Leonardo DiCaprio has always felt the support of his parents, despite them splitting up when he was very young – George DiCaprio was also in a Hollywood movie, without the help of his famous son
From LA’s gritty streets to Hollywood’s grand stages, Leonardo DiCaprio has had two constants – his parents, George DiCaprio, 81, and Irmelin Indenbirken, 81. Long before Romeo + Juliet and Titanic catapulted him to global fame, Leonardo DiCaprio’s parents laid the groundwork for his success.
Raised by a comic book enthusiast dad and a dedicated legal secretary mum, Leo’s upbringing was far from ordinary, People notes. His parents split up early on, but both were all-in on his Hollywood dreams, standing by him through the ups and downs.
Leo has never shied away from expressing his gratitude. “To my parents, thank you for listening to an overly ambitious, slightly annoying 13-year-old kid who wanted to go on auditions every day after school. I would not be standing here without you,” he shared during his 2016 Sag Awards speech, per Vanity Fair.
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As Leo hits the big 5-0, we take a look at his parents and their role in the star’s life.
Irmelin Indenbirken was born in a German air raid shelter
Indenbirken’s life began amid the turmoil of World War II, as she was born in a German air raid shelter in 1943. Her mother Helene described those days as “hard times”, explaining in a 1998 interview with The German Way that the family emigrated to New York in 1955.
The challenges didn’t stop there. As Leo shared with Vanity Fair, his mum faced a severe health crisis as a child back in Germany. “All these refugees from the war and all the soldiers came into the hospital,” he explained. “She ended up contracting five or six major illnesses and stayed for two and a half, three years.”
George DiCaprio worked in underground comic books
From asbestos installation to launching a waterbed business called Foggy Bottom, George DiCaprio took on various jobs to support his family, according to the Daily Mail. But his true passion lay elsewhere. Per People, by the time Leo was older, George had embraced his creative side as an underground comic book writer and distributor in Los Angeles. “I’d go on trips with him to all the comic book stores around town when I was little,” Leo shared with Interview magazine back in 1994.
How did Leonardo DiCaprio’s parents meet?
When Irmelin met George at City College in the early 1960s, she was a legal secretary student, while George was immersed in the beatnik scene alongside icons like beat poet Allen Ginsberg and the Velvet Underground, the Daily Mail reports.
They began dating and later headed to Los Angeles to start a family – but the reality reportedly didn’t match the California dream. After Irmelin became pregnant with Leo, they settled in a tough LA neighbourhood, according to the actor.
They divorced when Leo was a kid
Their marriage didn’t last, and by the time Leo was a toddler, George and Irmelin had separated. Despite this, Leo recalls his childhood fondly, attributing his sense of stability to his parents’ constant presence. “My parents are so a part of my life that they’re like my legs or something,” he told Vanity Fair.
George DiCaprio made a cameo in a movie
In 2021, Leo’s dad landed a role as a quirky waterbed salesman in romcom Licorice Pizza. According to People, contrary to expectations,Leo wasn’t involved – director Paul Thomas Anderson reached out directly, and George jumped on board.
