Leonardo Wilhelm DiCaprio was born on November 11, 1974, in Los Angeles.[3] He is the only child of Irmelin (née Indenbirken), a legal secretary, and George DiCaprio, an underground comix artist and producer and distributor of comic books.[4] DiCaprio's father is of Italian (from Naples) and German (from Bavaria) descent.[5][6][7] DiCaprio's maternal grandfather, Wilhelm Indenbirken, was German.[8] His maternal grandmother, Helene Indenbirken (born Yelena Smirnova; 1915–2008),[9] was a Russian-born German citizen.[10][11] In an interview in Russia, DiCaprio referred to himself as "half-Russian" and said that two of his grandparents were Russian.[12] DiCaprio's parents met while attending college and subsequently moved to Los Angeles, California.[5]
DiCaprio was named Leonardo because his pregnant mother was looking at a Leonardo da Vinci painting in a museum in Italy when he first kicked.[13] His parents separated when he was a year old, and he lived mostly with his mother.[14] The two lived in several Los Angeles neighborhoods, such as Echo Park and Los Feliz (his Los Feliz residence was later converted into a public library), while his mother worked several jobs.[5] DiCaprio attended Seeds Elementary School (now UCLA Lab School) and John Marshall High School a few blocks away, after attending the Los Angeles Center for Enriched Studies for four years.[15] However, he dropped out of high school following his third year, eventually earning his general equivalency diploma (GED).[16][17] DiCaprio spent part of his childhood in Germany with his maternal grandparents, Wilhelm and Helene. He is conversant in German and Italian