[3] After an unsuccessful attempt to get by as a rock singer in London,[3] he changed his name and moved to New York City in 1979—a decision that, as he later described in his play We're Only Alive for a Short Amount of Time, was motivated by violent and traumatic experiences in his youth.
"[2] Cale premiered Deep in a Dream of You at the Goodman, where it was nominated for a 1991 Joseph Jefferson Award for New Work;[10] in New York he performed it at The Knitting Factory, where the New York Times called it "a significant breakthrough for Mr. Cale" with "surreal imagery that evokes the connection between passion and dreams with a brilliant clarity,"[11] and at The Public Theater, with these two productions collectively winning another Bessie Award.
"[16] Cale's next two monologue collections, Betwixt (the first time he performed his own work alongside another actor: Cara Seymour)[17] and A Likely Story,[18] premiered in New York in the 2000s.
[19] Floyd and Clea was negatively reviewed in Chicago,[20] but in New York it was nominated for an Outer Critics Circle Award for Outstanding New Off-Broadway Musical.
[22] Palomino, about an Irish immigrant working as a carriage driver in Central Park who becomes a gigolo, opened in 2010 at the Kansas City Repertory Theatre.
He described it as his most directly autobiographical work, depicting his childhood in Luton, and said that he had avoided writing about these experiences earlier because "I didn't want people to feel sorry for me.
[3] He has since appeared in more than 20 films, as well as TV roles, including Ed Harris' 2000 biopic Pollock and James Gray's 2008 romantic drama Two Lovers.