Has Lisa found her Elvis?

Emily Sheffield @emilysheffield|In Los Angeles

10 April 2012

The diminutive bride cloaked in white looked like her mother, while the groom - with hooded eyes, imposing stature and sleeked black hair - appeared to be a younger, thinner version of her father.

The similarities at the secretive Hawaiian wedding of Lisa Marie Presley and Nicolas Cage were probably no coincidence. For ever since her father Elvis died when she was only nine, Lisa Marie has, it appears, determinedly sought a man to replace the irreplaceable. She married a young Elvis look-alike, musician Danny Keough, when she was just 20

Then, she bizarrely eloped with the biggest singing artist in the world, Michael Jackson, making him her second husband, before finally settling for a self-confessed Presley obsessive whose house is crammed full of Elvis memorabilia, who knows the words to every one of his songs, gives Love Me Tender renditions at parties and even starred in a film as an Elvis impersonator. Cage is probably the closest 34-year-old Lisa Marie will ever get to the man who has haunted her every moment since his drug-addled death in 1977.

Although it would be crass to suggest Cage is just another father figure, the fact that they wed just a week before the 25th anniversary of the King's death is a sure sign of how much influence her father still has on her life. It's rumoured that she visited psychics before marrying Cage, in the hope of contacting her father and asking for his blessing, an act both sad and desperate if true.

Priscilla removed her daughter from Graceland when she was five to live in Los Angeles, but Lisa Marie continued to see her father until his death aged 42 in 1977. Usually they would fulfil some wild fantasy they had concocted together: when she wanted to see a movie, he rented the theatre; when she complained once on the telephone from LA that she had never seen snow, he sent his jet, the Lisa Marie, to pick her up and fly her to Utah so she could romp in the powder for 20 minutes.

So far no man has lived up to this extravagant idol, but perhaps Cage, with his wealth, talent, and larger-than-life persona is the one who can. With his love of fast Ducati bikes, weird outfits and Elvis impressions (most famously in Wild at Heart), a self-confessed romantic often given to grand gestures, he might finally be someone she can look up to, or at least compare to her legendary father.

What is not in any doubt is that their marriage has secured them a place at the top of Hollywood society. Not just because of their collective family trees (Elvis on one side, Francis Ford Coppola - Cage's uncle - on the other) but also because of their combined bank balance. Although Lisa Marie's singing career has floundered (her debut album has yet to be released by Capitol Records), the value of Elvis Presley Enterprises, due to the careful management of Priscilla, is estimated at $100 million, while Cage earns $20 million a film. As history has proved however, neither of these factors has ever been a guarantee for matrimonial longevity. How long it will last was being asked as soon as the news broke in the media last Sunday.

After all, it was only in April that Lisa Marie's publicist announced the couple had split up (they reunited a month later after Cage flew to Florida to woo her back). Neither of them have shown a particular talent for relationships. Lisa Marie's first marriage to Keough, 37 - the father of her two children, Danielle, 13, and Benjamin, 10 - may have lasted six years but, just three weeks after divorcing him, she stunned the world by marrying Michael Jackson. It was a bizarre coupling that inevitably ended in divorce 18 months later. Both parties cited irreconcilable differences. Cage's union with actress Patricia Arquette in 1995 was just as ill-fated; they first split up after nine months but the marriage lasted five years. He also has a 12-year-old son named Weston by actress Christina Fulton.

Cage and Lisa Marie first met in October, 2000, at guitarist Johnny Ramone's 52nd birthday party in New York. Presley had arrived with her then fiance, 28-year-old singer John Oszajca but soon hooked up with Cage. Actor Vincent Gallo saw them talking: "Nic had a very special interest in Lisa Marie, and I thought, 'uh oh'." He was right. In April she ended her 16-month engagement and was spotted at a Tom Jones concert in Las Vegas with Cage shortly after.

In many ways the pair are very alike. They both share a reputation for eccentricity and unpredictable behaviour. Cage can understand the pressure of fame Lisa Marie has grown up with. She said in the past that she "never leaves anywhere without looking around. I look in the trash. I look in the leaves. I can sense when photographers are around."

She had a drug problem in her teens and dated unsuitable boyfriends. After going into rehab at 18, she found solace, like many other celebrities, in Scientology. "I'm pretty levelheaded, and I see it as the most incredible thing I've ever been involved in," she said, defending her religion. "I was never quite happy. I always had a lot of questions, and living and existing didn't answer them but only upset me more. And Scientology has answered these questions."

When she married Michael Jackson in 1994 it confirmed everyone's fears that underneath she was still a very confused individual. She made a rare appearance on television with Jackson, wearing his trademark surgical mask, to defend their relationship. Sulky and angry, she snapped "Yes, yes, yes" when interviewer Diane Sawyer asked if they had sex. "If they can't deal with us being married, Lisa Marie continued angrily, they can 'eat it'." It left an impression of a spoilt, screwed-up rich kid. Priscilla, who was fervently opposed to the match, later said in her defence, "I know someone different. I hope the public doesn't judge her for that." Since the divorce, her children have been the main focus of Lisa Marie's lives as if he never left the surreal film set of David Lynch's Wild at Heart: his home is a fantasy Scottish castle in the Hollywood Hills; his two dogs are albino Dobermans. Friends describe him as "geeky"; he collects comics, Elvis memorabilia, sports cars and once paid $48,000 for a small chunk of the planet Mars. His dress sense has veered between tasteless and bizarre. One associate remembers being asked round for lunch to be greeted by Cage in a full leather biker's outfit which he refused to remove during lunch despite the burning Californian sun.

Like Lisa Marie, he had a troubled childhood. His mother was often institutionalised for schizophrenia and chronic depression. His father, August Coppola, a university professor, was demanding and aloof. He once served up crayons and paper for Thanksgiving and asked his children to draw their imaginary supper. Cage also remembers feeling like a poor relation during frequent visits to stay with his rich and famous Uncle Francis. He later changed his name to Cage to avoid being judged on the merit of his relative.

On set he earned a reputation for being angry and disruptive, once destroying his trailer while filming The Cotton Club and given to slamming his fist through walls in frustration. "From the outside it looks like I've got everything made," he said a few years ago, "and I understand that. I never want to come off like I'm complaining. But as a human being, I have issues, just like anybody else. And some people look at those and go, 'My God, how are you getting out of bed?'"

Today, much of that instability has been tempered by his role as a father. "I have people who I take care of," he said recently. "Back then I was living out my fantasies of what I thought an exciting man should be. I wanted to be unpredictable and frightening, and I guess I was."

A worldwide celebrity in his own right, he is unlikely to feel daunted by Lisa Marie's wealth or fame. In turn, she can feel safe that he will share her wish for privacy and provide a stable home for their respected children.

They both love sailing on his boat, Weston, attending concerts and listening to blues. She has a house not far from him in Bel Air and Cage has often visited Lisa Marie at her other home in Clearwater, Florida (close to the Scientology headquarters). Perhaps the only point of contention in the future could be over her religion. Cage has made no moves to become a Scientologist, though she will be sure to try and recruit him as she did Jackson.

So far there have been no televised interviews to judge their relationship by. Relatives are staying quiet and their wedding in the $4,900-a-night Mauna Lani Bay Hotel was only attended by their children, Priscilla and Lisa Marie's maternal grandparents. It appears they are making efforts to live a normal life with as little interference from the media as possible. On Sunday they returned to LA as Cage was due back on set where he is filming Matchstick Men, Ridley Scott's new film. And tomorrow, Lisa Marie is joining thousands of fans in Memphis to mark the anniversary of her father's death. It's a void in her life that only now may be filled.

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