Nicolas Cage a nephew of director Francis Ford Coppola and of 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 Theater, Film and Television. His first non-cinematic acting experience was in a school production of "Golden Boy". He said he started
Francis Ford Coppola screenplay. The film recouped its expenses and later became a cult film among horror buffs. It was on the sets of "Dementia 13" that he met his future wife Eleanor Jessie Neil. In 1965, Coppola won the annual Samuel Goldwyn Award for the best screenplay ("Pilma, Pilma") written by a UCLA student. This secured him a job as a scriptwriter with Seven Arts. In between, he co-wrote the scripts for "This Property Is Condemned" (1966) and "Is Paris Burning?" (1966). However, with fame still eluding him and partly out of desperation, Coppola bought the rights to the David Benedictus novel