Italia Pennino Coppola (; December 12, 1912 – January 21, 2004) was the matriarch of the Coppola family. She appeared in three non-speaking roles in Francis Ford Coppola's movies, '' One from the Heart'', '' The Godfather Part II'' and '' The Godfather Part III''. She was known for her Italian cooking and published a cookbook called ''Mama Coppola's Pasta Book''. Her nickname "Mammarella" is the name of her pasta and sauce line. Francis Ford Coppola named his 1998 Edizione Pennino zinfandel after her family’s name and Italian heritage. Her image has also appeared on the "Mammarella" pasta and sauce line, named after her and made by her son Francis.

Early life

Born in New York City, she was one of six children of Anna (

née A birth name is the name of a person given upon birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name, or the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a birth certificate or birth re ...

Giaquinto) (1879-?) and composer Francesco Pennino (1880-1952), both from Naples,

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

. Her father was a musician and composer of Italian songs, an importer of silent Italian films and a movie theater owner. She was born in an apartment over the family's Empire Theater in Brooklyn.

Coppola family matriarch

Italia Pennino Coppola was the wife of

Carmine Coppola Carmine Valentino Coppola (; June 11, 1910 – April 26, 1991) was an American composer, flautist, pianist, and songwriter who contributed original music to ''The Godfather'', ''The Godfather Part II'', ''Apocalypse Now'', '' The Outsiders'', a ...

and the mother of academic

August Coppola August Floyd Coppola (February 16, 1934 – October 27, 2009) was an American academic, author, film executive, and advocate for the arts. He was the brother of director Francis Ford Coppola and actress Talia Shire, and the father of actor Nicolas ...

, filmmaker

Francis Ford Coppola Francis Ford Coppola (; ; born April 7, 1939) is an American film director, producer, and screenwriter. He is considered one of the major figures of the New Hollywood filmmaking movement of the 1960s and 1970s. Coppola is the recipient of five ...

and actress

Talia Shire Talia Rose Shire (née Coppola; born April 25, 1946) is an American actress who played roles as Connie Corleone in ''The Godfather'' films and Adrian Balboa in the ''Rocky'' series. For her work in ''The Godfather Part II'' and ''Rocky'', Shire ...

, as well as the maternal grandmother of actors

Jason Schwartzman Jason Francesco Schwartzman (born June 26, 1980) is an American actor and musician. Schwartzman made his film debut in Wes Anderson's 1998 film '' Rushmore'', and has gone on to appear in six other Anderson films: '' The Darjeeling Limited'' ( ...

, Robert Carmine and writer Matthew Shire, and the paternal aunt of talent manager Anthony Pennino, and paternal grandmother of actors Nicolas Cage, Marc Coppola and directors Roman Coppola,

Christopher Coppola Christopher R. Coppola (born January 25, 1962) is an American film director and producer. Early life Coppola was born in Los Angeles County, California Los Angeles County, officially the County of Los Angeles, and sometimes abbreviated as ...

and Sofia Coppola. Under her maiden name, Pennino, Italia Coppola was a lyricist known for writing "Non ci Lasceremo Mai", Connie's wedding song from The Godfather, the Sicilian lyrics for "Ninna-Nanna A Michele", consisting of The Godfather Waltz and Michael's Theme, composed by Nino Rota and sung by Nino Palermo in ''The Godfather Part II'' soundtrack, "Come Back To Love (the Chief's Death)" from ''

Apocalypse Now ''Apocalypse Now'' is a 1979 American epic war film produced and directed by Francis Ford Coppola. The screenplay, co-written by Coppola, John Milius and Michael Herr, is loosely based on the 1899 novella '' Heart of Darkness'' by Joseph ...

'', and songs from Carmine Coppola themes from ''Napoleon'', ''

The Black Stallion The Black Stallion, known as the Black or Shêtân, is the title character from author Walter Farley's bestselling series about the Arab stallion and his young owner, Alec Ramsay. The series chronicles the story of a Sheikh's prized stallion a ...

,'' and '' The Outsiders''.

Death

Italia Pennino Coppola is buried in San Fernando Mission Cemetery alongside her husband.

Filmography

References

External links