George DiCaprio


George Paul DiCaprio is an American writer, editor, publisher, distributor, and former performance artist, known for his work in the realm of underground comix. He has collaborated with Timothy Leary and Laurie Anderson. He is the father of American actor Leonardo DiCaprio.

Biography

DiCaprio was born to George Leon DiCaprio and Olga Anne Jacobs. His father was the son of Italian immigrants, Salvatore Di Caprio and Rosina Cassella, and his mother was of German descent.
DiCaprio was active in underground comix throughout the 1970s, as a writer, editor, publisher, and distributor. He is known for such titles as Greaser Comics, Forbidden Knowledge, and Cocaine Comix, collaborating with artists such as Laurie Anderson, Pete von Sholly, and Rich Chidlaw.
He was also a performance artist. Comics writer Harvey Pekar details a DiCaprio performance in Los Angeles in February 1988 where DiCaprio did "a light show using brine shrimp and worms. I'd hit 'em with cold water and they'd move around and I'd project 'em on a wall magnified. It blew people's minds."
DiCaprio played an important role in his son's early career as an actor. He used to screen scripts for him, and was instrumental in getting Leo to play Rimbaud in the 1995 film Total Eclipse.

Personal life

George Paul DiCaprio met Irmelin Indenbirken, a German immigrant, in college; the two later married and moved to Los Angeles. The couple had one son, Leonardo DiCaprio, and divorced shortly after, when the boy was a year old. While Leonardo lived mostly with his mother, his parents agreed to live next door to each other so as not to deprive him of his father's presence in his life.