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Leonardo DiCaprio has become the latest household name to be bestowed with the title of Messenger of Peace for the United Nations.
The actor will use his new role in order to campaign for environmental issues.
His first action in the position will be to lead a talk about climate change at a summit in New York on Tuesday 23 September.
“I feel a moral obligation to speak out at this key moment in human history - it is a moment for action,” DiCaprio said.
“How we respond to the climate crisis in the coming years will likely determine the fate of humanity and our planet.”
In pictures: 9 surprising people who should have won an Oscar... but didn'tShow all 9 1 /9In pictures: 9 surprising people who should have won an Oscar... but didn't In pictures: 9 surprising people who should have won an Oscar... but didn't Leonardo DiCaprio, practically every movie he’s ever made Steve McQueen wasn’t the only big name who didn’t see justice done this year – perennial Oscars bridesmaid Leonardo DiCaprio has now lost out so often that he’s becoming the butt of (mostly sympathetic) jokes. He might not have lost out as often as Peter O’Toole, but he has been pipped an impressive four times in the last 20 years. That said, he took the loss with admirable grace and a kind embrace for Matthew McConaughey
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In pictures: 9 surprising people who should have won an Oscar... but didn't Edward Norton, American History X (1998) One of the true serious men of American cinema, that Edward Norton has never won an Oscar is an injustice in itself. 1998 was his best chance, after a bravura performance as a neo-Nazi in American History X saw him nominated for Best Actor. He lost out, to worldwide shock, to Italian actor Roberto Benigni’s turn in Life Is Beautiful, which was good, but not that good…
In pictures: 9 surprising people who should have won an Oscar... but didn't Anyone nominated alongside Dame Judi Dench, 1998 1998 was the year that Dame Judi Dench – an international treasure in anyone’s book – won the Best Supporting Actress award for roughly eight minutes’ worth of work on Shakespeare In Love. She’s since had seven nominations and this is her only win, but her competitors, best among them Brenda Blethyn (pictured) in Little Voice, might have a case for complaint about the shift they put in…
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In pictures: 9 surprising people who should have won an Oscar... but didn't Stanley Kubrick, 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) It might be deeply weird – and so much the weirder in 1968 – but 2001 was actually the highest grossing picture that year in America. It did win an Oscar for its visual effects, but Kubrick the auteur lost out in the Best Director category to Carol Reed’s Oliver!, which is madness when you think about it. Admittedly, Reed had been picked as a nod to his own past work which hadn’t won; but Kubrick would never win anything
In pictures: 9 surprising people who should have won an Oscar... but didn't Peter O’Toole, Lawrence of Arabia (1962) The late, lamented O’Toole actually holds the record for the number of nominations without a win – a total of eight. His best work is probably in Lawrence of Arabia, which was his first nomination for Best Actor, and in which he is majestic. But you can hardly suggest he wasn’t robbed without getting at least one
In pictures: 9 surprising people who should have won an Oscar... but didn't Judy Garland, A Star Is Born (1954) By all accounts, Judy Garland was at the height of her powers in A Star Is Born – the critical reception to her tragic portrayal of a starlet in love with an alcoholic was triumphant. However she lost out, cruelly, in the Best Actress category to Grace Kelly, also playing a woman struggling to cope with a drunken husband, though with rather less aplomb
In pictures: 9 surprising people who should have won an Oscar... but didn't Alfred Hitchcock, take your pick Alfred Hitchcock is a name absolutely synonymous with great cinema – one of the all-time greats. So one of the surprising things about him, then, is that he never won an Oscar for anything, despite FIVE nominations for Best Director, for the films Rebecca, Lifeboat, Spellbound, Rear Window and Vertigo. Sometimes there is no justice
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“Leonardo DiCaprio is not just one of the world's leading actors,” UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon added. “He has also a long-standing commitment to environmental causes, including through his foundation.”
A long-time champion of environmental awareness, DiCaprio founded the Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation in 1998.
He joins the likes of Angelina Jolie and Emma Watson , both of whom represent different organisations within the UN.
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