Coppola family

The Coppola family (/ˈkoʊpələ/ KOH-pə-lə, Italian: [ˈkɔppola]) is an Italian-American family of artists in the entertainment industry of the United States, originated from Bernalda in the region of Basilicata. Agostino "August" Coppola (1882–1946) and Maria Zasa (1887–1974) immigrated to the United States circa 1905 and married on January 25, 1908. They had seven children—Archimedes, Carmine, Pancrazzo, Mario, Anton, Edward and Clarence; Anton and Carmine were the only second generation members who actively worked on a music career in the 20th century.

Third and fourth generation members, including Francis Ford Coppola, Talia Shire, Sofia Coppola, Jason Schwartzman and Nicolas Cage, are descended from Carmine Coppola. Francis Ford, one of the children of Carmine, co-founded a film production company American Zoetrope with fellow filmmaker George Lucas and cemented his career for directing the gangster film The Godfather (1972), regarded by many critics as one of the greatest and most influential films ever made as well as a landmark of the gangster genre.^[1]

Francis Ford is a prominent figure of the New Hollywood era and became the dominant force of the Hollywood film industry in the 1970s and 1980s, until his significant decline between box-office disappointment and film production delays as an independent filmmaker prior in the 21st century, leaving his descendants independently continued their successful legacy. Throughout their careers in five decades, Carmine and his descendants earned multiple Academy Awards wins and nominations, contributing to the extended Coppola members with nine being the most members of the family.

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.

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,^[5] Sofia Coppola's ex-husband Spike Jonze,^[6] and Nicolas Cage's ex-wife Patricia Arquette^[7] 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.

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;^[20] Sofia shifted her filmmaking career in 1999.

• List of entertainment industry dynasties