The Coppola family ( , ) is an

Italian-American Italian Americans () are Americans who have full or partial Italians, Italian ancestry. The largest concentrations of Italian Americans are in the urban Northeastern United States, Northeast and industrial Midwestern United States, Midwestern ...

family of

filmmakers Filmmaking or film production is the process by which a motion picture is produced. Filmmaking involves a number of complex and discrete stages, beginning with an initial story, idea, or commission. Production then continues through screenwritin ...

and performing artists. The family originates from

Bernalda Bernalda (Neapolitan language, Metapontino: or ) is a town and municipality () in the province of Matera, in the southern Italy, Italian region of Basilicata. The nearby village of Metaponto is the site of the ancient city of Metapontum. Until ...

in the region of

Basilicata Basilicata (, ; ), also known by its ancient name Lucania (, , ), is an administrative region in Southern Italy, bordering on Campania to the west, Apulia to the north and east, and Calabria to the south. It has two coastlines: a 30-kilometr ...

. 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 Carmine ()also called cochineal (when it is extracted from the Cochineal, cochineal insect), cochineal extract, crimson Lake pigment, lake, or carmine lake is a pigment of a bright-red color obtained from the aluminium coordination complex, compl ...

, Pancrazzo, Mario, Anton, Edward and Clarence. The best-known members, including

Francis Ford Coppola Francis Ford Coppola ( ; born April 7, 1939) is an American filmmaker. He is considered one of the leading figures of the New Hollywood and one of the greatest filmmakers of all time. List of awards and nominations received by Francis Ford Coppo ...

Talia Shire Talia Rose Shire (née Coppola; born April 25, 1946) is an American actress and member of the Coppola family. She is best known for her roles as Connie Corleone in The Godfather (film series), ''The Godfather'' trilogy and Adrian Pennino, Adrian ...

Sofia Coppola Sofia Carmina Coppola ( , ; born May 14, 1971) is an American filmmaker and former actress. She has List of awards and nominations received by Sofia Coppola, won an Academy Awards, Academy Award, two Golden Globe Awards, a Golden Lion, and a Can ...

Jason Schwartzman Jason Schwartzman (born June 26, 1980) is an American actor, musician, and member of the Coppola family. Schwartzman made his film debut in Wes Anderson's 1998 film '' Rushmore'', and has since appeared in six other Anderson films: '' The Darjee ...

and

Nicolas Cage Nicolas Kim Coppola (born January 7, 1964), known professionally as Nicolas Cage, is an American actor and film producer. He is the recipient of List of awards and nominations received by Nicolas Cage, various accolades, including an Academy A ...

, are descended from Carmine Coppola. The family became the subject of notoriety, with several outlets accusing Francis Ford Coppola of

nepotism Nepotism is the act of granting an In-group favoritism, advantage, privilege, or position to Kinship, relatives in an occupation or field. These fields can include business, politics, academia, entertainment, sports, religion or health care. In ...

for casting members of the Coppola family in his films since ''

The Godfather ''The Godfather'' is a 1972 American Epic film, epic crime film directed by Francis Ford Coppola, who co-wrote the screenplay with Mario Puzo, based on Puzo's best-selling The Godfather (novel), 1969 novel. The film stars an ensemble cast inc ...

''—including his daughter Sofia, who appeared in ''

The Godfather Part III ''The Godfather Part III'' is a 1990 American epic crime film produced and directed by Francis Ford Coppola from the screenplay co-written with Mario Puzo. The film stars Al Pacino, Diane Keaton, Talia Shire, Andy García, Eli Wallach, Jo ...

''.

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 The following is a list of categories of awards commonly awarded through organizations that bestow film awards, including those presented by various films, festivals, and people's awards. Best Actor/Best Actress *See Best Actor#Film awards, Bes ...

, Best Director, Best Actor,

Best Original Screenplay The Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay is the Academy Award (also known as an Oscar) for the best screenplay not based upon previously published material. It was created in 1940 as a separate writing award from the Academy Award for Best ...

, Best Adapted Screenplay, and Best Original Score. In addition,

's ex-husband

David Shire David Lee Shire (born July 3, 1937) is an American songwriter and composer of stage musicals, film and television scores. Among his best known works are the motion picture soundtracks to '' The Big Bus'', '' The Taking of Pelham One Two Three' ...

's ex-husband

Spike Jonze Adam Spiegel (born October 22, 1969), known professionally as Spike Jonze (), is an American Filmmaking, filmmaker, actor, musician, and photographer. His work includes films, commercials, music videos, skateboard videos and television. Jonze ...

, and

's ex-wife

Patricia Arquette Patricia Arquette (; born April 8, 1968) is an American actress. She made her feature film debut as Kristen Parker in ''A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors'' (1987) and has since received several awards, including an Academy Award, two P ...

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.

References

{{Coppola family American people of Italian descent Roman Catholic families