Nicolas Cage (born January 7, 1964) is an American actor.
He was born Nicholas Kim Coppola in Long Beach, California, the son of August and Joy Coppola. 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), 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, 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.
