Historical Figures Codexery

Nicolas Cage

The versatile Oscar-winning actor from the Coppola dynasty.

On January 7, 1964, in Long Beach, California, Nicolas Kim Coppola was born, who later became known professionally as Nicolas Cage.[1][2] For his performance in the 1995 film Leaving Las Vegas, Cage received the Academy Award for Best Actor.[3][4]

Quick Facts

Birth name
Nicolas Kim Coppola
Born
7 January 1964
Birthplace
Long Beach, California, U.S.
Occupation
Actor, film producer
Years active
1981–present
Children
3
Father
August Coppola
Family
Coppola family

Facts from the source article.

Life and work

Cage attended Beverly Hills High School and later the UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television.[5][6] He made his film debut with a minor role in Fast Times at Ridgemont High (1982).[7][2] His first starring role was opposite Deborah Foreman in the romantic comedy Valley Girl (1983).[7][8] His performance in Moonstruck (1987) earned him a Golden Globe nomination for Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy.[9][8]

Cage starred in a string of commercially successful action films including The Rock (1996), Con Air (1997), and Face/Off (1997).[10][2] Cage made his directorial debut with the low-budget drama Sonny (2002).[11][8] The Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Drama was awarded to Cage for his work in Leaving Las Vegas (1995).[3][8]

What the cited sources add

A biography from biography.com states Cage fell in love with acting during a summer class at the American Conservatory Theatre in San Francisco.[2] The same source notes he chose the name Cage as a tribute to comic-book superhero Luke Cage.[2] The biography reports Cage agreed to star in Leaving Las Vegas for only $240,000 because of the strength of the role.[2] A Golden Globe Awards record lists his five nominations, including a win for Leaving Las Vegas and nominations for Moonstruck, Honeymoon in Vegas, Adaptation, and Dream Scenario.[8]

The same article notes Cage filed for divorce under his real name, Nicolas Coppola, citing irreconcilable differences.[12] According to a Today article, the divorce between Cage and Presley was made final on May 24, 2004.[13][12]

References

  1. Wikipedia, "Nicolas Cage" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Stern, "Nicolas Cage on Finally Playing a Superhero That Matches His Freak in 'Spider-Noir,' How Watching ‘Breaking Bad’ Led Him to TV and Whether He's Doing Season 5 of 'True Detective'", May 27, 2026; "UPI Almanac for Monday, Jan, 7, 2019", United Press International, January 7, 2019; Naden, "Nicolas Cage", Lucent Books, 2003; Weisholtz, "Nicolas Cage Reveals He Legally Changed His Name in 2025", Today, May 28, 2026 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  2. "Nicolas Cage Biography", biography.com. facts only, no text reused. biography.com
  3. Wikipedia, "Nicolas Cage" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Hinson, "'Kiss of Death' (R)", The Washington Post, April 21, 2022; "Nicolas Cage wins best actor Oscar", United Press International, March 26, 1996 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  4. Wikipedia, "Nicolas Cage" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Miller, "Nicolas Cage Explains His Recent Oscar-Shunning Career Choices in Most Confusing, Cage-ian Way Possible", Vanity Fair, February 14, 2012 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  5. Wikipedia, "Nicolas Cage" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Hal Erickson, "Nicolas Cage Full Biography", The New York Times, 2014 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  6. Wikipedia, "Nicolas Cage" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Nicolas Cage – Details", cinema.com (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  7. Wikipedia, "Nicolas Cage" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Coffel, "The Tao of Nicolas Cage: The Best of Times", Film School Rejects, December 16, 2016; Schutte, "Nicolas Cage on Turning Down 'Dumb & Dumber,' Winning Another Oscar and the Movie that Made Him Change His Name", The Hollywood Reporter, February 14, 2012; Schutte, "Nicolas Cage on Turning Down 'Dumb & Dumber,' Winning Another Oscar and the Movie that Made Him Change His Name", The Hollywood Reporter, February 14, 2012; Spencer, "When 'Valley Girl' (and Nicolas Cage) Shook Up Hollywood", The New York Times, May 11, 2020; Sollosi, "Vall en.wikipedia.org
  8. "Nicolas Cage", Golden Globe Awards. facts only, no text reused. goldenglobes.com
  9. Wikipedia, "Nicolas Cage" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Tafoya, "The Whole Parade: On the Incomparable Career of Nicolas Cage", RogerEbert.com, May 25, 2021; Billson, "The wonderfully mad world of Nicolas Cage", The Daily Telegraph, July 3, 2013; Westbrook, "Raising Arizona Review", Empire, January 1, 2000; "Nicolas Cage Biography", biography.com; "Nicolas Cage", Golden Globe Awards; Ebert, "Moonstruck", RogerEbert.com, June 22, 2003 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  10. Wikipedia, "Nicolas Cage" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Larman, "First Alcatraz, then Iraq: how The Rock became Michael Bay's weapon of mass destruction", The Daily Telegraph, June 2, 2021 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  11. Wikipedia, "Nicolas Cage" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Nicolas Cage Biography", biography.com; Agger, "Nic Cage's unfortunate Sonny incident", Slate, December 23, 2002; Shepard, "FILM; Again, Nosferatu, the Vampire Who Will Not Die", The New York Times, September 10, 2000; Ebert, "Matchstick Men", Chicago Sun-Times, September 12, 2003 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  12. "Cage and Presley divorce made final", Today, May 26, 2004. facts only, no text reused. today.com
  13. Wikipedia, "Nicolas Cage" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Cage and Presley divorce made final", Today, May 26, 2004 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org

Each numbered sentence above was checked against the source it cites before publication. Sentences citing Wikipedia adapt text from the English Wikipedia article Nicolas Cage (contributors), used under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is available under the same licence. Other sources were used for facts only; no text or images are copied from them.

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