Nicolas Cage

Nicolas Cage (born January 7, 1964) is an American actor.

Born Nicholas Kim Coppola in Long Beach, California to August Coppola, an Italian American writer and professor, and Joy Vogelsang, a German American dancer. In 1976, Cage's parents divorced and he moved to Beverly Hills with his father. He is the nephew of both Francis Ford Coppola and Talia Shire.

Cage changed his name early in order to try to make his own way in acting without benefiting from his uncle's reputation. He chose the name Cage after the Marvel comic book hero Luke Cage, Power Man.

He had a small role in Fast Times at Ridgemont High (1982) (credited under the Coppola name), most of which ended on the cutting room floor. His next notable roles were in the 1983 movies Rumble Fish and Valley Girl, which was his breakout role.

He won an Academy Award for Best Actor for his role in Leaving Las Vegas (1995). He has developed a reputation for alternating roles in action movies with more serious character-driven dramas, as well as the occasional black comedy.

He has a son, Weston Coppola Cage (born 1990), by model Kristina Fulton. On April 8, 1995 he married actress Patricia Arquette. They divorced on May 18, 2001. On August 10, 2002 he married Lisa Marie Presley and filed for divorce less than four months later. They divorced on May 16, 2004. He married former waitress Alice Kim on July 30, 2004, in a private ceremony in northern California. He has another son, Kal-el Coppola Cage (born October 3, 2005 in New York City), by the latter.

Cage is an immense Elvis fan.

He also is a big fan of comic books, with his favorite character being Marvel Comics' Ghost Rider, a carnival motorcyclist bent on revenge. In (July 2005), he landed the role of Johnny Blaze, Ghost Rider's alter ego. The Ghost Rider movie is slated for 2006.

Filmography

Fast Times at Ridgemont High (1982)
Valley Girl (1983)
Rumble Fish (1983)
Racing with the Moon (1984)
The Cotton Club (1984)
Birdy (1984)
The Boy in Blue (1986)
Peggy Sue Got Married (1986)
Raising Arizona (1987)
Moonstruck (1987)
Never on Tuesday (1988) (Cameo)
Vampire's Kiss (1989)
Time to Kill (1990)
Fire Birds (1990)
Wild at Heart (1990)
Zandalee (1991)
Red Rock West (1992)
Honeymoon in Vegas (1992)
Deadfall (1993)
Amos & Andrew (1993)
A Century of Cinema (1994) (documentary)
Guarding Tess (1994)
It Could Happen to You (1994)
Trapped in Paradise (1994)
Kiss of Death (1995)
Leaving Las Vegas (1995)
The Rock (1996)
Sean Connery, an Intimate Portrait (1997) (documentary)
Con Air (1997)
Face/Off (1997)
City of Angels (1998)
Snake Eyes (1998)
Junket Whore (1998) (documentary)
8mm (1999)
Bringing Out the Dead (1999)
The Family Man (2000)
Gone in Sixty Seconds (2000)
Welcome to Hollywood (2000) (documentary)
Italian Soldiers (2001) (documentary)
Captain Corelli's Mandolin (2001)
Christmas Carol: The Movie (2001) (voice)
Windtalkers (2002)
Sonny (2002) (also director and producer)
Adaptation. (2002)
Matchstick Men (2003)
National Treasure (2004)
Lord of War (2005) (also producer)
The Weather Man (2005)
Ghost Rider (2006) (currently in post-production)
The Wicker Man (2006) (currently filming) (also producer)
Ant Bully (2006) (voice) (currently filming)
Untitled Oliver Stone/September 11 Project (2006) (currently in pre-production)
Amarillo Slim (2006) (currently in pre-production) (also producer)
Time Share (2006) (currently announced start of production) (also producer)