Coppola family

History

Generations

The first generation originates from Bernalda in the region of Basilicata. Agostino "August" Coppola (1882–1946) immigrated to the United States circa 1905. He married Maria Zasa (1887–1974) (also from Bernalda) on January 25, 1908. They had seven children—Archimedes, Carmine, Pancrazzo, Mario, Anton, Edward and Clarence.

Composer Carmine Coppola and his wife Italia "Pennino" Coppola had three children: a university professor August Coppola, a filmmaker Francis Ford Coppola (1939–), and actress Talia "Coppola" Shire. Unlike Carmine, a composer and conductor Anton is the one of six siblings of Carmine to not descent their children to filmmaking and music careers. Anton and Carmine are the only second generation members of the family to actively work on music careers in the 20th century, spanning their careers to later generations.

August had three sons: actor and DJ Marc Coppola, actor-director Christopher Coppola, and actor Nicolas Kim Coppola, better known as Nicolas Cage.

Francis Ford had three children: producer Gian-Carlo, filmmaker Roman, and former actress and filmmaker Sofia.

Talia Shire has three sons from her two marriages: Matthew Shire, actor-screenwriter-musician Jason Schwartzman, and director-actor-musician Robert Schwartzman.

Family tree

Academy Awards

The lineal descendants of Carmine Coppola and Italia Pennino have been nominated 24 times for an Academy Award, winning 8 times in categories including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Original Screenplay, Best Adapted Screenplay, and Best Original Score. Only four legitimate members of the family are Academy Award-winners: Carmine, Francis Ford, Nicolas Cage, and Sofia.

In addition, family in-laws such as Talia Shire's ex-husband David Shire, Sofia Coppola's ex-husband Spike Jonze, and Nicolas Cage's ex-wife Patricia Arquette are also Academy Award winners. Talia Shire's late husband Jack Schwartzman is also the father of Oscar nominee John Schwartzman by a previous marriage.

Coppola family Academy Awards nominations

Controversy

Due to Francis Ford's heritage as a patriarch of the family, several media outlets accused Francis Ford of nepotism for casting his children in his films since The Godfather—including his daughter Sofia, who appeared in The Godfather Part III. Despite positive reviews, this negatively impacted her career as an actress; Sofia shifted away from her acting career to filmmaking in 1999, which makes her last acting film was CQ in 2001.

This affected Francis Ford's nephews Nicolas Cage and Jason Schwartzman, who also have been attributed to the aid of Francis Ford's filmography. Cage changed his last name to distance himself from such charges.

Notes

References

References

1. Gambino, Megan. (January 31, 2012). "What is The Godfather Effect?". Smithsonian.
2. Noland, Claire. (October 30, 2009). "August Coppola dies at 75; professor was father of Nicolas Cage and brother of Francis Ford Coppola". Los Angeles Times.
3. "Free Family Tree, Genealogy and Family History".
4. Cabanatuan, Michael. (January 3, 2004). "Italia Coppola -- mother of filmmaker".
5. "Academy Awards database". Oscars.org.
6. "Academy Awards Database". Oscars.org.
7. "Academy Awards Database". Oscars.org.
8. (2014-10-04). "The 43rd Academy Awards {{!}} 1971".
9. (2014-10-05). "The 45th Academy Awards {{!}} 1973".
10. (2014-10-04). "The 46th Academy Awards {{!}} 1974".
11. "The 47th Academy Awards{{!}}1975". Oscars.org {{!}} Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
12. (2014-10-04). "The 48th Academy Awards {{!}} 1976".
13. (2022-03-01). "The 52nd Academy Awards {{!}} 1980".
14. (2014-10-04). "The 63rd Academy Awards {{!}} 1991".
15. (2014-10-05). "The 68th Academy Awards {{!}} 1996".
16. (2014-10-05). "The 75th Academy Awards {{!}} 2003".
17. (2014-10-04). "The 76th Academy Awards {{!}} 2004".
18. (2014-10-07). "The 83rd Academy Awards {{!}} 2011".
19. Hammond, Pete. (2013-01-22). "Exclusive Featurette: Original Screenplay Oscar Nominee ‘Moonrise Kingdom’".
20. Ferrier, Aimee. (December 29, 2022). "The Coppolas: Unravelling the ultimate nepo-family".
21. Pall, Ellen. (1994-07-24). "Nicolas Cage, The Sunshine Man". [[The New York Times]].