COMMENTS & CURIOSITIES:

He came. He bought. He sold. Sic transit Gloria, and Nicolas, in Newport Beach, what with Nicolas Cage checking out of the Bayshore Drive home that he purchased in 2005.

Let’s get the dollars out of the way because, as you know, failing to talk about how much a home in Newport-Mesa is worth is a misdemeanor.

The spacious property, which is next door to John Wayne’s former home, reportedly sold for $35 million — a believed Orange County record for a single-family home, although one has to use a loose definition of “single-family home” in this case — half an acre right smack on Newport Harbor.

Cage paid $25 million for the property in 2005, which is not a bad return for 24 months. Ten million here and ten million there, and pretty soon you’re talking about real money.

One of the top box-office draws in the world, Cage is both highly respected and well-liked in and out of Hollywood.

Despite his movie-star status, his Bayshore neighbors and others who encountered him out and about said he was quiet but always friendly, with a ready smile and wave.

But if you think Nicolas Cage’s life here or anywhere else is now or ever was a garden-variety, middle-of-the-road existence, you are mistaken.

Born in Long Beach in 1964, Nicolas Kim Coppola is the son of August Coppola, a Cal State Long Beach professor of comparative literature, and Joy Vogelsang, an accomplished dancer and choreographer.

And yes you are correct, his father’s last name does sound familiar. August and Francis Ford Coppola are brothers, although Cage’s family is shot through with plenty of other show-business connections.

It’s also a mother lode of Hollywood trivia. Only two families can claim three generations of Oscar winners: the Coppola’s — Sofia, “Lost in Translation;” Francis Ford, too many Oscars to count; and Carmine, original score with Nino Rota, “The Godfather” and “The Godfather, Part II.” And the other family? Anyone? The Hustons: Anjelica, “Prizzi’s Honor”; John, director, “The Treasure of the Sierra Madre” and Walter, “The Treasure of the Sierra Madre.”

Nicolas Cage’s first role was a bit part, and “bit” might be an overstatement, in Cameron Crowe’s 1982 ode to high-school life California-style — “Fast Times at Ridgemont High” — with Sean Penn as the mentally nonexistent Jeff Spicoli.

Cage’s career eased into second gear in the mid-’80s, and the word spread fast that if you thought you had a character too off-center for Nicholas Cage to play, you were probably wrong.

Cage made his first big splash in 1984 in “Birdy” with Matthew Modine and became a star in 1986 with Kathleen Turner in “Peggy Sue Got Married,” directed by his uncle, the aforementioned Francis Coppola.

In 1987, Cage did two very strange star turns, first with Holly Hunter and Frances McDormand in “Raising Arizona” — one of the funniest films ever made in my opinion — and then with Cher in “Moonstruck,” which is a close second, especially if your name ends in a vowel.

In 1990, I guess the strangeness dial still wasn’t cranked up enough for Nic, which resulted in “Wild at Heart” with Laura Dern.

Most of the film cannot be described here, if at all, but Cage does an Elvis impersonation in it that is way better than Elvis could have done — an odd precursor to his brief but spirited marriage to Lisa Marie Presley.

It look a few more years for Cage to go supernova and establish himself as a major talent, winning an Oscar for his work with Elizabeth Shue in “Leaving Las Vegas” in 1996, as one half of the most dysfunctional couple in the history of the world. And the rest you know.

Exactly as one would expect, Cage’s tenure in Newport Beach was different than most, capped off by a disturbing incident last October when Cage confronted an intruder who somehow got into the star’s Bayshore home at about 1:00 a.m. and was wandering around aimlessly, to say nothing of stark naked, except for a leather jacket belonging to Cage.

Showing a huge dose of courage and incredible presence of mind, Cage led the man outside and away from his wife and child, who were upstairs at the time. When the police arrived, the man — still sitting in the backyard, still naked — told them his name was Robert Furo and that he was a tailor from San Pedro.

I’m telling you, you cannot write this stuff. Furo was sentenced to one month in jail and five months of treatment just this week, and with a final twist, the intruder’s sentence was handed down by Superior Court Judge Karen Robinson, a former Costa Mesa City council member.

What does all this tell us? I have no idea, but it might have something to do with the cost of housing, artistic integrity, the fact that anything connected with Nicolas Cage will never ever be dull, and the importance of avoiding naked tailors from San Pedro, especially when they’re wearing your jacket. That should be enough to get you through the weekend. Or, maybe not. I gotta go.

PETER BUFFA is a former Costa Mesa mayor. His column runs Sundays. He may be reached at [email protected].