Leonardo DiCaprio’s Secret Legacy: A Decade-Old Promise of Learning and Community

Leonardo DiCaprio has quietly been supporting a Los Angeles neighborhood library for more than two decades. The actor has contributed funds for technology and other resources at the Los Feliz branch of the Los Angeles Public Library. When the branch opened in 1999, DiCaprio and his family donated $35,000 to establish its computer lab. At the time, it was revealed that the space opened with seven desktop computers loaded with programs designed to strengthen children’s language and math skills. It was later named the Leonardo DiCaprio Computer Center.

The branch is built on the site of DiCaprio’s former childhood home near Hillhurst and Franklin, which was demolished before construction began in the late 1990s. As a teenager, he visited a temporary library across the street where he skateboarded to meet friends and check out books, according to senior librarian Pearl Yonezawa.

DiCaprio’s support has continued beyond the initial gift. Yonezawa said his foundation periodically contacts the library to ask whether it needs assistance. During the late-2000s recession, staff observed residents coming in to read The New York Times because they could not afford subscriptions. “We sent word up that we were having this issue,” Yonezawa explained. “So we asked [DiCaprio] for a year subscription so that we could see if it was worth the library subscribing to it.” He bought them a five-year subscription.

The computer center displays signed posters from films such as Titanic, The Great Gatsby, and Catch Me If You Can. Yonezawa said she did not initially realize some of the posters carried DiCaprio’s autograph. “I was so busy getting the building up and getting it working,” she recalled. “They’re secured a little better to the wall once we realized that some of them were signed. Sorry, Leo!”

His father, comic book artist George DiCaprio, occasionally provides posters from newer releases for display. The room has become a point of interest for visitors, drawing tourists from outside California and abroad, Yonezawa said. Although DiCaprio no longer lives in Los Feliz, Yonezawa noted he still occasionally stops by the library—a habit she first spotted in the early 2000s when he arrived wearing a baseball cap accompanied by model Gisele Bundchen to show her the computer room.

Over the weekend, DiCaprio attended the 79th British Academy of Film and Television Arts awards ceremony in London where he was nominated for best actor. He lost the award to Robert Aramayo for his performance in I Swear. DiCaprio has received seven BAFTA nominations, making him the most-BAFTA-nominated actor in history, and won once in 2016 for The Revenant. His latest film, One Battle After Another, earned a record 14 nominations and six awards at the ceremony.