Nicolas Cage wins apology over dog-napping claim

LONDON (Reuters) - Nicolas Cage on Friday won an apology and damages from actress Kathleen Turner over claims in her autobiography that he had been arrested twice for drunk driving and had once stolen a Chihuahua.

Neither star was at London's High Court to hear the ruling, which brings to an end Cage's libel action against former co-star Turner, her publishers Headline Publishing Group and Britain's Daily Mail, which featured an extract from the book.

Cage's lawyer Simon Smith told the court that the offending passages from Turner's autobiography "Send Yourself Roses" had appeared in the Daily Mail and on its Web site under the headline "Why I detest Burt Reynolds and Nicolas Cage".

They were based on the 53-year-old's experiences on set with Cage while making the 1986 hit "Peggy Sue Got Married".

Turner stated that Cage was "arrested twice for drunk-driving and, I think, for stealing a dog. He'd come across a Chihuahua he liked and stuck it in his jacket."

Smith said the allegations were false and had "caused damage to the claimant's personal and professional reputation".

Turner and the two publishing groups accepted that the allegations were untrue and would pay the 44-year-old Cage's legal costs and make a "substantial" donation to charity, Smith added.

(Writing by Mike Collett-White, editing by Paul Casciato)