Interview with Leonardo DiCaprio’s Oma
The private DiCaprio
NOTE: The original German version of this interview (“Leonardo heißt auch Wilhelm”) was first published in the Hellweger Anzeiger. This English excerpt is published here with permission from that German newspaper. The complete interview in English can be found at The German-Hollywood Connection
“He’s only got clowning around on his mind”
By Marcel Wessollek and Sven Kuschel
At the moment, as far as media coverage is concerned, she is almost the equal of her grandson on the other side of the Atlantic. Helene Indenbirken, the 83-year-old grandmother of Titanic victim Leonardo DiCaprio, is in demand.
But the staged baking of potato pancakes (Reibekuchen or Kartoffelpuffer) on TV for the RTL network and the Titanic premieres have taken their toll on the vigorous lady.
Graffiti was able to get her to do one of her last interviews for the time being, in which she blasts pushy, impudent media people and rumors about Leonardo. The retired grandmother is currently far more interested in the fact that Tanja Szewzcenko is on her way to silver in the European Championships. Hanging on the walls of her small apartment in the German town of Oer-Erkenschwick, next to numerous photos of her favorite grandson, there is also an invitation to last year's Golden Globe Awards, where she kept her fingers crossed for her Leonardo. Below that is blues legend B.B. King with a dedication to Helene. On the table there are stacks of newspaper clippings.
“So, what do you want to know? I’ve already told everything. After all, I’m just the Omi (granny).” The media have made things tough for her with “stolen” private photos and false reports. Keeping her distance has become important to the old lady, who gradually becomes more open and warm after a short ice-breaking period. Every now and then an American word sneaks into her German vocabulary. With a gleam in her eye she displays photo albums that show her grandson with personalities such as Prince Charles and various Hollywood people. She knows more about them than the reporters at Entertainment Tonight.
Graffiti: We read everywhere that Leonardo is here all the time. How often do you actually see your grandson?
Helene Indenbirken: During the shooting of Titanic I was there. Otherwise we usually see each other when he has something to do in Europe.
Is it a strain to have such a famous grandson?
For me it’s normal to have Leonardo as a grandson. You know, I lived in America for 30 years, where you even meet famous people on the street.
How did it happen that you moved to America, or more precisely New York?
That happened at the beginning of the '50s. My daughter was born in an air raid shelter in 1943 during a bombing raid. Those were hard times. We emigrated to America in 1955 -- not in 1943, as some newspapers have reported. After all, that was totally impossible then. In New York we lived in a section with lots of Germans. In 1985 my husband and I left the “American Lifestyle” behind and came back to Germany.
How did you choose the name Leonardo Wilhelm?
My daughter Irmelin’s husband is Italian. Leonardo goes well with the last name DiCaprio. But so he would also have something German about him, we added the name of my husband Wilhelm. His roots, by the way, lie far to the east where our ancestors come from.
Interview continued at The German-Hollywood Connection
More about Leonardo DiCaprio from The German-Hollywood Connection.
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