Nicholas Kim Coppola (born January 7, 1964), better known as Nicolas Cage, is an American film actor. He was born in Long Beach, California to August and Joy Coppola. In 1976, Cage's parents divorced and he moved to Beverly Hills, California 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 Marvel comic book hero, Luke Cage, Power Man. He had a small role in Fast Times at Ridgemont High (1982), most of which ended on the cutting room floor. His next notable roles were in the 1983 films 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, and an occasional black comedy.

He has a son, Weston Coppola Cage (born 1990), with model Kristina Fulton . On April 8, 1995, he married actress Patricia Arquette. They divorced in 2001. On August 10, 2001, he married Lisa Marie Presley and filed for divorce less than four months later. He married former waitress Alice Kim at the end of July, 2004 in a private ceremony in northern California.

Selected Filmography

• Fast Times at Ridgemont High (1982)
• Valley Girl (1983)
• The Cotton Club (1984)
• Birdy (1984)
• Peggy Sue Got Married (1986)
• Moonstruck (1987)
• Raising Arizona (1987)
• Wild at Heart (1990)
• Honeymoon in Vegas (1992)
• Guarding Tess (1994)
• It Could Happen to You (1994)
• Leaving Las Vegas (1995)
• The Rock (1996)
• Con Air (1997)
• Face/Off (1997)
• City of Angels (1998)
• Bringing Out the Dead (1999)
• Gone in Sixty Seconds (2000)
• The Family Man (2000)
• Captain Corelli's Mandolin (2001)
• Windtalkers (2002)
• Adaptation (2002)
• Matchstick Men (2003)

External links

• Nicolas Cage at the Internet Movie Database