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In Ian Fleming's James Bond novels and the derived films, the 00 Section of MI6 are considered the secret service's elite. A 00 (typically read "Double O") agent holds a licence to kill in the field, at his or her discretion, to complete the mission. Goldfinger establishes that the section usually has only three agents at a time; the films, beginning with Thunderball, establish the number of 00 agents as fewer than 12.

Origin of nomenclature[link]

Although pronounced "Double-O", the O refers to zeros. In the British and Commonwealth armed forces, soldiers and officers are assigned identity numbers; the United States military does likewise. During Ian Fleming's work in Vichy France, an agent's anonymity was imperative, and, when the agent was military, it was convenient to use the last three digits of the agent's number as identification.

In World War II, Britain's Special Operations Executive agents did not have identifiers assigned to them such as the 00 or related 'systems' of nomenclature. Specific agents would be known to high command by their own names, and when deniability was at stake, their service numbers in long form, or else by invented codenames.

For the sake of romance and memorability, Fleming used the 00 and mystical number 7 for James Bond – himself a shell for the reader to inhabit.^[1]

Description[link]

In the first novel, Casino Royale, and the 2006 film adaptation, the 00 concept is introduced and, in Bond's words, means "that you've had to kill a chap in cold blood in the course of some assignment." Bond's 00 number (007) was awarded him because he twice killed in fulfilling assignments. (This differentiates from deadly force used by non-00 agents in the course of self-defence or offensive action; plus, in the original time frame of the novel (the early 1950s), many MI6 agents would have had recent war service.) In the second novel, Live and Let Die, the 00 number designates a past killing; not until the third novel, Moonraker, does the 00 number designate a licence to kill. Thereafter, the novels are ambiguous about whether or not a 00 agent's licence to kill is limited, with varying accounts in Dr. No, Goldfinger, and The Man with the Golden Gun.

Per Fleming's Moonraker, 00 agents face mandatory retirement at 45; John Gardner contradicts this in his novels, depicting a fifty-odd-year-old secret agent. Sebastion Faulks' Devil May Care features M giving Bond a choice of when to retire.

Fleming himself only mentions five 00 agents in all. According to Moonraker, James Bond is the most senior of three 00 agents; the two others were 008 and 0011. Later novels feature two more 00 agents; 009 is mentioned in Thunderball and 006 is mentioned in On Her Majesty's Secret Service. Other authors have elaborated and expanded upon the 00 agents. While they presumably have been sent on dangerous missions as Bond has, little has been revealed about most of them. Several have been named, both by Fleming and other authors, along with passing references to their service records, which suggest that agents are largely recruited (as Bond was) from the British military's special forces.

In the films, the 00 section is a discrete area of MI6, whose agents report directly to M (The World Is Not Enough, which introduces a special insignia for the 00 Section). Bond's fellow 00 agents appear receiving briefings in Thunderball and The World Is Not Enough. The latter film shows a woman in one of the 00 chairs. In Thunderball, there are nine chairs for the 00 agents; Moneypenny says every 00 agent in Europe has been recalled, not every 00 agent in the world. As with the books, other writers have elaborated and expanded upon the 00 agents in the films and in other media.

List of 00s[link]

This list is of the known 00 agents of the British Secret Service who exist in officially-licensed novels, cinema, video games, and comic strips.

Novels[link]

Films and other official media[link]

In other media[link]

In the 2006 movie The Pink Panther, Clive Owen played the character of Nigel Boswell, Agent 006 and was stated by Clouseau that he was "one short of the big time". This was a reference to him being rumoured to take the role of Bond for Casino Royale.

In the Lemmy Caution film Alphaville, Caution is – once – referred to as 003.

In The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen: Black Dossier, the original 007 is stated as being Prospero, who received the position upon being recruited to the English spy organisation of Sir Jack Wilton in 1558, during the start of the reign of Queen Gloriana. The earlier volumes had hinted that Campion Bond served as 007 as of 1898.

In the alternate history novel Back in the USSA, Agent 007 is an agent of SMERSH played by Rudolf Nureyev in a series of Russian movies including From America With Love.

In an episode of Cory in the House, Stictler mentions his father is Agent 001, which is strange, seeing as the CIA doesn't have 00 Agents or an equivalent, and Stictler is clearly not British.

In the GoldenEye 007 game for the Nintendo 64, the easy, medium and hard levels are respectively known as "Agent", "Secret Agent" and "00 Agent". Besides having a greater number of enemies, the "00 Agent" level requires all facets of a mission to be completed in order for Bond to advance to the next mission, whereas the other two have fewer.

In an episode of The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, Will's grandmother is given the codename 0070, a likely reference to her age.

In The Basil Brush Show episode "Kiss And Tell", during Basil's spy sequence, Bingo Brush bursts in and says his codename is 00PS with Basil stating that Bingo has a license to leave little messages lying around.

In the Phineas and Ferb episode "Elementary My Dear Stacy", Perry the Platypus works with Agent 000 (pronounced "double-oh oh") while dealing with his nemesis, Dr. Heinz Doofenshmirtz, in London due to problems with the British Secret Service during his last mission in London.

In the Recess episode "Parents' Night", Spinelli's father, Bob Spinelli, is revealed to be Agent 006. He is also working with 003 and 005.

In Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Elim Garak is jokingly called a Double-O agent, in reference to his former membership in a Cardassian intelligence service known as the Obsidian Order.

In The Beverly Hillbillies, Jethro Bodine sometimes refers to himself as a "double naught spy."

In The Goonies, Data is called "00-Negative" because of his always getting the group into trouble.

In Grey's Anatomy, after Dr. George O'Malley botches his first operation in the pilot episode, he is nicknamed "007," a play on Bond's "licence to kill."^[3][4]

In The Informant!, Mark Whitacre boasts himself to be Agent 0014. When asked why, he claims that he's twice as smart as 007.

In the novel by Samuel Shem, The House of God, some private physicians are referred to as "Double O Privates" because they are "licensed to kill" due to their incompetence.

In Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater, Major Tom speaks about James Bond to Big Boss/Naked Snake. There's a part which he says: "What if I change your codename to Double-oh Snake?"

In "Stormbreaker", when Alex is at SAS basic training, another trainee, Wolf, dubs him "Double-Oh Nothing."

References[link]

Look up agent in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

An Agent is one who acts for, or in the place of, another, by authority from him; one entrusted with the business of another.

In philosophy[link]

• An entity which is capable of Action (philosophy)
• Agency (philosophy)

In sociology[link]

• A social 'agent'; See structure and agency

In law enforcement[link]

• Special agent, title for a detective or investigator for a state, county, municipal, federal or tribal government
• Secret agent, spy involved in espionage. See agents in espionage.

In law[link]

• Agent (law), in commercial law, is a person who is authorized to act on behalf of another (called the principal) to create a legal relationship with a third party
  • C & F Agent abbreviated from Clearing and Forwarding Agent (IN).
  • Election agent, person legally responsible for the conduct of a candidate's political campaign (UK)
  • Free agent, sports player whose contract with a team has expired
  • Literary agent, person who represents writers and their written works to publishers, theatrical producers and film producers
  • Press agent, professional publicist who acts on behalf of his or her client on all matters involving public relations
  • Sports agent, person who procures and negotiates employment and endorsement deals for a player
  • Talent agent or booking agent, person who finds jobs for actors, musicians and models, etc., in various entertainment businesses
  • Foreign agent, person representing the interests of foreign powers, mandated by the Foreign Agents Registration Act to be identified to the American public
  • Patent agent or patent attorney, person who has the specialized qualifications necessary for representing clients in obtaining patents and acting in all matters and procedures relating to patent law and practice
  • Real estate agent or real estate broker, person who acts as an intermediary between sellers and buyers of real estate
  • Travel agent, person who works on behalf of a travel agency
  • Tuition agent, person who works on behalf of a tuition agency, specializing in introducing tutors to students requiring help in the academic area
  • Yacht agent or yacht broker, specialist who acts as a representative for the sale of a yacht or boat

In economics[link]

• Agent (economics), actor and decision maker in a model
  • Homo economicus, concept in some economic theories of humans as rational and broadly self-interested actors
  • As discussed by economists as the principal–agent problem, agent means anyone supposed to act in the interests of the principal, especially insofar as the actions of the agent cannot be completely monitored by the principal. In this sense agent includes such diverse and common roles as auto mechanic, a doctor, a lawyer, an investment advisor, any fiduciary, a contractor, any employee (from the point of view of the employer), and a political representative in a democracy.
• Agent-based computational economics, computational study of economic processes modeled as dynamic systems of interacting agents
• Rational agent, entity which has clear preferences, models uncertainty via expected values, and always chooses to perform the action that results in the optimal outcome for itself from among all feasible actions
• Representative agent, refers to the typical decision-maker of a certain type

In medicine[link]

• A pharmacological agent is a chemical substance with pharmacological or biological activity, i.e., a pharmaceutical drug

In chemistry and warfare[link]

• Agent Orange, code name for an herbicide and defoliant
• Biological agent, infectious disease or toxin that can be used in bioterrorism or biological warfare
• Chemical warfare, involves using the toxic properties of chemical substances as weapons to kill, injure, or incapacitate an enemy
  • Blister agent or vesicant, chemical compound that causes severe skin, eye and mucosal pain and irritation
  • Blood agent or cyanogen agent, chemical compound carried by the blood for distribution throughout the body
  • Incapacitating agent, agent that produces temporary physiological or mental effects, or both, which will render individuals incapable of concerted effort in the performance of their assigned duties
  • Nerve agent or nerve gases, class of phosphorus-containing organic chemicals (organophosphates) that disrupt the mechanism by which nerves transfer messages to organs
  • Pulmonary agent or choking agent, chemical weapon agent designed to impede a victim's ability to breathe
  • Riot control agent, less-lethal lachrymatory agents used for riot control

In linguistics[link]

• Agent (grammar), the participant of a situation that carries out the action in this situation; also the name of the thematic role (also known as the thematic relation)
• Agent noun (or nomen agentis), word that is derived from another word denoting an action, and that identifies an entity that does that action

In computer science and artificial intelligence[link]

• Agent architecture, blueprint for software agents and intelligent control systems, depicting the arrangement of components
• Agent-based model, computational model for simulating the actions and interactions of autonomous individuals with a view to assessing their effects on the system as a whole
• Intelligent agent, autonomous entity which observes and acts upon an environment and directs its activity towards achieving goals
• Software agent, piece of software that acts for a user or other program in a relationship of agency
  • Forté Agent, email and Usenet news client used on the Windows operating system
  • User agent, the client application used with a particular network protocol

In culture and entertainment[link]

• James Bond, most famous secret agent, fictional character by Ian Fleming.
• Agent 47, fictional character and protagonist in the Hitman video-game series.
• Agent 212, name of a humorous Belgian comic about a large police officer
• Agent (The Matrix), group of characters in the series
• Agent (video game), currently in development by Rockstar North for the PlayStation 3
• The Agent (film), 1922 film featuring Oliver Hardy
• Secret Agent (1936 film), British film directed by Alfred Hitchcock
• Agent, version of The Mole (TV series) that aired in Poland on TVN
• The Agents, superhuman characters in Seven Samurai 20XX
• Agents (band), a Finnish schlager/rock'n'roll band
• The Agents, a British band

See also[link]

• Agency (disambiguation)
• Agent, a title or honorific, such as "Agent Smith"
• All pages with titles containing "Agent"
• Bot (disambiguation)
• Operative (disambiguation)
• Personoid
• Robot
• Agent P, A secret agent name for Perry the Platypus from Disney's Phineas & Ferb

This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the same title. If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article.

Ernesto de la Cruz (September 7, 1957 — August 29, 1992), better known as Weng Weng, was a Filipino actor and martial artist. Only 83 cm (2 feet, 9 inches) tall, he is listed in the Guinness World Records as the shortest adult actor in a leading role.^[1] He played Secret Agent 00 in For Y’ur Height Only^[2] and The Impossible Kid,^[3][4][5] and also starred in the western "D’Wild Wild Weng".

Early life and career[link]

Weng Weng was born in Baclaran.^[6] He was christened as Ernesto de la Cruz and was the youngest of the five de la Cruz children (all boys). Weng Weng was born with a medical condition known as ‘primordial dwarfism’ which caused him to only grow to a height of 2 feet and 9 inches tall. According to his brother Celing de la Cruz, when her mother gave birth to Weng-Weng, his size was “no bigger than a small coke bottle”, this forced Weng Weng’s parents to place him in the care of the hospital incubator for the first twelve months of his life. During this time, the doctors were advising the de la Cruz couple that Weng Weng might not survive but miraculously he did, and being devoted Catholics, the couple showed their devotion to their faith by dressing and parading a young Weng Weng as Santo Niño each year for the annual Baclaran parade.

Growing up as a child, Weng Weng was described by his brother and some of his childhood peers as a mischievous but cheerful kid. He was also an avid martial arts enthusiast even when he was young. Weng Weng trained hard and diligently he became a skilled fighter. This paved the way for his first opportunity in show business when his former martial arts instructor introduced him to Liliw Productions’ Peter Caballes, an independent film producer. Peter and his wife Cora Ridon Caballes shopped Weng Weng to other film producers and cinema outfits which landed him his early roles in movies, playing a little child, a small animal, or an alien from outer space.

Weng Weng's first movie part is believed to be that of the baby Moses in the 1972 Filipino biblical epic "Go Tell It On The Mountain", which also starred future Philippine president Joseph Estrada as the adult Moses. Another of his early roles was in the 1973 sci-fi film called “Moon Boy from Another Planet”. He played a small alien who accidentally crashed here on Earth eventually befriending a poor Filipino boy. This low budget film was shown almost a decade ahead of another alien-meets-boy story film, the Hollywood blockbuster movie "E.T". Manoy later unsuccessfully attempted to sue Hollywood filmmaker Steven Spielberg, claiming he had ripped off the idea for "E.T." from him.^[7]

After playing cameo roles in a string of low budget sci-fi and martial arts movies in the late 70’s, in 1980 Weng Weng, through the Caballes, was introduced to the King of Philippine Comedy, Dolphy. Dolphy, with his film outfit – RVN Productions, produced the spy-spoof hit film The Quick Brown Fox starring Dolphy and introducing Weng Weng as his Kato-inspired sidekick. This was Weng Weng’s first big budget role and movie. The success of this movie resulted for RVN to produce a sequel the following year entitled “Da Best In Da West”.

Inspired by the success of Weng Weng’s big-budget film debut, Peter and Cora Caballes produced For Y’ur Height Only in 1981 starring Weng-Weng in his first and most famous lead role. Directed by veteran Filipino stunt director Eddie Nicart, in the film Weng Weng played a secret service agent code named Agent 00. Obviously inspired by the James Bond flicks of the past, For Y’ur Height Only was a blockbuster hit and the little man from Baclaran became an overnight Philippine sensation.

The success of For Y’ur Height Only was followed by six more films top-billed by Weng Weng during the 80’s. At the height of his popularity, Weng Weng was invited by then First Lady, Imelda Marcos to the Malacañang Palace in honor for his contributions to Philippine cinema. He was also named an honorary Philippine Secret Agent and was presented a custom-made .25 caliber pistol by then Vice Chief of Staff General Fidel Ramos. He was also frequently seen during this time as a guest on popular TV shows, film festivals, and awards nights.

Agent 00[link]

In the late 1970s, he came to the attention of Hong Kong movie maker Raymond Jury, who cast him in the role of Agent 00 in the 1981 James Bond-style spoof For Your Height Only. In the movie, the brilliant scientist Dr. Kohler is kidnapped by an evil organization headed by "Mr Giant". Secret Agent 00 is called to rescue the doctor, and 00 does so by using a combination of kicking people in the knees or the genitals, shooting with remarkable accuracy, and sliding across the floor firing his pistol as he goes. The film ends with Agent 00 locating the secret island that Mr. Giant uses for a hideout, dispensing with the red beret wearing guards, and meting out his special form of justice. Weng Weng learned the martial arts from fellow Filipino Dan Inosanto and international martial arts pioneer and Ju Gran Chaud founder Laurent Painchaud. The movie was a huge hit throughout the Philippines and Asia as well as countries as far apart as Iceland, Uganda, Tonga, Bolivia and Papua New Guinea.

In the 1982 sequel The Impossible Kid, Weng Weng is now working for the Manila branch of Interpol. The Chief sends him in the pursuit of Mr X, an arch villain with a white sock on his head, who is holding the Philippines for ransom. Two businessmen, Maolo and Simeon, pay the demands but Weng Weng suspects foul play and goes deep undercover to reveal the identity of Mr X.

Later career[link]

Weng Weng also starred in the 1982 western D'Wild Wild Weng, playing a character called "Mr. Weng". In the film, he and sidekick Gordon (Max ZUMA Laurel) are sent to the countryside to investigate the murder of Santa Monica’s mayor. The town is now overrun by the corrupt governor Sebastian (played by Romy Diaz) and his army of banditos, all dressed up to look like Mexican revolutionaries. The ending has Weng cranking a Gatling gun - on the back of a jeep - mowing down wave after wave of sombreros, while a tribe of dwarf Indians launch a counterattack with bows and arrows.

D’Wild Wild Weng shares much of the cast from both For Y’ur Height Only, and The Impossible Kid: Yehlen Catral (Lola in For Y’ur Height Only) plays Elsa the barmaid, Max (For Y’ur Height Only’s tartan-clad villain in shades and cloth cap) Alvarado takes a turn at playing a sympathetic character as the mute Lupo, and Nina Sara (later in The Impossible Kid) is Weng’s love interest Clara.

In the Philippines, Weng Weng became a household name and he was constantly in demand for appearances on TV chat shows, shopping centre appearances and the occasional political rally. In 1990 he was awarded a special citation for services to the Filipino film industry from former first lady Imelda Marcos, and joined her at the presentation in a special karaoke "duet" version of "My Way". An unauthorized recording of their performance was later released on bootleg cassette and sold 200,000 copies.^[8]

Weng Weng demonstrated martial artistry in his films. It is said that he trained in many disciplines including Jeet Kune Do under fellow Filipino Dan Inosanto and the hybrid martial style Ju Gran Chaud which he was taught by Ju Gran Chaud's founder Laurent Painchaud who travelled through Southeast Asia preaching the discipline.^[9]

By the late 1980s, film and television roles had dried up, and according to some sources Weng Weng had begun drinking heavily. Weng Weng died in Pasay City, Philippines in 1992 of a heart attack, at age 34.^[10]

Posthumous interest[link]

Weng Weng is the subject of Australian cult video store owner-turned-guerrilla filmmaker Andrew Leavold's documentary, titled The Search for Weng Weng.^[11] Leavold has ascertained that there are 11 confirmed Weng Weng films, with a further 2 awaiting verification. Three Dolphy films (Da Best In Da West, Stairiray, The Quick Brown Fox) are in the TV archives in Manila, but the Liliw Productions titles are still owned by producer Cora Caballes, and she claims they are on Betacam and stored somewhere in Manila.^[12]

Weng Weng's online recognition grew in April 2007 with the release of a "Weng Weng Rap" video by The Chuds and John R of R Room. This video was picked up by Australian music forum Fasterlouder.com.au, making Weng Weng a popular meme amongst members.

In 2008, the Brazilian comedy show Hermes & Renato made a parody dubbing of the Agent 00 movie The Impossible Kid. The parody was called Um Capeta em forma de guri (A Devil in a boy body) and portrayed Weng Weng as a mischievous and wicked little boy. The dub, as it's normal with their parodies, is chock full of bad language and sexual innuendos.

In 2010 the Canadian comedy show This Movie Sucks! played The Impossible Kid and hinted at later playing more Weng Weng films. The topic of the episode was movies which interest was revived through various means, in reference to Weng's Internet "resurrection." That same year, a documentary film that dealt with the Filipino movie exploitation craze of the 1970s and 1980s, Machete Maidens Unleashed, paid a special homage to Weng Weng's movie career.

External links[link]

• "Mini-site dedicated to Weng Weng". Nanarland. http://www.nanarland.com/flash/wengweng/menu_content.html.  (French)
• Video on YouTube. Weng Weng tribute rap by The Chuds and R Room.

The dub, as is normal with their parodies, is chock full of bad language and sexual innuendo.

Notes[link]

v t e Cinema of the Philippines Films (A - Z) Films by year: 1919–1939 • 1940s • 1950s • 1960s • 1970s • 1980s • 1990s • 2000s • 2010s • List of Philippine submissions for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film • List of highest-grossing films in the Philippines Actors (A - Z) List of Filipino actors • List of Filipina actresses   Film director Directors Richard Abelardo • Khryss Adalia • Tikoy Aguiluz • Mac Alejandre • Adolfo Alix, Jr. • Juan Paolo Aquino • Jun Aristorenas • Luis Eduardo Aute • Lamberto V. Avellana • Florida M. Bautista • Ishmael Bernal •Joyce E. Bernal • Lino Brocka • Carlo J. Caparas • Nemesio E. Caravana • Chiquito (actor) • José Clímaco • Agapito Conchu • Conrado Conde • Manuel Conde • Fely Crisóstomo • Mike De Leon • Maryo J. de los Reyes • Lav Diaz • Marilou Diaz-Abaya • Pepe Diokno • Melania Dolorico • Dolphy • Ramon A. Estella • Jeyow Evangelista • Real Florido • John Gale • Peque Gallaga • Eddie Garcia • Laurice Guillen • Roy C. Iglesias • Louie Ignacio • Joel Lamangan • Lito Lapid • Yam Laranas • Cholo Laurel • Topel Lee • Gerardo de León • Joey Marquez • Mark Meily • Brillante Mendoza • Rosa Mia • Willie Milan • Cathy Garcia Molina • Cesar Montano • Edgar Mortiz • José Nepomuceno • Mario O'Hara • Teddy Page • Gilbert Perez • Fernando Poe, Jr. • Gil Portes • Rory Quintos • Eric Quizon • Efren Reyes, Sr. • José Javier Reyes • Mark A. Reyes • Eddie Romero • Chito S. Roño • Roxlee • Cirio H. Santiago • Manuel Silos • Auraeus Solito • Bobby A. Suarez • Kidlat Tahimik • Al Tantay • Mike Tuviera • Lou Veloso • José de Villa • Brian Yuzna   Film festival Metro Manila Film Festival Festival by Years • Best Picture • Best Actor • Best Actress • Best Supporting Actor • Best Supporting Actress • Best Director Other Festivals Cinemalaya Philippine Independent Film Festival • Cinemanila International Film Festival • Pelicula (Film Festival) • Pride International Film Festival   Award giving bodies Philippine Film Awards • Grand Slam FAMAS Best Picture • Best Director • Lou Salvador Sr. Memorial Award • Huwarang Bituin ng FAMAS Award • Centennial Award • Natatanging Alagad ng Sining Award Gawad Genio Awards 1st Gawad Genio Awards • 2nd Gawad Genio Awards • 3rd Gawad Genio Awards • 4th Gawad Genio Awards Film Academy of the Philippines No list available Gawad Urian Awards Best Pictures   Other film crews Producers Tikoy Aguiluz • Jun Aristorenas • Narcisa de Leon • Espiridion Laxa • Lily Monteverde • Gil Portes • Eric Quizon • Eddie Romero • Lou Salvador • Charo Santos-Concio • Armida Siguion-Reyna Cinematographers Tikoy Aguiluz • Jeyow Evangelista Editors Jose Nepomuceno • Gervacio Santos Screenwriters Aloy Adlawan • Tikoy Aguiluz • Mac Alejandre • Adolfo Alix, Jr. • Lino Brocka • Celso Al. Carunungan • Dode Cruz • Mike De Leon • Wenn V. Deramas • Suzette Doctolero • Jose F. Lacaba • Jun Lana • Cholo Laurel • Topel Lee • Marlon Miguel • Willie Milan • Denoy Navarro-Punio • R.J. Nuevas • Mario O'Hara • Don Michael Perez • Gil Portes • Eric Quizon • Mark A. Reyes • Eddie Romero • Auraeus Solito • Gina Marissa Tagasa-Gil • Mike Tuviera Composers Ryan Cayabyab • Joy Nilo • Gerard Salonga • Gary Valenciano   Film school Film schools Asia Pacific Film Institute • De La Salle-College of Saint Benilde • International Academy of Film and Television • University of the Philippines Diliman   Production company and Film studio Production Companies and film studios APT Entertainment • Bigfoot Entertainment • Cinema Artists • GMA Films • LVN Pictures (defunct) • Regal Entertainment • Sampaguita Pictures • Seiko Films • Star Cinema • Studio 5 • VIVA Films

Nicolas Cage
Cage at the 2011 San Diego Comic-Con International.
Born	Nicolas Kim Coppola (1964-01-07) January 7, 1964 (age 48)[1] Long Beach, California, US
Occupation	Actor, producer, director
Years active	1980–present
Spouse	Patricia Arquette (1995–2001) Lisa Marie Presley (2002–2004) Alice Kim (2004–present)
Children	Weston Coppola Cage Kal-El Cage
Parents	August Coppola (deceased) Joy Vogelsang
Family	Marc Coppola (brother) Christopher Coppola (brother) Francis Ford Coppola (uncle) Eleanor Coppola (aunt)

Nicolas Cage (born Nicolas Kim Coppola; January 7, 1964) is an Academy Award–winning 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), Adaptation (2002), National Treasure (2004), Lord of War (2005), Ghost Rider (2007), Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans (2009), Kick-Ass (2010), and Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance (2012).

Early life[link]

Cage was born Nicolas Kim Coppola^[2] on January 7, 1964^[1][3][4][5] in Long Beach, California. His father, August Coppola, a professor of literature, and his mother, Joy Vogelsang, a dancer and choreographer, divorced in 1976. He was raised in a Catholic family.^[6][7] Cage's mother is of German descent and his father was of Italian descent. His paternal grandparents were composer Carmine Coppola and actress Italia Pennino, and his paternal great-grandparents were immigrants from Bernalda, Basilicata.^[8] Through his father, Cage is the nephew of director Francis Ford Coppola and actress Talia Shire, and the cousin of directors Roman Coppola and Sofia Coppola, film producer Gian-Carlo Coppola, and actors Robert Carmine and Jason Schwartzman. Cage's two brothers are New York radio personality Marc "The Cope" Coppola and director Christopher Coppola. He attended Beverly Hills High School, which is known for its many alumni who became entertainers. He aspired to act from an early age and also attended UCLA School of Theatre, Film and Television. His first non-cinematic acting experience was in a school production of Golden Boy.

Career[link]

Acting career[link]

To avoid the appearance of nepotism as the nephew of Francis Ford Coppola, he changed his name early in his career to Nicolas Cage, inspired in part by the Marvel Comics superhero Luke Cage. Since his minor role in the film Fast Times at Ridgemont High, with Sean Penn, Cage has appeared in a wide range of films, both mainstream and offbeat. He tried out for the role of Dallas Winston in his uncle's film The Outsiders, based on S.E. Hinton's novel, but lost to Matt Dillon. He was also in Coppola's films Rumble Fish and Peggy Sue Got Married.

Other Cage roles included appearances in the acclaimed 1987 romantic-comedy Moonstruck, also starring Cher; The Coen Brothers cult-classic comedy Raising Arizona; David Lynch's 1990 offbeat film Wild at Heart; a lead role in Martin Scorsese's 1999 New York City paramedic drama Bringing Out the Dead; and Ridley Scott's 2003 quirky drama Matchstick Men, in which he played an agoraphobic, mysophobic, obsessive-compulsive con artist with a tic disorder.

Cage has been nominated twice for an Academy Award, winning once for his performance as a suicidal alcoholic in Leaving Las Vegas. His other nomination was for his portrayal of real-life screenwriter Charlie Kaufman and Kaufman's fictional twin Donald in Adaptation. Despite these successes, most of his lower-profile films have performed poorly at the box office compared to his mainstream action/adventure roles. The suspense thriller 8mm (1999) was not a box office success, but is now considered a cult film. He took the lead role in the 2001 film Captain Corelli's Mandolin and learned to play the mandolin from scratch for the part. He made his directorial debut with 2002's Sonny. In 2005, two offbeat films he headlined, Lord of War and The Weather Man, failed to find a significant audience despite nationwide releases and good reviews for his acting in those roles. Poor reviews for The Wicker Man resulted in low box office sales. The much criticized 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 25, 2007. Also in 2007, he starred in Next, which shared the concept of a glimpse into an alternate timeline with Cage's film, The Family Man (2000).

Most of Cage's movies that have achieved financial success were in the action/adventure genre. In his second-highest grossing film to date, National Treasure, he plays an eccentric historian who goes on a dangerous adventure to find treasure hidden by the Founding Fathers of the United States. Other action hits include The Rock, in which Cage plays a young FBI chemical weapons expert who infiltrates Alcatraz Island in hopes of neutralizing a terrorist threat, Face/Off, a John Woo film where he plays both a hero and a villain, and World Trade Center, director Oliver Stone's film regarding the September 11, 2001 attacks. He had a small but notable role as the Chinese criminal mastermind Dr. Fu Manchu in Rob Zombie's fake trailer Werewolf Women of the S.S. from the B-movie double feature Grindhouse.

Cage made his directorial debut with Sonny, a low-budget drama starring James Franco as a male prostitute whose mother (Brenda Blethyn) serves as his pimp. Cage had a small role in the film, which received poor reviews and a short run in a limited number of theatres. Cage's producing career includes Shadow of the Vampire, the first effort from Saturn Films.

In early December 2006, Cage announced at the Bahamas International Film Festival that he planned to curtail his future acting endeavors to pursue other interests. On The Dresden Files for the Sci-Fi Channel, Cage is listed as the executive producer.

In November 2007, Cage was spotted backstage at a Ring of Honor wrestling show in New York City researching his role for The Wrestler. The role was ultimately played by Mickey Rourke, who received an Academy Award nomination for his performance.^[9] Wrestler Director Darren Aronofsky, in an interview with slashfilm.com, said of Cage's decision to leave the film that: "Nic was a complete gentleman, and he understood that my heart was with Mickey and he stepped aside. I have so much respect for Nic Cage as an actor and I think it really could have worked with Nic but ... you know, Nic was incredibly supportive of Mickey and he is old friends with Mickey and really wanted to help with this opportunity, so he pulled himself out of the race.^[10]"

Cage at the 66th Venice Film Festival in September 2009

In 2008, Cage appeared as Joe, a contract killer who undergoes a change of heart while on a work outing in Bangkok, in the film Bangkok Dangerous. The film is shot by the Pang Brothers and has a distinct South-East Asian flavor. In 2009, Cage starred in science fiction thriller Knowing, directed by Alex Proyas. In the film, he plays an MIT professor who examines the contents of a time capsule unearthed at his son's elementary school. Startling predictions found inside the capsule that have already come true lead him to believe the world is going to end at the close of the week, and that he and his son are somehow involved in the destruction. The film received mainly negative reviews but was the box office winner on its opening weekend. Also in 2009, Cage starred in the film Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans, directed by acclaimed German director Werner Herzog. He portrayed a corrupt police officer with gambling, drug and alcohol addictions. The film was very well received by critics, holding a rating of 87% positive reviews on review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes.^[11] Cage received lauds for his performance, with Michael Phillips of the Chicago Tribune writing "Herzog has found his ideal interpreter, a performer whose truth lies deep in the artifice of performance: ladies and gentlemen, Nicolas Cage, at his finest."^[12] This film reunited Cage with Eva Mendes, who played his love interest in Ghost Rider. In 2010, Cage starred in the period piece Season of the Witch, playing a 14th-century knight transporting a girl accused of causing the Black Plague to a monastery, and The Sorcerer's Apprentice, in which he played the sorcerer.^[13]

Other works[link]

Cage, an avid comic book fan, auctioned a collection of 400 vintage comics through Heritage Auctions for over $1.6 million in 2002.^[14]

In 2007 he created a comic book with his son Weston, called Voodoo Child, which was published by Virgin Comics.

Cage 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.^[15]

Acting style[link]

In February 2011, Cage claimed to have created a new method of acting he calls "Nouveau Shamanic". He claims to have used the acting style throughout his career and one day plans to write a book about the method.^[16]

Praise and criticism[link]

Nicolas Cage's acting has been praised by influential film critic Roger Ebert who writes, in his "Great Movies" essay about the film Adaptation, that: "There are often lists of the great living male movie stars: De Niro, Nicholson and Pacino, usually. How often do you see the name of Nicolas Cage? He should always be up there. He's daring and fearless in his choice of roles, and unafraid to crawl out on a limb, saw it off and remain suspended in air. No one else can project inner trembling so effectively.... He always seems so earnest. However improbable his character, he never winks at the audience. He is committed to the character with every atom and plays him as if he were him."^[17] 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 to which, in stark contrast to other critics, Ebert gave 4/4 stars.^[18]

In the 68th Academy Awards, Cage was awarded the Academy Award for Best Actor for his performance in Leaving Las Vegas.^[19]

In May 2001, Cage was awarded an Honorary Doctorate in Fine Arts by California State University, Fullerton. He spoke at the commencement ceremony.^[20]

Despite such praise, Cage has his detractors. Cage has been criticized for choosing to star in big-budget, action-adventure movies rather than smaller, character-driven dramas, the type of film that initially garnered him praise.^[21] In 1999, one-time friend Sean Penn expressed that sentiment to the New York Times, declaring Cage "no longer an actor."^[22]

Personal life[link]

Relationships and family[link]

In 1988, Cage began dating actress Christina Fulton, who later bore their son, Weston Coppola Cage (born December 26, 1990). Weston is lead singer of the black metal band Eyes of Noctum, and appeared in Cage's film Lord of War as Vladimir, a young Ukrainian mechanic who quickly disarms a Mil Mi-24 helicopter.

Cage has been married three times. His first wife was actress Patricia Arquette (married on April 8, 1995, divorce finalized on May 18, 2001).

Cage's second marriage was to singer/songwriter Lisa Marie Presley, daughter of Elvis Presley. Cage is an Elvis fan and used the star as the base of his performance in Wild at Heart. Presley and Cage married on August 10, 2002 and filed for divorce on November 25, 2002 which was finalized on May 16, 2004. The divorce proceeding was longer than the marriage.^[23]

Cage met his third and current wife Alice Kim, a former waitress who previously worked at the Los Angeles restaurant Kabuki and at the Los Angeles-based Korean nightclub, Le Privé. She bore their son, Kal-El, (after Superman's birth name^[24]) on October 3, 2005. Cage was once considered for the role of Superman in a film to be directed by Tim Burton. Alice had a minor role in the 2007 film Next, which Cage produced. They were married at a private ranch in Northern California on July 30, 2004.^{[citation needed]}

Real estate and tax problems[link]

Nicolas Cage is one of Hollywood's highest-paid actors, earning $40 million in 2009 according to Forbes Magazine.^[25]

Cage had a Malibu home where he and Kim 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.

He once owned the medieval castle of Schloss Neidstein in the Oberpfalz region in Germany, which he bought in 2006 and sold in 2009 for $2.5 million. His grandmother was German, living in Cochem an der Mosel.^[26]

Schloss Neidstein in Bavaria was owned by Cage between 2007 and 2009.

In August 2007, Cage purchased "Grey Craig", a 24,000-square-foot (2,200 m²) brick-and-stone country manor in Middletown, Rhode Island. With an estate occupying 26 acres (110,000 m²) the home has 12 bedrooms and 10 full bathrooms and overlooks the Atlantic Ocean as well. It borders the Norman Bird Sanctuary to the west. The sale ranked among the state of Rhode Island's most expensive residential purchases until eclipsed that same year, 2007, by the $17.15 million sale of the Miramar mansion on Bellevue Avenue in Newport.

Also in 2007, the actor purchased Midford Castle in Somerset, England.^[27][28][29] Shortly after selling his German castle, Cage also put homes in Rhode Island, Louisiana, Nevada, and California, as well as a $7 million island in the Bahamas, up for sale.

On July 14, 2009, the Internal Revenue Service filed documents in New Orleans in connection with a federal tax lien against property owned by Cage in Louisiana, concerning unpaid federal taxes. The IRS alleges that Cage failed to pay over $6.2 million in federal income tax for the year 2007.^[30] In addition, the Internal Revenue Service has another lien for more than $350,000 in unpaid taxes dating from 2002 to 2004.^[31] Cage filed a $20 million lawsuit on October 16, 2009, against his business manager, Samuel J. Levin, alleging negligence and fraud.^[32] The lawsuit states that Levin "had failed to pay taxes when they were due and had placed [Cage] in speculative and risky real estate investments 'resulting in (the actor) suffering catastrophic losses'."^[32] Cage is also facing separate lawsuits from East West Bank^[33] and Red Curb Investments for unpaid, multimillion dollar loans.

The LaLaurie Mansion in New Orleans was purchased anonymously by Cage in 2007 and sold in 2009.

Samuel Levin filed a counter-complaint and responded to the lawsuit in a filing stating that he warned Cage that he was living beyond his means and urged him to spend less. Levin's filing states that "instead of listening to Levin, cross-defendant Cage (Coppola) spent most of his free time shopping for high ticket purchases, and wound up with 15 personal residences", Levin's complaint continued: "Likewise, Levin advised Coppola against buying a Gulfstream jet, against buying and owning a flotilla of yachts, against buying and owning a squadron of Rolls Royces, against buying millions of dollars in jewelry and art."^[34]

In his filing Levin says that in 2007 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."^[34] 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.^[35]

According to Cage, he owned the "Most Haunted House in America", a home located in the French Quarter of New Orleans, Louisiana.^[36] The home is known as "The LaLaurie house" after its former owner Delphine LaLaurie. The house was foreclosed and sold at auction on November 12, 2009 along with another New Orleans property for a total of $5.5 million, in the wake of his financial problems.^[37]

His Bel Air home, which had six loans totaling $18 million on it, failed to sell at an April 2010 foreclosure auction despite an opening offer of $10.4 million, substantially less than the $35 million that Cage had originally tried to sell it for. The home, built in 1940 for $110,000 had been owned by Dean Martin and singer Tom Jones.^[38] The home eventually sold in November 2010 for $10.5 million.^[39] Another home in Nevada also faces foreclosure auction.^[37]

In November 2011, Cage also sold his Action Comics 1 in an online auction for a record-breaking $2.16 million dollars (the previous record being 1.5), to assist paying his tax liens and other debts. Cage purchased the comic in 1997 for $110,000.^[40]

Legal issues[link]

In December 2009, Christina Fulton sued Cage for $13 million and the house she is living in. The suit was in response to an order that she leave the dwelling that was brought about by Cage's financial difficulties.^[41]

On April 15, 2011, at 11:30 pm, Cage was arrested in New Orleans in the city's famed French Quarter district for suspicion of domestic abuse battery, disturbing the peace and public intoxication, after a police officer was flagged down by onlookers after Cage allegedly grabbed his wife's upper arm while appearing to be under the influence of alcohol.^[42] Cage was held in police custody until a bail of $11,000 was posted by Duane "Dog" Chapman.^[43][44] He was later ordered to appear in court on May 31, 2011.^[45] On May 5, 2011, it was announced that the charges against Cage had been dropped.^{[46][47][48][49]}

Filmography[link]

See also[link]

Film portal

• Coppola family tree
• List of oldest and youngest Academy Award winners and nominees

References[link]