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Born in Long Beach, California
January 7, 1964
Cage was born in Long Beach, California. His father, August Coppola, is a professor of literature, while Cage's mother, Joy Vogelsang, is a dancer and choreographer; the two divorced in 1976. His mother suffered from chronic depression. Cage's mother is of German descent and his father is Italian American, with his paternal grandparents being Carmine Coppola and Italia Pennino, an actress. Through his father, Cage is the nephew of director Francis Ford Coppola and actress Talia Shire, as well as the cousin of director Sofia Coppola and actors Robert Carmine and Jason Schwartzman. Cage's two brothers are Christopher Coppola, a director, and Marc "The Cope" Coppola, a New York radio personality. Cage was born into a Roman Catholic household and remains one to this day.
Cage, who attended and dropped out of Beverly Hills High School (the same high school as fellow entertainers Albert Brooks, Angelina Jolie, Lenny Kravitz, Slash, Rob Reiner, Bonnie Franklin and David Schwimmer), aspired to act from an early age. His first (non-cinematic) acting experience was in a school production of Golden Boy. He is also good friends with fellow actor Johnny Depp, whom he advised to get into acting.
Son Weston Coppola Cage Born
December 26, 1990
In 1988, Cage began dating Christina Fulton, mother of their son, Weston Coppola Cage (b. 26 December 1990); Weston appeared in Cage's film Lord of War as Vladimir, a young Ukrainian mechanic who quickly disarms a Mil Mi-24 helicopter. Weston is also a devoted fan of heavy metal and on April 16, 2008, he introduced the symphonic black metal band Dimmu Borgir before they played a show at The Grove in Anaheim, California.
Married to Patricia Arquette
April 8, 1995 - May 18, 2001
Cage married Patricia Arquette on April 8, 1995 and their divorce was finalized May 18, 2001. Cage proposed to her on the day he met her in the early 80s. Arquette thought he was strange, but played along with his antics by creating a list of things Cage would have to do to "win her hand", including obtaining the autograph of reclusive author J.D. Salinger. However, when he seriously started working through the list of demands, Arquette became scared and avoided him. They met again many years later and went on to marry
Leaving Las Vegas
Feburary 9, 1996
He has been nominated twice for an Academy Award, and won once, for his performance as a suicidal alcoholic in Leaving Las Vegas.
Leaving Las Vegas is a 1995 romantic drama film about a relationship between a suicidal alcoholic and a prostitute from Las Vegas, starring Nicolas Cage and Elisabeth Shue. Ben Sanderson is a late-stage alcoholic who has hit rock bottom. Trashing all personal and professional ties to his L.A. existence, he sets off for the lights of Vegas on a mission: to drink himself to death. There he meets Sera, a beautiful, seen-it-all hooker. From the moment Ben and Sera connect, they form a unique bond based upon unconditional acceptance and mutual respect that will change each of them forever. The film was directed and written by Mike Figgis, based on a semi-autobiographical novel by John O'Brien. Two weeks after the production of the film had started, O'Brien committed suicide. A halt of the project was considered, but work on the film was continued as a memorial of sorts.
Face Off
June 27, 1997
Public enemy number one and freelance-terrorist Castor Troy (Nicolas Cage) is being relentlessly pursued by FBI agent Sean Archer (John Travolta), whose son was killed several years earlier during an attempt by Troy to kill Archer. The FBI receives information that Castor's brother Pollux (Alessandro Nivola) has chartered a plane at a Los Angeles airport, and Archer knows the Troy brothers well enough to guess that Pollux "never flies without big brother!" Archer leads an FBI team in chasing the plane down a runway and is able to shoot one of the engines. Unable to take off, Castor kills the pilot and crashes the plane into a hangar. In the ensuing chaos, Pollux is captured by the FBI and Castor is knocked into a coma after bragging to Archer about a bomb that will destroy Los Angeles.
The Family Man
December 22, 2000
The Family Man is a 2000 Brett Ratner fantasy film starring Nicolas Cage and Téa Leoni, about a man given a glimpse at what could have been had he made a different decision 13 years ago.
It is similar to It's a Wonderful Life in that it begins on Christmas Eve with a life-and-death situation involving an angel who tries to convince the main character into taking an earnest look at his life. Moreover, in the end, the protagonists in both movies conclude that living a quiet family life is preferable to achieving success and wealth at work.
Married to Lisa Marie Presley
August 10, 2002 - May 16, 2004
Cage and Lisa Marie Presley married on August 10, 2002 and separated after four months in December 2002; their divorce was finalized on May 16, 2004. Presley is the daughter of Elvis Presley, of whom Cage is a fan and based his performance in Wild at Heart on. He later said they shouldn't have been married in the first place.
Adaptation
December 6, 2002
Adaptation. stars Nicolas Cage (as both Charlie and Donald Kaufman), as well as Meryl Streep, Chris Cooper, Cara Seymour, Brian Cox, Tilda Swinton, Ron Livingston and Maggie Gyllenhaal. The film tells the story of Charlie Kaufman's difficult struggle to adapt The Orchid Thief into a film. In addition Orlean romances with John Laroche while Charlie enlists the help of his obnoxious twin brother Donald.
Married to Alice Kim
July 30, 2004 - Now
Alice Kim, a former waitress who previously worked at the Los Angeles restaurant Kabuki, met Cage at Los Angeles based Korean Nightclub, Le Privé. She is mother to his son, Kal-El (born October 3, 2005). She had a minor role in the 2007 movie Next which he produced. They were married at a private ranch in Northern California on July 30, 2004.
National Treasure
November 19, 2004
Most of the actor's financial successes have come from his forays into the action-adventure genre. In his second-highest grossing film to date, National Treasure, he plays an eccentric historian who goes on a dangerous adventure to find treasure hidden by the Founding Fathers of the United States.
Son Kal-El Born
October 3, 2005
Cage's son, Kal-El, with wife Alice Kim was born October 3, 2005.
World Trade Center
August 9, 2006
World Trade Center is a dramatic film based on the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center towers of New York City(NY), USA, released by Paramount Pictures on August 9, 2006.
The movie was directed by Oliver Stone and stars Nicolas Cage, Michael Peña, Maria Bello, Maggie Gyllenhaal, and Michael Shannon. It is billed as an uplifting story about everyday New Yorkers helping one another amid a cataclysmic tragedy. Critical reception of the film was generally favorable. Many of the re-created scenes at the Twin Towers were filmed at Playa Vista, Los Angeles, California, USA.
Ghost Rider
Feburary 16, 2007
The critically panned Ghost Rider (2007) was a significant hit, earning more than $45 million during its opening weekend (landing in the top spot) and over $208 million worldwide through the weekend ending on 25 March 2007.
In the days of the American Old West, Mephistopheles sent a bounty hunter of the damned, called a Ghost Rider, to retrieve a contract for a thousand corrupt souls from the town of San Venganza. The Rider refused to give the contract — and therefore, the souls — to Mephistopheles; instead, he outran Mephistopheles and hid himself and the contract.
A century and a half later, a seventeen-year-old stunt motorcycle rider Johnny Blaze (Matt Long/Nicolas Cage) discovers that his father is dying of lung cancer. Mephistopheles (Peter Fonda) approaches him with a promise to rid his father of his cancer once and for all if Johnny gave his soul as payment. Johnny inadvertently signs the contract when a spike located on its central bar breaks his skin and causes his blood to fall onto the parchment. The next morning, his father's cancer is gone; but later that same day, he dies mid-stunt in a horrific bike crash. Johnny accuses Mephistopheles regarding his father's death; Mephistopheles informs Johnny that he now owns the boy's soul, as agreed. Johnny then abandons his girlfriend, Roxanne Simpson (Raquel Alessi/Eva Mendes).
Next
April 27, 2007
The movie is about a man who is able to see his own future. When he meets Liz in a Las Vegas diner, she soon must put her belief that "anything's possible" to the ultimate test when she falls in love with him. Meanwhile, the FBI is looking for him to help stop the detonation of a nuclear weapon.
National Treasure: Book of Secrets
December 21, 2007
Five days after the end of the Civil War, John Wilkes Booth and another man, both members of the Knights of the Golden Circle, enter a tavern and approach Thomas Gates (Ben Gates' great-great-grandfather). They produce a diary containing an encrypted message, and entice Thomas, a well-known puzzle solver, to decode it. Thomas recognizes the message as using the Playfair cipher and begins to translate it. While he does so, Booth leaves for Ford's Theatre to assassinate President Lincoln. Thomas solves the puzzle, a clue to a treasure map, and realizes the men are still loyal to the Confederate cause and have a sinister motive for finding the treasure. Unfortunately, he realizes this too late. The Confederate man pulls a gun on him, threatening to shoot him if he does not hand over the diary, however he is distracted from Thomas when chaos erupts in the bar over news of Lincoln's assassination. Thomas rips several pages from the diary and throws them in the fireplace. The gunman shoots him and attempts to retrieve the pages, only succeeding in saving a fragment of a page. The dying Thomas gasps, "The war is over," but the man disagrees, stating, "You're wrong about that, the war has only just begun," and rushes from the bar. With his final breath, Thomas tells his distraught son, Charles Gates, "The debt that all men pay."
Over 140 years later, Ben Gates is telling his great-great-grandfather's story at a conference on Civilian Heroes to great acclaim until black market dealer Mitch Wilkinson shows one of the 18 missing pages of John Wilkes Booth's diary, with Thomas Gates' name on it, convincing everyone that Thomas was a conspirator in the Lincoln assassination. Ben sets out to prove the innocence of his great-great-grandfather.
