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Quick Facts
- NAME: Nicolas Cage
- OCCUPATION: Film Actor
- BIRTH DATE: January 07, 1964 (Age: 49)
- EDUCATION: American Conservatory Theatre, Beverly Hills High School
- PLACE OF BIRTH: Long Beach, California
- Originally: Nicolas Kim Coppola
- AKA: Nicolas Cage
- AKA: Nicolas Coppola
- ZODIAC SIGN: Capricorn
Best Known For
Actor Nicolas Cage, star of such films as Moonstruck and The Rock, is known for his intense on- and off-screen personality, as well as his passion for method acting.
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Play NowNicolas Cage. (2013). The Biography Channel website. Retrieved 09:26, May 20, 2013, from http://www.biography.com/people/nicolas-cage-9234498.
Nicolas Cage. [Internet]. 2013. The Biography Channel website. Available from: http://www.biography.com/people/nicolas-cage-9234498 [Accessed 20 May 2013].
"Nicolas Cage." 2013. The Biography Channel website. May 20 2013, 09:26 http://www.biography.com/people/nicolas-cage-9234498.
"Nicolas Cage," The Biography Channel website, 2013, http://www.biography.com/people/nicolas-cage-9234498 [accessed May 20, 2013].
"Nicolas Cage," The Biography Channel website, http://www.biography.com/people/nicolas-cage-9234498 (accessed May 20, 2013).
Nicolas Cage [Internet]. The Biography Channel website; 2013 [cited 2013 May 20] Available from: http://www.biography.com/people/nicolas-cage-9234498.
Nicolas Cage, http://www.biography.com/people/nicolas-cage-9234498 (last visited May 20, 2013).
Nicolas Cage. The Biography Channel website. 2013. Available at: http://www.biography.com/people/nicolas-cage-9234498. Accessed May 20, 2013.
Synopsis
Born in California on January 7, 1964, Nicolas Cage fell in love with acting during a summer class at the American Conservatory Theatre in San Francisco. He got his start in teenage comedies like Fast Times at Ridgemont High and went on to play a wide variety of roles in such films as Raising Arizona, Moonstruck, and Con Air. He received an Academy Award for his role in 1995's Leaving Las Vegas.
Contents
Quotes
"My father was always getting excited about something. It's genetically inside me somewhere."
"As a teenager I was more of an anarchist, but now I want people to thrive and be harmonious."
Early Life
Nicolas Cage was born Nicolas Kim Coppola on January 7, 1964, in Long Beach, California, to choreographer Joy Vogelsang and literature professor August Coppola. Cage has two older brothers, Marc and Christopher. He is the nephew of film director Francis Ford Coppola and, as a youth, visited his uncle often at his San Francisco home.
At age 15, Cage fell in love with acting during a summer class at the American Conservatory Theatre in San Francisco. He dropped out of Beverly Hills High School to pursue an acting career, making his debut on television in 1981. He changed his name to Nicolas Cage as a way to separate his identity from that of his famous uncle. He chose the name Cage as a tribute to comic-book superhero Luke Cage.
Cage is known for his edgy, intense personality both on and off the screen, as well as for his passion for method acting. He is said to have had two teeth pulled for his role in Birdy (1984), slashed his arm for Racing With the Moon (1984) and swallowed a live cockroach for Vampire's Kiss (1992). He is also alleged to have destroyed a street vendor's remote-controlled car in a fit of rage while preparing for his role as a mobster in The Cotton Club (1984).
Film Debut
Cage got his start in teenage comedies, with his debut in Fast Times at Ridgemont High (1982, also featuring Sean Penn), followed by a leading role as a punk rocker in Valley Girl (1983). Francis Ford Coppola gave him a small role in his critically acclaimed Rumble Fish (1983). His first serious dramatic role was opposite Matthew Modine in Birdy (1984). This was followed by Coppola's Peggy Sue Got Married (1986), the Coen Brothers' comedy Raising Arizona (1987), Moonstruck (1987, starring Cher), David Lynch's bizarre Wild at Heart (1990), Vampire's Kiss (1992) and the comedy Honeymoon in Vegas (1992).
By 1994, Cage was valued at about $4 million per picture, but agreed to star in Mike Figgis's Leaving Las Vegas (1995) for only $240,000 because of the strength of the role. It paid off- his portrayal of the alcoholic screenwriter earned him a Academy Award and a Golden Globe for Best Actor.
Later Roles
Since 1995, Cage has made a series of action thrillers, including The Rock (1996), Con Air (1997), John Woo's Face/Off (1997, opposite John Travolta), and Brian De Palma's Snake Eyes (1998). In 1998, he starred in the romantic City of Angels with Meg Ryan. After returning to the action genre with the poorly-rated 8MM and headlining Martin Scorsese's dark Bringing Out the Dead in 1999, Cage reportedly received a $20 million paycheck for the action extravaganza Gone in 60 Seconds, costarring Angelina Jolie.
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