunst for advice. At the suggestion of Dunst, he started volunteering at the charity Art of Elysium, where she also volunteers, which helps children with serious medical conditions. He said the experience helped save his life. In January 2011, at the Art of Elysium Heaven Gala in Los Angeles, Franco was honored for his work at the hospital, receiving the Spirit of Elysium accolade.

On March 31, 2011, the actor took part in "An Evening with James Franco", a Washington DC dinner benefit for 826DC, a non-profit foundation created to help neighborhood students reach their goals, as well as provide after-school literature programs and workshops which encourage them to improve their writing skills. Franco became involved with Dave Egger's 826 National after Eggers asked him to do a conceptual idea for the program, and he directed a documentary for them and has since been a supporter of them. At the event, Franco spoke about how he thought schools needed to be more original with their literature programs. "Writing can do things that video cannot", he added.

In April, Franco autographed a T-shirt that will be auctioned-off through the Yoshiki Foundation, with the proceeds being donated for the Japanese tsunami relief occurring in 2011. On June 14, he was honored by amfAR, the foundation for AIDS research, at the Museum of Modern Art. Franco received the Piaget Award of Inspiration for his humanitarian work and contributions to men’s style.

Filmography

+ Film
! Year	! Title	! Role	Notes
1998	''1973''	Greg	TV film
1999	''To Serve and Protect''	Matt Carr	TV film
1999	''Never Been Kissed''	Jason Way
2000	''At Any Cost''	Mike
2000	''If Tomorrow Comes''	Devin
2000		Chris
2001	''Mean People Suck''	Casey
2001	''Some Body''	Apartment guy 3	Uncredited
2001		James Dean	TV filmBroadcast Film Critics Association
2002	''Blind Spot''	Danny
2002	''Mother Ghost''	Skateboarder guy
2002		Sonny Phillips	limited release
2002	''[[City by the Sea''	Joey	Nominated—Chlotrudis Award for Best Supporting Actor
2002		Harry Osborn
2002	''Deuces Wild''	Tino
2003	''''	Josh
2004	''Spider-Man 2''	Harry Osborn
2005	''''	Harry Walker	Direct-to-video
2005	''''	Captain Prince
2005	''Fool's Gold''	Brent	Also writer and director
2006	''Grasshopper''	Travis	Short film
2006		Tristan
2006		Jake Huard
2006	''''	Bar guy No.1
2006		Blaine Rawlings
2006	''''	Derek
2006	''''	Himself	Uncredited
2007	''Spider-Man 3''	Harry Osborn / New Goblin	Nominated—Saturn Award for Best Supporting ActorNominated—MTV Movie Award for Best Fight (with Tobey Maguire)
2007	''Knocked Up''	Himself	Uncredited
2007	''In the Valley of Elah''	Sergeant Dan Carnelli
2007	''Finishing the Game''	Dean Silo/"Rob Force"
2007	''''	Andy
2007		Boyfriend on phone
2007		Silas Parker
2007	''Good Time Max''	Max Verbinski	Also writer and director
2008		Saul Silver
2008	''Nights in Rodanthe''	Dr. Mark Flanner	Uncredited
2008			Broadcast Film Critics Association Award for Best CastIndependent Spirit Award for Best Supporting MaleNominated—Broadcast Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting ActorNominated—MTV Movie Award for Best KissNominated—Satellite Award for Best Supporting Actor – Motion PictureNominated—Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture
2010	''Shadows & Lies''	William Vincent
2010	''Date Night''	Thomas Tripplehorn/ Felton
2010	''Eat Pray Love''	David
2010		Allen Ginsberg
2010	''127 Hours''	Aron Ralston	Dallas-Fort Worth Film Critics Association Award for Best ActorIndependent Spirit Award for Best Male LeadIndiana Film Journalists Association Award for Best ActorLas Vegas Film Critics Society Award for Best ActorNew York Film Critics Online Award for Best ActorSanta Barbara International Film Festival Award for Outstanding PerformanceUtah Film Critics Association Award for Best ActorNominated—Academy Award for Best ActorNominated—BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading RoleNominated—Broadcast Film Critics Association Award for Best ActorNominated—Chicago Film Critics Association Award for Best ActorNominated—Detroit Film Critics Society Award for Best ActorNominated—Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture DramaNominated—Houston Film Critics Society Award for Best ActorNominated—MTV Movie Award for Best WTF MomentNominated—Online Film Critics Society Award for Best ActorNominated—Phoenix Film Critics Society Award for Best ActorNominated—San Diego Film Critics Society Award for Best ActorNominated—Satellite Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture DramaNominated—Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading RoleNominated—St. Louis Gateway Film Critics Association Award for Best ActorNominated—Toronto Film Critics Association Award for Best ActorNominated—Washington D.C. Area Film Critics Association Award for Best Actor
2011		Danny "Crystal" Clear	Cameo uncredited
2011	''Your Highness''	Fabious
2011		Hart Crane	Also director, writer, editor and producer
2011	''Sal''	Milton Katselas	James also wrote and directed this film. The film is set to premier at the Venice Film Festival on September 2nd
2011	''Rise of the Planet of the Apes''	Will Rodman
2011	''Maladies''	James	''post-production''. Franco is also producing
2012	''The Stare''	Tyrone	''post-production''. Franco is also producing
2012			''Filming''
2013	''Oz: The Great and Powerful''	Oz	Filming

+ Series television
! Year	! Title	! Role	Notes
1997		Brian
1999		Stevie
1999–2000	''Freaks and Geeks''	Daniel Desario
2001	''The X-Files''	Officer No.2
2009–2011	''General Hospital''
2010	''30 Rock''	Himself	Episode: "Klaus and Greta"

Selected works

Franco, James. "A Star, a Soap and the Meaning of Art." ''The Wall Street Journal'', December 4, 2009.

Franco, James. "Just Before the Black." ''Esquire'', March 24, 2010.

References

External links

Category:1978 births Category:20th-century actors Category:21st-century actors Category:Actors from California Category:American people of Russian descent Category:American people of Swedish descent Category:American film actors Category:American Jews Category:American people of Portuguese descent Category:American people of Russian-Jewish descent Category:American soap opera actors Category:American television actors Category:Best Miniseries or Television Movie Actor Golden Globe winners Category:Columbia University alumni Category:Independent Spirit Award winners Category:Jewish actors Category:Living people Category:Palo Alto High School alumni Category:People from Palo Alto, California Category:University of California, Los Angeles alumni Category:Yale University alumni

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