Born Nicholas

Born Nicholas Coppola was born 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.

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.

Nicholas led a decidedly more middle-class existence than either his wealthy Bay Area relatives or his fellow students at Beverly Hills High School. He hated school and opted to take the G.E.D. exam in eleventh grade. After getting his certificate, Nicholas landed a part as a surfer dude on a short-lived TV series called The Best of Times (1980-81), and made his feature film debut in a small role in Fast Times at Ridgemont High (1982).

He won 1 Oscar, 1 Golden Globe and 2 BAFTA nominations

IN an industry in which everyone longs to be tagged a brooding, edgy rebel, Nicolas Cage is the genuine article. During the course of his movie career, Cage has had two teeth yanked out sans Novocain (while filming Birdy, 1984), has trashed his trailer in a fit of spleen (The Cotton Club, 1984), and has eaten a live cockroach on camera (Vampire's Kiss, 1989). Now there's a guy who will do anything for art.