Better known as Sly, sylvester stallone has taken many punches before becoming associated with two of Hollywood’s legendary characters, Rocky Balboa and Rambo. Not only an A-list actor, there is a lot more to know about sylvester stallone than his acting abilities. sylvester stallone was born July 6, 1946, in New York, NY. Because his parents’ marriage was on the rocks, sylvester stallone lived in foster homes until the age of 5. To add to the separation from his parents, his childhood in Hell’s Kitchen was only tainted with loneliness and ridicule.

Children teased sylvester stallone because of his Looney Tunes associated name, and his crooked eye, drooping lower lip and slurred speech (all caused by a forceps accident that severed a facial nerve during birth) added to the young boy being teased. At the age of five, sylvester stallone returned to live with his parents and younger brother Frank, this time in Maryland. After the sylvester stallone’ divorce, the young Sly moved with his mother and her new husband, a pizza manufacturer, in Philadelphia. While sylvester stallone’s childhood was marked by loneliness and mockery, his adolescence was marked by delinquency. sylvester stallone finally ended up studying at a private school for troubled youths like himself, after having been kicked out of more than 10 schools because of behavioral problems. He was even named “Most Likely to End Up in the Electric Chair” by his classmates in his yearbook. In order to deal with his loneliness, emotions and aggression while growing up, sylvester stallone delved in sports while in high school, and always pretended to be a hero or underdog in his fantasies; a role which eventually made him a star.

With lousy grades and not much direction, sylvester stallone headed for none other than beauty school. While studying at the American College in Switzerland on scholarship, he partook in drama studies at the college. Finally realizing what he was born to do, sylvester stallone decided to pursue an acting career after receiving a standing ovation in his performance in Death of a Salesman. The aspiring actor began pursuing his dream by studying drama at the University of Miami, but headed to New York in 1969, 3-credits short of graduating. The beginning of sylvester stallone’s career can probably be known as the “nude years”; he landed parts in off-Broadway shows, such as the all-nude Score and two soft-porn films, Party at Kitty’s and Studs.

Although he landed a role in Woody Allen’s Bananas in 1971, he was rejected for The Godfather. Not allowing himself to be discouraged rejection after rejection (mostly due to his facial features and voice), Stallone began to write many of his own scripts, which ultimately led to the legendary classic, Rocky. His first screenplay to be produced was the 1974 film The Lords of Flatbush, in which Stallone also had a part. Of course, it did not do for Stallone what his next screenplay would. Inspired by a fight between Muhammed Ali and Chuck Wepner, Rocky was finally produced on a meager budget, with sylvester stallone as star after he insisted that he play the underdog lead. The story that took him three days to write became an instant hit, won the Best Picture Oscar and made sylvester stallone an Oscar nominated writer and actor. Rocky went on to become a 5-part series, and sylvester stallone penned another hit screenplay which became the 1985 film Rambo. Famous for his roles as action heroes Rocky and Rambo, sylvester stallone decided to turn to comedy in the early 90’s. Discovering after the fact that he was not cut out for comedy with disappointing films such as Oscar and Stop! Or My Mom Will Shoot, sylvester stallone was back in full form in hits like Cliffhanger, Demolition Man, The Specialist, Judge Dredd, and Assassins.

Although he is now a $20 million per film actor, sylvester stallone accepted a meager $60,000 to star in Cop Land, with Robert De Niro and Harvey Keitel, in order to be regarded as a serious actor as opposed to his normally typecast roles. His role in the 1998 animated feature Antz, as the voice of a soldier ant, was a new genre for sylvester stallone, one that he ventured into successfully. sylvester stallone’s next projects include the films Get Carter, also starring Rachael Leigh Cook, Eye See You and Driven, which he also wrote and produced. As for the Italian sylvester stallone’s personal life, he seems to have taken after his parents’ turbulent married life. He was married to his first wife Sasha Czack, the mother of his two sons (Sage Moonblood and Seth a.k.a Seargeoh) for 11 years. He then had a 3-year marriage with actress Brigitte Nielsen, before settling down with model Jennifer Flavin, now the mother of his two daughters, Sophia Rose and Sistine Rose. sylvester stallone can add painter, art collector, polo player, and novelist, to his titles of Oscar-winning actor, acclaimed screenwriter, director, producer, partner in Planet Hollywood, father of four, husband, and legendary action hero.

Filmography
Shade (2003) …. The Dean
Afganistan: Land in Crisis (2002) (V) …. Himself
Avenging Angelo (2002) …. Frankie Delano
Guts & Glory (2002) (V) …. Himself
Shirtless: Hollywood’s Sexiest Men (2002) (TV) (uncredited) (archive footage) …. Himself
Drawing First Blood (2002) (V) …. Himself
We Get to Win This Time (2002) (V) …. Himself
D-Tox (2002) …. Malloy
… aka D-Tox (2002) (Australia)
… aka Im Auge der Angst (2002) (Germany)
My Little Hollywood (2001)
America: A Tribute to Heroes (2001) (TV) …. Himself
Driven (2001) …. Joe Tanto
Celebrity Profile: Janine Turner (2000) (TV) (archive footage) …. Himself
In the Shadow of Hollywood (2000) (uncredited) (archive footage) …. Himself (receives French decoration)
… aka À l’ombre d′Hollywood (2000) (Canada: French title)
BBC and the BAFTA Tribute to Michael Caine, The (2000) (TV) …. Himself
My VH1 Music Awards (2000) (TV) …. Himself
CyberWorld (2000) (voice) (archive footage) …. Weaver
Get Carter (2000) …. Jack Carter
Brigitte Nielsen: The E! True Hollywood Story (2000) (TV) …. Himself
AFI’s 100 Years… 100 Movies: In Search of (1998) (TV) …. Himself
Jackie Chan: My Story (1998) (V) …. Himself
Junket Whore (1998) …. Himself
Antz (1998) (voice) …. Weaver
AFI’s 100 Years… 100 Movies (1998) (TV) …. Himself
“Celebrity Profile” (1997) TV Series …. Himself
Alan Smithee Film: Burn Hollywood Burn, An (1997) …. Himself
Cop Land (1997) …. Sheriff Freddy Heflin
Sports on the Silver Screen (1997) (TV) (uncredited) …. Himself
Daylight (1996) …. Kit Latura
Your Studio and You (1995) …. Himself
Assassins (1995) …. Robert Rath (Joseph)
… aka Assassins (1995) (France)
… aka Day of Reckoning (1995)
Judge Dredd (1995) …. Judge Dredd
67th Annual Academy Awards, The (1995) (TV) (uncredited) …. Himself
Century of Cinema, A (1994) …. Himself
Specialist, The (1994) …. Ray Quick
… aka Especialista, El (1994) (Peru)
Demolition Man (1993) …. John Spartan
Cliffhanger (1993) …. Gabe Walker
… aka Cliffhanger - l’ultima sfida (1993) (Italy)
… aka Cliffhanger, traqué au sommet (1993) (France)
“Fame in the Twentieth Century” (1993) TV Series (uncredited) (archive footage) …. Himself
64th Annual Academy Awards, The (1992) (TV) (uncredited) …. Himself
Stop! Or My Mom Will Shoot (1992) …. Sgt. Joe Bomowski
American Film Institute Salute to Kirk Douglas, The (1991) (TV) …. Himself
Oscar (1991) …. Angelo Provolone
Man Called… Rainbo, A (1990)
Rocky V (1990) …. Rocky Balboa
Flames 88-89 (1989) (V) (uncredited) …. Himself
… aka Calgary Flames Video Yearbook 1988-89, The (1989) (V) (Canada: English title)
Tango & Cash (1989) …. Raymond ‘Ray’ Tango
Lock Up (1989) …. Frank Leone
Rambo III (1988) …. John J. Rambo
Ultimate Stuntman: A Tribute to Dar Robinson, The (1987) (TV) …. Himself
Over the Top (1987) …. Lincoln Hawk
… aka Meet Me Half Way (1987) (USA)
Cobra (1986) …. Lieutenant Marion Cobretti
Rocky IV (1985) …. Rocky Balboa
Rambo: First Blood Part II (1985) …. John J. Rambo
Terror in the Aisles (1984) (archive footage) …. Detective Deke DaSilva (segment “Nighthawks”)
… aka Time for Terror (1984) (Europe: English title: video title)
Rhinestone (1984) …. Nick Martinelli
Staying Alive (1983) (uncredited) …. Man on Street (cameo)
First Blood (1982) …. John J. Rambo
… aka Rambo: First Blood (1982)
Rocky III (1982) …. Rocky Balboa
Making of ‘First Blood′, The (1982) (TV) …. Himself
Victory (1981/I) …. Robert Hatch
… aka Escape to Victory (1981)
Nighthawks (1981) …. Detective Sergeant Deke DaSilva
… aka Hawks (1981)
Rocky II (1979) …. Rocky Balboa
Paradise Alley (1978) …. Cosmo Carboni
F.I.S.T. (1978) …. Johnny D. Kovak, Chief Organizer/Intl. Pres. F.I.S.T.
Rocky (1976) …. Rocky Balboa
Cannonball (1976)
… aka Carquake (1976) (UK)
Death Race 2000 (1975) …. Machine-Gun Joe Viterbo
Capone (1975) …. Frank Nitti
Farewell, My Lovely (1975) …. Kelly/Jonnie
Lord’s of Flatbush, The (1974) …. Stanley Rosiello
… aka Lords of Flatbush, The (1974) (USA: correct spelling)
Prisoner of Second Avenue, The (1974) …. Youth in Park
Klute (1971) (uncredited) …. Extra/Man dancing in club
Bananas (1971) (uncredited) …. Subway Thug #1
No Place to Hide (1970) …. Jerry Savage
Party at Kitty and Stud’s, The (1970) …. Stud
… aka Italian Stallion (1976) (reissue title)
Lovers and Other Strangers (1970) (uncredited)

Russell Ira Crowe (born April 7, 1964) is a New Zealand-Australian actor. His acting career began in the early 1990s with roles in Australian TV series such as Police Rescue and films such as Romper Stomper. In the late 1990s, he began appearing in US films such as the 1997 movie L.A. Confidential. In the 2000s, he was nominated for three Oscars, and in 2001, he won the Academy Award as Best Actor for his starring role in the film Gladiator.

After initial success in Australia, Crowe began acting in American films. He first co-starred with Denzel Washington in Virtuosity in 1995. He went on to become a three-time Oscar nominee, winning the Academy Award as Best Actor in 2001 for Gladiator. Crowe wore his grandfather Stan Wemyss’s Member of the Order of the British Empire medal to the ceremony. Crowe received three consecutive best actor Oscar nominations for The Insider, Gladiator and A Beautiful Mind. Crowe won the best actor award for A Beautiful Mind at the 2002 BAFTA award ceremony. However he failed to win the Oscar that year, losing to Denzel Washington. It has been suggested that his attack on television producer Malcolm Gerrie for cutting short his acceptance speech may have turned voters against him. All three films were also nominated for best picture, and both Gladiator and A Beautiful Mind won the award. Within the six year stretch from 1997-2003, he also starred in two other best picture nominees, L.A. Confidential and Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World, though he was nominated for neither. In 2005 he re-teamed with A Beautiful Mind director Ron Howard for Cinderella Man. In 2006 he re-teamed with Gladiator director Ridley Scott for A Good Year, the first of two consecutive collaborations (the second being American Gangster co-starring again with Denzel Washington, released in late 2007). While the light romantic comedy of A Good Year was not greatly received, Crowe seemed pleased with the film, telling STV in an interview that he thought it would be enjoyed by fans of his other films. On March 9, 2005, Crowe revealed to GQ magazine that Federal Bureau of Investigation agents had approached him prior to the 73rd Academy Awards on March 25, 2001 and told him that the Islamist terrorist group al-Qaeda wanted to kidnap him. Crowe told the magazine that it was the first time he had ever heard of al-Qaeda (the September 11 attacks took place later that year) and was quoted as saying:

“You get this late-night call from the FBI when you arrive in Los Angeles, and they’re, like, absolutely full-on. ‘We’ve got to talk to you now before you do anything. We have to have a discussion with you, Mr. Crowe.’” Crowe recalled that “it was something to do with some recording picked up by a French policewoman, I think, in either Libya or Algiers…it was about taking iconographic Americans out of the picture as a sort of cultural-destabilization plan”.

Crowe was guarded by Secret Service agents for the next few months, both while shooting films and at award ceremonies (Scotland Yard also guarded Crowe while he was promoting Proof of Life in London in February 2001). Crowe said that he “…never fully understood what was going on”.

Russell Crowe Filmography
1990 Blood Oath Lt. Jack Corbeth
The Crossing Johnny
1991 Proof Andy
1992 Spotswood Kim Barry
Romper Stomper Hando
1993 Hammers Over the Anvil East Driscoll
Love in Limbo Arthur Baskin
The Silver Brumby The Man
For The Moment Lachlan
1994 The Sum of Us Jeff Mitchell
1995 The Quick and the Dead Cort
No Way Back FBI Agent Zack Grant
Virtuosity SID 6.7
Rough Magic Alex Ross
1997 L.A. Confidential Officer Wendell “Bud” White
Heaven’s Burning Colin
Breaking Up Steve
1999 Mystery, Alaska Sheriff John Biebe
The Insider Jeffrey Wigand
2000 Gladiator Maximus
Proof of Life Terry Thorne
2001 A Beautiful Mind John Nash
2003 Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World Capt. Jack Aubrey
2005 Cinderella Man Jim Braddock
2006 A Good Year Max Skinner
2007 3:10 to Yuma Ben Wade
American Gangster Detective Richie Roberts
Tenderness Detective Cristofuoro completed
2008 Body of Lies Ed Hoffman pre-production
2009 Nottingham The Sheriff of Nottingham announced

Off-hand charm and self-deprecating comic timing were two of the qualities this dashing Irish-born leading man brought to his winning portrayal of the sophisticated, often inept, con man/private investigator Remington Steele on the long-running TV series (NBC, 1982-87) of the same name. Brosnan, a former commercial illustrator who has garnered frequent comparisons to Cary Grant, became so popular in this role that he was selected by readers polled by a national magazine as the favored actor to replace the departing Roger Moore in the highly profitable James Bond series. However, contractual obligations to “Remington Steele″ made him unavailable and the baton was passed to Timothy Dalton.
Brosnan entered show business as a teen runaway, working with the circus as a fire eater. He gained somewhat more conventional experience as a member of an experimental London theater workshop before making his stage debut in a 1976 production of “Wait Until Dark”. Brosnan’s theatrical breakthrough came from playwright Tennessee Williams who chose the handsome young actor to create the role of McCabe in the British premiere of his “Red Devil Battery Sign”. Additional stage work followed before his film debut in a character turn in the well-received Brit gangster film, “The Long Good Friday” (1980).

America first discovered the slender, dark-haired performer on TV in the miniseries “The Manions of America” (ABC, 1981) as Rory O′Manion, an Irish immigrant who makes it big in 19th century America. This successful exposure lead to his being cast as Steele. Brosnan turned up on a number of specials during the series’ run and one failed feature, “Nomads” (1985), in which he played a bedeviled French anthropologist. The transition to film actor proved difficult, but TV offered regular work in telefilms and miniseries. Brosnan was well cast as urbane eccentric Phineas Fogg in a miniseries adaptation of Jules Verne’s novel “Around the World in 80 Days” (NBC, 1989). He became a familiar face in made-for-cable thrillers, notably playing special agent Mike Graham in “Alistair MacLean’s Death Train” (USA, 1993) and “Alistair MacLean’s Night Watch” (USA, 1995).

Brosnan initially found little success in features. He starred in the poorly received Ismail Merchant-produced adventure “The Deceivers” (1988) but received some positive notices for his portrayal of a Russian agent opposite Michael Caine in “The Fourth Protocol″ (1987). He enjoyed a measure of popular success playing a scientist in the derivative special F/X fest, “The Lawnmower Man” (1992). Brosnan also played the supporting role of Stu, the other man, in the immensely successful if mild comedy “Mrs. Doubtfire″ (1993).

It was until 1995 that Brosnan finally got his license to kill and landed the role that would be associated with him for the rest of his life, James Bond, in the film “Goldeneye.” The 007 franchise was rebounding from some underperforming years during which action-heavy film series like “Lethal Weapon,” “Die Hard” and “Batman” were out-Bonding the grandaddy of the genre, but Brosnan’s long-awaited casting created a renewed buzz and his solid performance as an elegant-but-hard-edge 007 (combining the best elements of Sean Connery and Roger Moore’s diverse appeals) revived the franchise. The actor returned for several more outings: “Tomorrow Never Dies” (1997) in which he displayed abundant charisma opposite Bond girl Michelle Yeoh; “The World is Not Enough” (2000) in which his command as an action hero and sparks with Sophie Marceau balanced his chemistry-impaired relationship with Bond girl Denise Richards; and the 20th Bond outing “Die Another Day,” in which he and Bond girl Halle Berry delivered the most attractive pairing since the early days of the franchise. Shortly before the release of “Die Another Day,” Brosnan announced his intention to star in a fifth outing as the suave secret agent.

His success as Bond also led to a renewed career in feature films as well, first in typically debonair supporting roles in films such as “The Mirror Has Two Faces” (1996) and “Mars Attacks” (1996), and then as a leading man in summer action fare like the volcano thriller “Dante’s Peak” (1997). He also demonstrated a fondness for smaller films with an Anglo-Saxon bent such the Irish-themed “The Nephew″ (1998) and the Scot-centric soccer comedy “The Match” (1999) - Brosnan also executive produced both films. He also received kudos for his performance as Archie Grey Owl, a 1930s Canadian fur trapper who adopts the ways of the Iroquois tribe in Sir Richard Attenborough’s little-seen “Grey Owl″ (1999). His most successful and delightful non-Bond outing came in 1999, when he played the title role of the millionaire art thief in director John McTiernan’s classy remake of “The Thomas Crown Affair,” a role in which he displayed considerable elegance, panache and palpable sex appeal opposite his age-appropriate leading lady Rene Russo-as he neared the age of 50 he was a bigger sex symbol than when he was in his 30s, and in 2001 People magazine named him the Sexiest Man Alive.

Other strong roles followed, included a well-received turn in the John Le Carre spy thriller “The Tailor of Panama” (2001) from director John Boorman and a robust performance in Bruce Bereford’s “Evelyn” (2002), the true story of a working-class, pub-going, newly single Dublin dad who fights to regain custody of his children after his daughter and two sons are placed in Church-run orphanages by the Irish courts in the 1950s. Brosnan also produced the latter film under his Irish DreamTime production company.

Self-proclaimed troublemaker Owen Wilson grew up in Texas with his mother, Laura, a regionally known photographer; his father, an ad exec and his brothers, Andrew Wilson III (the eldest son) and Luke (the baby). “We were good until we started getting into firecrackers and girls,” Wilson joked to People magazine.

He might have added geometry to that list, because during his 10th-grade year at St. Mark’s Academy in Austin, Wilson′s extra-credit geometry assignments — completed with the help of the teacher’s edition of the text book — ended up proving not the Pythagorean Theorem, but the Expulsion Theorem. “There were other kids involved who I wouldn′t name,” Wilson told Rolling Stone. “I figured there was a sort of shabby nobility in that.” Wilson finished his sophomore year at Thomas Jefferson School and then headed to a military academy in New Mexico.

Wilson met his filmmaking partner-in-crime, Wes Anderson, during the second semester of a playwriting class in 1989. The University of Texas at Austin sophomores spent the first semester at opposite ends of the classroom — no easy feat, as the class only consisted of seven other students. After the winter holidays, a mutual friend broke the ice, and the young men realized they had an almost obsessive love for movies (not to mention a strong dislike of scatological humor). The two eventually leased an off-campus apartment together.

According to Texas Monthly, the partners′ definitive college collaboration, a screenplay called Bottle Rocket, stemmed from their failed attempts to get their landlord to fix some broken windows. The two friends staged a faux break-in and later abandoned the apartment in the middle of the night, only to be located by a private investigator. Thus the inspiration for Rocket, a black-and-white short that followed a delightfully deluded would-be criminal named Dignan and his reluctant accomplice. Wilson assumed the lead, joined by his younger brother, Luke, in the main supporting role.

Anderson and Wilson sent their completed draft to screenwriter Kit Carson (Paris, Texas), a friend of the Wilson family. Carson sent the script to producer Barbara Boyle, who in turn passed Rocket on to producer Polly Platt, who showed the work to noted Hollywood producer James L. Brooks (whew). Liking what he read, Brooks set up a meeting with the Wunderkind writers. Much like the inept thieves of their script, Anderson and Wilson made a rather inexperienced showing. “I knew it wasn′t going well when [Brooks] started to watch a basketball game on TV,” Wilson recalled in an interview with Newsweek.

Luckily, Brooks gave the Texans a chance, and in 1996, Rocket became a Hollywood movie, complete with a $5 million budget and its own Hollywood legend, James Caan, in a starring role. The Wilson brothers reprised their roles, and Anderson made his debut at the helm. Despite critical praise and a cult following, Rocket only grossed $1 million during its limited release.

“I was exploring a career in the armed forces,” Wilson admitted — much to Anderson′s surprise — when asked about his reaction to Rocket’s fate. However, the painstaking task of making it in Hollywood had begun, and Wilson instead moved to Los Angeles, setting up house with his two brothers and Anderson.

Soon thereafter, Owen found himself on the receiving end of a swirlie as “Obnoxious Date” in the Matthew Broderick-Jim Carrey flick The Cable Guy next, he made tasty-looking snake food in the 1997 stinker Anaconda. By giving Brooks some notes on As Good as It Gets, Wilson also nabbed an associate producer credit for the Oscar-decorated Jack Nicholson vehicle.

Things started looking up for both Wilson and Anderson in 1998. After a small part opposite Ben Stiller in the druggie biopic Permanent Midnight, Wilson won a spot in the Jerry Bruckheimer summer hit Armaggedon. Even though his character met an untimely (if heroic) death, by co-starring with the likes of Bruce Willis and Ben Affleck, his name started to become recognizable to mainstream audiences.

That same year, Anderson and Wilson released Rushmore, a sweet tale of an overextended prep school student named Max (Jason Schwartzman) who vies for the love of a pretty widowed teacher (Olivia Williams) against a successful businessman (Bill Murray). Wilson explained the creative genesis for the sleeper hit in a 1999 Details interview.: “I was driving from Dallas to L.A. with the director, Wes Anderson, to work on the script for Bottle Rocket, and we thought that if we were meeting with agents we should have some other projects to talk about. So along the way we came up with this funny character Max Fischer, a megalomaniacal kid who doesn′t have much irony or self-awareness — kind of like a Donald Trump book on tape.” All three Wilson brothers appeared in the movie: Luke played the emergency room doctor loathed by Max, Andrew portrayed Rushmore’s harried coach, and Owen can be seen briefly in both the party scene and in photographs, as the teacher’s dead husband.

Anderson and Wilson commenced work on their next script,The Royal Tenenbaums, which focused on a family of geniuses. Meanwhile, Wilson′s acting career barreled forward. He starred as a nice guy-serial killer alongside Janeane Garofalo in The Minus Man (sometime girlfriend Sheryl Crow had a cameo), worked with pal Bruce Willis in Breakfast of Champions, and literally lost his head in another frighteningly bad horror movie, The Haunting.

Most recently, Wilson was cast as Roy O’Bannon, Jackie Chan′s bank-robbing sidekick in the hit action-western-comedy Shanghai Noon. To prepare for the role, the native Texan had to take some lessons in horseback riding and gunslinging. He used the latter talent to impress his family at Thanksgiving, according to an interview with Entertainment Weekly. “I started doing a little bit of the twirling, and they were freaking out,” Wilson said. “It was like if I couldn′t dance at all and then suddenly went someplace with my brothers and started moving like Travolta.” His equestrian abilities left a lot more to be desired. “All the time, I would say, ‘Maybe I could just be leading my horse in this shot rather than riding him,’” Wilson continued.

Among his slew of forthcoming projects is Meet the Parents, a fall 2000 comedy starring Robert De Niro and Ben Stiller. He’s also considering Stealing Stanford, in which he would depict an uncle who resorts to theft to pay for his niece’s college tuition. And finally, his name has been attached to Ocean′s Eleven, a remake of the Rat Pack movie that is to be spearheaded by George Clooney and will also feature Willis, Julia Roberts, Brad Pitt, Wilson′s brother Luke, and about a million other top-drawer stars.

With the acting opportunities piling up and throngs eagerly awaiting his next script, Wilson appears prepared to remain a Renaissance man. “I like both [writing and acting] equally,” he explained to Bikini magazine. “Writing is more difficult to do. You have to sit there by yourself and kind of think up stuff. But when you’re acting, it’s sort of fun to go to a set with a bunch of people around and bond with everybody.”

The son of comparative literature professor August Coppola (a brother of director Francis Ford Coppola) and dancer/choreographer Joy Vogelsang, Cage changed his name early in his career to make his own reputation, succeeding brilliantly with a host of classic, quirky roles by the late 1980s. Initially studying theatre at Beverly Hills High (though he dropped out at 17), he secured a bit part in Fast Times at Ridgemont High (1982) — most of which was cut, dashing his hopes and leading to a job selling popcorn at the Fairfax Theater, thinking that would be the only route to a movie career. But a job reading lines with auditioners for uncle Francis’s Rumble Fish (1983) landed him a role in that film, followed by the punk-rocker in Valley Girl (1983) which was released first and truly launched his career.

His one-time passion for method acting reached a personal limit when he smashed a street-vendor’s remote-control car to achieve the sense of rage needed for his gangster character in Cotton Club, The (1984).

In his early 20s, he dated Jenny Wright for two years, later linked to Uma Thurman. After a relationship of several years with Kristina Fulton, a model, they split amicably and share custody of a son, Weston Coppola Cage.