Throughout his decade-long film career, Leonardo DiCaprio has told many wild stories on the big screen – but it turns out one of the most intriguing characters the Oscar-winner has met is right at home.
Because while 48-year-old Leo has garnered critical acclaim over the years for his portrayal of everyone from real-life Wall Street crooks to Shakespeare’s Romeo, there’s one very intriguing story he has yet to tell – the his own father George.
Yesterday the Titanic actor was spotted spending a night out in the city of London, where he was joined by his father, 79, and stepmother Peggy.
It was a very brief glimpse into Leo’s famous personal life – and as the trio strolled together to the exclusive Chiltern Firehouse venue – it offered a glimpse of his very close relationship with his father, who separated from Leo’s mother shortly after his birth.
Earlier this week Leonardo DiCaprio was spotted taking his father and stepmother out to dinner – the Oscar winner’s latest appearance with his family
After struggling for money in the early stages of Leo’s childhood, George found work installing asbestos and fireproof roofing before branching out into his own business by starting a waterbed business called Foggy Bottom.
George also made a name for himself as a writer, editor and distributor as one of the leading figures in the underground comics scene – before accompanying his son Leo in the early days of his screen career.
And if that wasn’t enough, he recently made his own film debut in 2021 in Paul Thomas Anderson’s coming-of-age comedy Licorice Pizza directed by Paul Thomas Anderson.
Here, FEMAIL laid bare the highs and lows of George DiCaprio’s own varied history.
How George split from Leo’s mother as the couple struggled to make money
George met Leo’s mother, Irmelin, in 1963 while she was studying to be a legal secretary at City College in New York.
He, on the other hand, was a long-haired beatnik who hung out with the likes of poet Allen Ginsberg and members of the rock band The Velvet Underground.
The couple married a few years later and moved to Los Angeles at a time when California was known as the land of opportunity and sunshine.
But the reality was a little less rosy.
Leo’s parents moved to Los Angeles at a time when California was considered the land of opportunity and sunshine – but the reality was a little less rosy
George and Irmelin split up but decided to rent neighboring bungalows with a shared garden so they could raise their son together
Irmelin did become a legal secretary, but George found work installing asbestos and fireproof roofing.
The creative, the grandson of an immigrant Neapolitan street cleaner turned real estate agent, also disseminated comics and alternative literature in his spare time.
But neither was paid well, and could only afford to rent in one of Hollywood’s poorest neighborhoods.
The couple had already drifted apart by the time Irmelin became pregnant in 1974, but before the birth of their only child, they embarked on one last adventure together – a trip to Florence.
George (pictured with Leo), the grandson of a Neapolitan street cleaner turned real estate agent, found work installing asbestos and fireproof roofs
There in the Uffizi Gallery, Irmelin stopped to admire a painting by Leonardo da Vinci and after feeling her baby kicking inside her, she decided on a name for him.
Back in Hollywood, George and Irmelin split up but decided to rent neighboring bungalows with a shared garden so they could raise their son together.
DiCaprio, who spent his summer vacations with his grandparents in Germany after they returned there in 1983, seemed unfazed by his parents’ unusual arrangement, claiming in a magazine interview that it “never bothered me.”
The creative went on to become one of the leading figures in the underground comics scene before venturing into other mediums
George dabbled in the world of comics in his spare time – in the early 1970s he earned the nickname “Half-A** Press” as a publisher.
But he quickly made a name for himself in the industry.
He went on to become one of the leading figures on the West Coast underground scene of the 1970s and early 1980s.
George has acted as a writer, editor and distributor of stories that have appeared in publications such as Forbidden Planet, Slow Death and Cocaine Comix.
Arguably his best-known work is his two installments of Greaser Comics, which The Underground Comix Collection has described as “disrespectful, deviant, violent, and politically incorrect.”
Arguably his best-known work is his two installments of Greaser Comics (pictured), which the Underground Comix Collection has described as “disrespectful, deviant, violent and politically incorrect”.
The first was co-created with adult pulp writer Richard Jaccoma and the second with artist Jim Janes.
Speaking about his father’s love for comics, Leo said he often gets taken to comic book stores.
He told USA Weekend in 2010, “From a young age, I was exposed to the toughest hippie subculture a young man can be exposed to with the comics Fabulous Freak Brothers, Zap, and Weirdo.”
In his later years, George turned his attention to a different form of media.
And since 2008 he has worked as an executive producer in the film industry, mainly for documentaries and short films and often alongside his son.
George accompanied his son Leo on his way through the world of media
Leo previously recalled how his father exposed him to counterculture through his artistic work.
“The earliest memory I have is going to a hippie concert with my dad and the band wasn’t performing,” he once told Rolling Stone.
‘Hundreds of people in the audience sang for the band and my dad walked me up on stage – I don’t know how old I was, probably three or so – and I got up there and danced for hundreds of people.’
Leo has also previously called his father “a great force” for him, both in his personal and professional life
The star has also previously called his father “a huge force” for him, both in his personal and professional life.
At the SAG Foundation Awards, he recalled that it was George who introduced him to Robert De Niro films and told him, “This is what great acting looks like.”
Leo also revealed how in the early days of his son’s career he reviewed scripts for him to help him decide which ones were worth pursuing.
“My dad used to tell me, ‘Go out son and whatever you do, I don’t care if you’re successful or not, just live an interesting life,'” Leo also once told Parade.
He made his film debut in 2021 in a role that echoed his own story
George, who married Peggy Ann Farrar in 1995, was offered a cameo in Paul Thomas Anderson’s 1970s coming-of-age comedy Licorice Pizza, which hits theaters in 2021.
He played a wig shop owner and waterbed salesman who convinced the film’s protagonist (played by Philip Seymour Hoffman’s Cooper) to start his own waterbed business.
According to the New York Times, Anderson said, “I took a picture of a guy who owned a wig shop that sold these waterbeds, and I couldn’t put my finger on it.” I kept saying, “Who do I know that looks like that.” ?
George starred in Paul Thomas Anderson’s 1970s coming-of-age comedy Licorice Pizza (pictured), which hits theaters in 2021
He played a wig shop owner and waterbed salesman who convinced the film’s protagonist (played by Philip Seymour Hoffman’s Cooper) to start his own waterbed business
George, who married Peggy Ann Farrar in 1995, revealed that he used to own a waterbed company called Foggy Bottom
“And like a flash I remembered, ‘Leo’s dad looks just like that,’ so I tracked him down and asked him if he’d ever be interested in being in a movie. He said, ‘Sure.’
And then the extent of the similarities was established.
Anderson continued, “I explained the scenario to him. He said: “Sounds great. Did Leo tell you I own a waterbed company? Her name was Foggy Bottom.”
It was at this point that the director decided George was the right man for the job.