How could you NOT be intrigued by an article with that name? I found this article on CLEDEMY.COM and it was written by RASHMI PANCHAL.

This famous American actor was born on January 7, 1964, in Long Beach, California. His dad, August Coppola, was a professor of literature, and his mom, Joy Vogelsang, was a dancer and choreographer. Nicolas was raised in a Catholic family –his father was of Italian descent, while his mother was of Polish and German ancestry! He is the youngest of three sons. His two brothers are Marc “The Cope” Coppola and director Christopher Coppola.

He changed his name

In 2012, Nicolas told The Huffington Post that he decided to change his last name after actors on the set of the film Fast Times at Ridgemont High (1982) resented him! It was the first movie by Nicolas and the actors hated him because his uncle was a well-known director Francis Ford Coppola. Unfortunately, most of his scenes in that movie ended up getting cut. To stand out from his relatives, Nicolas chose “Cage.” He took the name after being inspired by the African-American comic book superhero Luke Cage.

At the foot of Cage’s bed, a naked home intruder ate a fudgsicle

While talking about his home invasion thriller Trespass in the year 2011, Cage told reporters that he was once victimized in his home! He shared that a person had broken into his Orange County home. He was sleeping, and “I opened my eyes, and there was a naked man wearing my leather jacket eating a Fudgsicle in front of my bed.” He further added, “I know it sounds funny…but it was horrifying.” Later, Cage convinced the man to leave before the police arrived. While Cage didn’t press charges, he said he never stayed in the house again. 

Cage once owned 15 houses, including a haunted house

There are many interesting possessions Cage has accrued throughout his life–such as shrunken pygmy heads, an octopus, and his amazing houses located around the world.  Many of those houses were foreclosed on in the wake of debt, including America’s “Most Haunted House.” In 2007, Cage bought the LaLaurie House in New Orleans. He claimed that he bought this to get inspiration to write a book; however, the book was never produced, and two years later, the house was sold.

Cage once slept in Dracula’s castle

While promoting the film Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance in 2011, popular actor Idris Elba recalled an incident. One day, noticing Cage was tired, Elba asked if they had gotten any rest. He answered, “Yeah, man, I went up to Dracula’s castle…the ruins up in the mountains, and I stayed the night.” He further added, “I just had to channel the energy, and it was pretty spooky up there.” He was probably talking about Bran Castle near Transylvania, which may have been Dracula’s residence in the novel of Bram Stoker.

While filming ‘Vampire’s Kiss,’ Cage ate live cockroaches

While playing Peter Low in the 1988 film Vampire’s Kiss, Cage ate a live cockroach! Eating the cockroach was his idea as a calculated on-screen move. According to Bierman, the director, the script actually required the character to eat a raw egg. However, Bierman and Cage decided an egg wasn’t extreme enough, so Cage decided to eat a cockroach.

Cage owns a pyramid-shaped Tomb in New Orleans

Cage owns a tomb that is located in St. Louis Cemetery in the French Quarter in New Orleans.  The tomb is ready for him to be placed inside when the time arrives.  The tomb can only be seen on a licensed tour offered by New Orleans Catholic Church and it sits among the tombs of notable figures, like Voodoo Queen Marie Laveau. It is not known how much Cage paid for this nine-foot-high pyramid tomb when he bought it in 2010, but according to a report, it was $40,000. It has the inscription “everything from one” in Latin.

Cage was the victim of a massive comic book heist

In 1997, comic book fan Nicolas Cage bought a copy of Action Comics #1, the highly sought-after issue of 1939. It was the issue that introduced Superman and even ushered in the superhero genre of the 20^th century. The book, however, along with some other rare titles, was stolen in January 2000 from Cage’s home. The case went cold for 11 years before the book showed up in the storage locker of San Fernando Valley. After a police investigation, Cage got his book back, and he sold it for a then-record of $2.1 million!

Nicolas Cage accidentally bought a skull of a dinosaur

The extravagant spending habits of Cage have been well documented; however, very few of them can match his grandiose gesture of spending $276,000 at a 2007 auction for a Tyrannosaurus bataar skull. Unfortunately, he didn’t know that the skull had been stolen from the Gobi Desert in Mongolia. In 2014, contacted by the Department of Homeland Security, Cage agreed to hand it over…so that it could be returned.

A Japanese corn snack used Cage’s likeness without permission

In October 2017, Cage’s fans in Japan were very happy to see the actor’s face emblazoned on a snack package!  It was a crunchy corn snack known as Deluxe Umaibou Nicolastick! The snack was intended to promote his movie, Army of One, in a few theaters; however, no one asked him for his consent.

Cage helped Johnny Depp break into acting

Johnny Depp and Nicolas Cage were good friends, and during a casual game of Monopoly, Cage told Depp that he should try acting! Later in 2019, Cage told The New York Times that Depp was actually dismissive of the suggestions and even said that he couldn’t act and wanted to be a musician! However, Cage pestered and had Johnny Depp meet with his agent. Soon after, Depp was cast in the movie A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984).

One of Cage’s kids is named after Kal-El, his favorite superhero

Cage has two sons, Weston, and Kal El. Weston was born in 1990 and is the child of Cage and his long-time girlfriend, Christian Fulton. Weston is a musician, has entered acting, and even wrote a comic book with his father called Voodoo Child.

Cage’s third wife, Alice Kim, gave birth to the boy Kal-El in 2005. The name of the actor’s younger son is the same name given to Superman when he lived on Krypton. The name is believed to resemble the Hebrew words for “Voice of God.”

After Cage was arrested in 2011, Dog the Bounty Hunter posted his bail

In 2011, Cage was arrested in New Orleans for domestic abuse and disturbing the peace. He had been fighting with his wife, Alice Kim, according to the police. Duane “Dog” Chapman, also famous as Dog the Bounty Hunter, came to help Cage, posting the $11,000 bond required to be released. According to Chapman, he just performed his duties as a bail bondsman.

Cage has been married five times

In February 2021, Cage walked down the aisle with Riko Shabata in Las Vegas, NV, making it the fifth marriage of the actor. He married Patricia Arquette (1995-2001), Lisa Marie Presley (2002-2004), Alice Kim (2004-2016), and also Erika Koike (2019).

Nicolas Cage worked his way out of $6 million in debt

In an interview on CBS’ 60 Minutes, this talented actor, Nicolas Cage, revealed that at one point in his life, he was $6 million in debt! So, he had to act in different kinds of movies, including a few “crummy movies”, but he managed to work himself out of that debt.

SOURCE: CLEDEMY.COM RASHMI PANCHAL

Today is Mel Gibson’s birthday (born in 1956), and I went looking for interesting facts about this talented, sexy man. I found this article on factinate.com and I wanted to share some of the article.

1. A Few Brothers and Sisters…

Mel Gibson is the sixth of eleven children. Eleven children.

2. Poser Down Under

Originally born in New York, Gibson and his family emigrated to Australia when he was twelve. He kept his American citizenship, but picked up the Australian accent.

3. Knowledge is its own Reward

Gibson’s father won $21,000 playing Jeopardy.

4. Bottled Up

His sister applied on his behalf, but without his knowledge, to the National Institute of Dramatic Art in Sydney. At the time, Gibson had graduated but was working at an orange juice bottling factory. Somewhere out there is an alternate universe where Mel Gibson is referred to as the “Clark Gable of Orange Juice Bottling”.

5. One Day She’ll Fly Away

While working on that production, Gibson met his future ex-wife Robyn Moore. Gibson took one look at her and said, “One day, I’m gonna divorce that girl.”

6. I Don’t Want to Go to There

Gibson made $400 for his first film role, the 1977 Australian surfer film “Summer City.” It is also known as “Coast of Terror,” which would be a pretty awful tourism ad.

7. Mad Money

For his role in the first Mad Max film, Gibson made $15,000. By the time he got to the second sequel, “Mad Max Beyond the Thunderdome,” Gibson’s salary was up to a million, his first million-dollar payday.

8. American Gothic

Gibson’s first American film was 1984’s “The River” in which he and Sissy Spacek played struggling Tennessee farmers.

9. Moo-Urns!

After working on four films in a row, Gibson took almost two years off to work at his Australian cattle station because cows are easier to deal with than actors.

10. Behind-The-Wheel Woes

Gibson took another year off after he rear-ended a car in Toronto whilst under the influence. He was banned from driving in Ontario for three months, which given the traffic, is much less of a punishment than you’d think.

11. Fine, I’ll Win an Oscar

Just like with acting, Gibson originally had no desire to direct. The studios encouraged him to do so, which resulted in Gibson eventually winning a Best Director Oscar for his work on “Braveheart.

12. Why So Serious?

As a director, Gibson likes to break the tension on set by having his actors perform serious scenes while wearing a red clown nose.

13. It’s a Sign

After making “Signs,” Gibson said he no longer wanted to be a movie star and only wanted to focus on roles that were “extraordinary.” He went on to make “Edge of Darkness,” which scored 56% on Rotten Tomatoes.

14. As You Wish

In keeping with his desire to no longer be a movie star, in 2010, Gibson had a public (and profoundly racist, cruel, and threatening) outburst against his girlfriend and was dropped from William Morris Endeavor, his talent agency.

15. Alcohol

On July 28^th, 2006, Gibson was arrested by deputy James Mee of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department for driving under the influence while speeding in his vehicle with an open container of alcohol. Gibson first told the officer, “My life is over. I’m [redacted]. Robyn’s going to leave me.” When the officer wouldn’t let him drive home, he exploded into a racist tirade which culminated with, “Jews are responsible for all the wars in the world. Are you a Jew?”

16. Not the Best Record

Gibson’s divorce was finalized in December 23^rd, 2011 and, at over $400 million, the settlement was said to be the highest in Hollywood history.

17. In the Right

Gibson’s political views have been charitably described as “ultraconservative.”

18. Laughing in the Face of Controversy

Gibson’s Icon Productions originally agreed to finance Michael Moore’s film “Fahrenheit 9/11” but later sold the rights to Miramax Films. Moore said that his agent claimed that “top Republicans” had called Gibson to tell him not to expect any more invitations to the White House. A spokesperson for Icon dismissed the story saying, “We never run from controversy. You’d have to be out of your mind to think that of the company that just put out The Passion of the Christ.” Fair point.

19. Stickler for the Rules

Gibson was raised a Sedevacantist traditionalist Catholic. He believes that, “There is no salvation for those outside the church… My wife is a saint. She’s a much better person than I am. Honestly. She’s… Episcopalian. And it’s not fair if she doesn’t make it. She’s better than I am. But that is a pronouncement from the chair. I go with it.”

20. On Abortion

Gibson is staunchly pro-life, telling Barbara Walters in an interview that, “God is the only one who knows how many children we should have, and we should be ready to accept them. One can’t decide for oneself who comes into this world and who doesn’t. That decision doesn’t belong to us.” This certainly explains why Gibson has nine children.

21. Breakfast of Champions

Despite his problems with alcohol addiction, he still managed to maintain his professionalism. “Lethal Weapon 2” director Richard Donner recalls being quite surprised when Gibson confided that he was drinking five pints of beer for breakfast. What’s more surprising is that Gibson managed to maintain his action star physique considering the sheer number of carbs he was consuming on a daily basis.

SOURCE: FACTINATE.COM

Happy New Year’s Eve! I do not drink, but I always find it interesting to see what other people are drinking. I found these unusual cocktails at The Pioneer Woman’s website!

Sugar Cookie Martini

Peppermint Martini

Espresso Martini

Chocolate Martini

Pomegranate Margarita

For recipes for these drinks, please visit The Pioneer Woman’s website!

Have a Happy New Year’s Eve! If you drink, don’t drive!