Nicolas Cage was born Nicolas Coppola, and spent his formative years in Long Beach, California. Talent seems to run in the family: Nicolas is the youngest of the three sons of dancer Joy Vogelsang and August Coppola, a former literature professor. His oldest brother, Mark, is also an actor, as well as a disc jockey, and he is the nephew of director Francis Ford Coppola and actress Talia Shire. Nicolas' parents divorced when he was 12, so when his father's profession forced him to travel, Nicolas often found himself living in San Francisco with his Uncle Francis. Although he usually enjoyed his visits, he felt he didn't really fit in with his wealthier cousins. A sense of belonging also eluded him at school, so he wrote a general equivalency diploma exam and left Beverly Hills High before graduation.
      Surprisingly enough, the Coppola name proved to be more of a hinderance than a help when Nicolas began to pursue an acting career. He was a young actor with little formal training and found the casting agents were more interested in asking questions about his famous Uncle Francis than watching him perform. After several auditions proceeded in a similar fashion, Nicolas decided to take on a stage name. Nicolas owns a major collection of comic books, so it seemed to be a natural place to turn when it came time for a new name. He'd always loved the name Cage because of comic book hero Luke Cage, Power Man, so the choice was an easy one.
      After his very first audition as Nicolas Cage, he landed the romantic lead in Martha Coolidge's 1983 love story "Valley Girl". Later on, his Uncle Francis persuaded him to take a role in 1986's "Peggy Sue Got Married" with Kathleen Turner. Although few people liked his performance due to his voice experiments, the role did have some positive side effects. He became friends with Jim Carrey, who had a bit part in the high school reunion scene and he caught the attention of Cher, who wanted him for the lead in "Moonstruck".
      Nicolas has a production company which he started with partner and old friend Jeff Levine. He has a son, Weston, by ex-girlfriend actress Kristina Fulton.
Photo © George Holz/Premiere

Bio info taken from several sources. Please let us know of any errors.