Nicholas Gage - Life and Career

Life and Career

Gage was born in the village of Lia in Filiates, Thesprotia, Epirus, Greece. He is most famous for two books of autobiographical memoirs, the best selling Eleni and A Place for Us. Eleni describes the life of his family in Greece during the Second World War and Greek Civil War. Gage’s mother, Eleni, was executed for arranging the escape of her children from their Communist-occupied village. Decades later, as an adult, Gage sought out those responsible for her death. A Place for Us relates the Gage family’s experiences as immigrants in 1950s America in the city of Worcester, Massachusetts. In 1964, Gage earned a master's degree from the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.

In 1985, Eleni was made into a feature film starring John Malkovich as Gage. In 1987, Eleni was cited by Ronald Reagan as an inspiration for his summit meetings to end the arms race with the Soviet Union.

Gage first achieved fame as an investigative reporter for the Wall Street Journal and the New York Times. His acclaimed coverage of the Mafia led to two best-selling books: The Mafia Is Not An Equal Opportunity Employer and Mafia, U.S.A.

He was also instrumental in exposing corruption in the past of Vice President Spiro Agnew, which led to Agnew’s resignation. During the Watergate scandal, Gage was the first reporter to hear any of the Nixon tapes. His experiences as a reporter were the basis for the television show “The Andros Targets”.

Gage was an Executive Producer of The Godfather Part III, co-writing an early draft of the script with Mario Puzo. The movie was nominated for seven Golden Globe Awards and seven Academy Awards.

His book Eleni, which has been translated into 32 languages, was awarded first prize by the Royal Society of Literature of Great Britain and was nominated in the category of best biography by the National Book Critics Circle.

His most recent book is Greek Fire: The Story of Maria Callas and Aristole Onassis, an account of the relationship between Aristotle Onassis and opera singer Maria Callas, which was published by Alfred A. Knopf in 2000.

Gage is the honorary President of the WORLD of EPIROTES and a recipient of The International Center in New York's Award of Excellence. He continues to speak throughout the world and writes for such publications as The New York Times and Vanity Fair.