Nicolas Cage (born Nicolas Kim Coppola; January 7, 1964) is an American actor, producer and director, having appeared in over 60 films including Raising Arizona (1987), The Rock (1996), Face/Off (1997), Gone In 60 Seconds (2000), National Treasure (2004), Ghost Rider (2007), based on the Marvel Comics character, fared better, earning more than $45 million (the top earner) during its opening weekend and over $208 million worldwide through the weekend ending on March, Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans (2009), and Kick-Ass (2010). Cage, at age 32, became the fifth youngest actor ever to win the Academy Award for Best Actor for his performance in Leaving Las Vegas. Cage was born in Long Beach, California. Cage's parents divorced in 1976. He was raised as a Roman Catholic. Cage attended Beverly Hills High School, which is known for its many alumni who became entertainers, and aspired to act from an early age. Cage also attended UCLA School of Theatre, Film, and Television. The acting work of Cage has been praised by influential film critic Roger Ebert who writes, in his "Great Movies" essay about the film Adaptation. Roger Ebert, in response to mixed reviews of Knowing and their focus on criticizing Cage, wrote an article in which he defends both Cage as an actor and the movie which, in stark contrast to other critics, Ebert gave 4/4 stars. In the 1995 edition of the Academy Awards, he was awarded Best Actor for his performance in Leaving Las Vegas. In May 2001, Cage was awarded an Honorary Doctorate in Fine Arts by California State University, Fullerton. He spoke at the commencement ceremony. In March 2009, Entertainment Weekly critic Owen Gleiberman called on Cage to return to dramas rather than high-paying blockbusters. Cage has created a comic book with his son Weston, called Voodoo Child, which is published by Virgin Comics. Cage has a strong interest in comic books, and once auctioned a collection of 400 vintage comics through Heritage Auctions for over $1.6 million in 2002. In 1997 Cage broke the auction record for Lamborghinis when he placed a bid on a rare Miura SVJ for US$490,000. He is a fan and collector of painter and underground comic artist Robert Williams. He has written introductions for Juxtapoz magazine and purchased the painting Death On The Boards. Cage had a Malibu home where he and Alice lived, but sold the property in 2005 for $10 million. In 2004 he bought a property on Paradise Island, Bahamas. In May 2006, he bought a 40-acre (160,000 m2) island in the Exuma archipelago, some 85 miles (137 km) southeast of Nassau and close to a similar island owned by Faith Hill and Tim McGraw. Cage's "shopping spree entailed the purchase of three additional residences at a total cost of more than $33 million; the purchase of 22 automobiles (including 9 Rolls Royces); 12 purchases of expensive jewelry; and 47 purchases of artwork and exotic items." One of those exotic items was a dinosaur skull of a Tarbosaurus for which Nicolas Cage paid $276,000 in an auction after winning a bidding contest against Leonardo DiCaprio. Nicolas Cage remains one of Hollywood's highest paid actors, earning $40 million in 2009 according to Forbes Magazine. Cage has been married three times. His first wife was the actress Patricia Arquette. Cage's second wife was singer/songwriter Lisa Marie Presley, the daughter of Elvis Presley, of whom Cage is a fan and on whom he based his performance in Wild at Heart. In 1988, Cage began dating Christina Fulton, who later bore their son, Weston Coppola Cage. His third and current wife Alice Kim, a former waitress who previously worked at the Los Angeles restaurant, met Cage at the Los Angeles-based Korean nightclub, Le Privé. She is the mother of his son, Kal-El (born October 3, 2005), named after Superman's birth name. They were married at a private ranch in Northern California on July 30, 2004.
