Francis Ford Coppola

Coppola in 2010, photo by s_bukley/Bigstock.com

Place of Birth: Detroit, Michigan, U.S.

Date of Birth: April 7, 1939

Ethnicity: Italian

Francis Ford Coppola is an American film director, producer, screenwriter, and vintner. He won the Academy Award for Best Director for The Godfather Part II (1974). He has also directed the films Dementia 13, You’re a Big Boy Now, Finian’s Rainbow, The Rain People, The Godfather, The Conversation, Apocalypse Now, One from the Heart, The Outsiders, Rumble Fish, The Cotton Club, Peggy Sue Got Married, Gardens of Stone, Tucker: The Man and His Dream, a segment of New York Stories; The Godfather Part III, Bram Stoker’s Dracula, Jack (1996), John Grisham’s The Rainmaker, Youth Without Youth, Tetro, and Twixt. He wrote his Dementia 13, You’re a Big Boy Now, The Rain People, The Conversation, and all films since and including John Grisham’s The Rainmaker; and co-wrote The Godfather trilogy, Apocalypse Now, One from the Heart, The Outsiders, Rumble Fish, The Cotton Club, and New York Stories. He also co-wrote the films Is Paris Burning?, This Property Is Condemned, and Patton, and wrote the film The Great Gatsby (1974). He has also been billed as Francis Coppola. He has his own family-branded winery.

All of his grandparents were Italian. Francis is the son of Italia Pennino and flautist and composer Carmine Coppola. His uncle was opera conductor and composer Anton Coppola. Francis is the brother of academic and author August Coppola and actress Talia Shire. With his wife, filmmaker, artist, and author Eleanor Coppola, he has three children, including filmmaker Roman Coppola and actress and director Sofia Coppola. His nephews are actors Nicolas Cage, Jason Schwartzman, and Robert Schwartzman.

Francis’s paternal grandfather was Agostino/August Nicola Coppola (the son of Carmine Coppola and Filomena Coppola). Agostino was from Bernalda, Province of Matera, Basilicata, Italy. The Coppola family owns a luxury resort in Bernalda.

Francis’s paternal grandmother was Maria/Mary Lillian Zasa (the daughter of Pancrazio Zasa and Antonia/Antoinette Montesano). Maria was born in Tunis, Tunisia, of Italian descent. Antonia was the daughter of Joseph Montesano and Carolina Mezzarone. Francis has said:

My father’s mother, Maria Zasa, was an Italian born in Tunisia, a French protectorate at the time. It was a treat to grow up with a grandmother who spoke English, Italian, Arabic and French. I remember the little French songs she would sing to us about the marionettes, and also her toast when she was about to sip a glass of wine. She would always say, ‘à votre santé’-to your health.

Francis’s maternal grandfather was named Francesco “Frank” Pennino. Francis’s grandfather Francesco was a composer, who was born, c. 1880, in Naples, Campania, Italy.

Francis’s maternal grandmother was named Anna Giaquinto.

Sources: Genealogy of Francis Ford Coppola – https://www.geni.com

Marriage record of Francis’s paternal grandparents, Agostino/August Nicola Coppola and Maria/Mary Lillian Zasa – https://www.familysearch.org

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