1998: LEONARDO DICAPRIO

WHAT WE SAID THEN ''This year, for better or worse, and certainly in spite of himself, he came to personify the unique era and culture that declared him a star.... The 24-year-old actor (a really fine actor, lest we forget) grew so large on the global cultural landscape that by last summer, he was instantly recognized by one name: LEO — two vowels and one consonant typed incessantly by headline writers whose papers and magazines goosed circulation chronicling his every business dealing...his every foray into Manhattan nightclubs...his every alleged canoodle with a model.'' —Jess Cagle