Nic Cage has paid off $6 million of his massive tax bill.
TMZ obtained a copy of the document showing the federal government released a lien against Cage after he paid the IRS $6,257,005 on Feb. 15. That was the balance of what he owed for the 2007 tax year. In late 2008, the federal government placed a tax lien on Cage's real-estate holdings.
"Everybody makes mistakes. It's part of being human," Cage said on "Good Morning America" last year. "Some people say you have to be a sinner before you can be a saint."
Cage is only half way to solvency. The "Ghost Rider" actor has admitted to owing the IRS a total of $14 million and has said that he is taking steps to repay it, starting with switching business managers.
Despite being one of Hollywood's highest-paid actors, Cage has had an avalanche of financial problems in the last few years.
After reportedly purchasing castles, islands, homes, a dinosaur skull, cars and boats, the actor hit the skids.
His finances aren't his only troubles, however. More about Cage's wild world:
1. Wild Weekend In New Orleans
In April 2011 Nicolas Cage reportedly went right back to work on his latest film "Medallion" after a weekend bender that could have been plucked out of Cage's Academy Award winning role in "Leaving Las Vegas." The actor was arrested in New Orleans for domestic abuse, disturbing the peace and public drunkenness, but the charges were eventually dropped.
According to police, Cage was heavily intoxicated and violent, arguing with his wife, Alice Kim, in a tattoo parlor and on the street. Later, he punched a few cars. "He was running around and screaming in the street," a bartender at Harry's Corner in New Orleans told People magazine.
Longtime Hollywood publicist Howard Bragman, who does not represent Cage, told ABC's "Good Morning America" that Cage taunted police, saying "Go ahead, arrest me."
"They tried to send him home," Bragman said. "Then, finally, they did arrest him."
Kim has denied that Cage abused her and has declined to press charges.
In what sounds like one of Cage's post-Oscar flops, reality star Duane "Dog the Bounty Hunter" Chapman came to the financially strapped star's rescue, posting the $11,000 bond.
2. Off-Screen/On-Screen Rage
In Dec. 2010, Cage, who flew off the handle in such films as "Moonstruck" and "Adaptation," made news for an off-screen meltdown.
While leaving a night club in Romania where he was promoting "Ghost Rider," the actor exploded into a rage during an altercation with a companion.
Cage was taped screaming: "I thought we were brothers, man," and "I'll die in the name of honor."
4. Movie Rut
Cage has been praised for his wrenching portrayal as a suicidal alcoholic in "Leaving Las Vegas" and his performance in "Adaptation" among other roles, but he has also been panned for big budget movies that may only be considered a good idea by the IRS. One of his recent flops was "Drive Angry 3D," where he plays a guy who departs hell to find the Satanist that killed his child.
5. Tripping With His Cat
During a chat with David Letterman to promote his film "The Sorcerer's Apprentice," Cage told the story of how he and his cat, Louis, did psychedelic mushrooms together.
He said that after a daylong staring contest with the cat he "had no doubt that he was my brother."
Cage is no stranger to drugs.
He's admitted to using drugs in his younger days. When promoting "Bad Lieutenant" in Australia, Cage told reporters that doctors there "still use cocaine to clear your sinuses."
According to OK! Magazine, Cage said he felt "invincible" and kept coming up with ideas after receiving the "cocaine solution" in his nose.
6. Marriages and Children
Cage has been married three times. An early relationship with model Christina Fulton, produced a son -- Weston Coppola Cage.
His first marriage to actress Patricia Arquette ended in 2000 and lasted five years, but divorce papers revealed the pair had only cohabited for the first nine months of their marriage.
Cage's second marriage to Lisa Marie Pressley only lasted four months.
His third marriage was to Alice Kim, who he met in 2004 when she waited on his table at a Los Angeles restaurant. The two have one child together-- a son named Kale-El which was Superman's name as a child.
Which leads us to Cage, the comic book geek.
7. Comic Book Geek- Voodoo in New Orleans
Cage made news in April when a missing mint copy of Action Comics No. 1 -- the comic book debut of Superman -- belonging to him surfaced in a San Fernando Valley storage locker.
The comic, which has been authenticated, was stolen from Cage more than a decade ago, according to Detective Don Hrycyk with the Los Angeles Police Department's Art Theft Detail.
Cage accepted an insurance payout after the theft, so it is unclear if he will regain his missing comic.
Most people don't know that Cage is a huge fan of comic books. In fact, he has a tattoo of Ghost Rider on his arm and he developed a six-issue illustrated series called "Voodoo Child" with his son Weston. Set in New Orleans post Hurricane Katrina, the story focuses on a child who puts a voodoo curse on his soul before he is murdered by secessionist soldier.
8. We Have Cage to Thank for "The Goddesses"?
Cage was recently featured in Charlie Sheen's "My Violent Torpedo of Truth/Defeat is Not an Option" tour.
According to Sheen, Cage once helped him smuggle cocaine onto a plane and came up with the term "goddess." During his show in Columbus, Ohio, Sheen said: "We're at this after-party and Nic Cage is over at the corner and he's showing a girl his watch," Sheen explained. "It was dark, but I knew exactly what he was doing. He has his wrist down here ... So she just kind of pokes him in the chest and walks away. And his response was 'Well there goes a goddess, an absolute f***ing goddess.'"
Cage has yet to comment on Sheen's story. LINK
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