Overview (4)

Mini Bio (1)

Talia Shire was born on April 25, 1946 in Lake Success, Long Island, New York, USA as Talia Rose Coppola. She is an actress, known for Rocky (1976), Der Pate (1972) and Der Pate 2 (1974). She was previously married to Jack Schwartzman and David Shire.



Spouse (2)

Trivia (27)



Takes name from a previous marriage to composer David Shire



Is in many movies with Rocky co-star Burt Young and the two are good friends.

She is of Italian descent.





She is the only person to be directed to an Oscar nomination by a sibling. Her brother Francis Ford Coppola directed her in Der Pate 2 (1974).

Like her character Connie Corleone in the Godfather saga, she too is the youngest member of her family and the only daughter.



Her two most famous characters, Connie Corleone and Adrian Balboa, changed drastically during their respective franchises ("The Godfather" and "Rocky"). In "The Godfather" saga, her character Connie went from being an innocent, dutiful wife who suffered from abuse to being a strong willed, powerful woman who took an active part in the family business and championed nephew Vincent to become Don. In the "Rocky" franchise, her character Adrian went from being a shy, timid, quiet girl to being a strong woman who often gave her husband the support and extra strength he needed to go the distance and overcome his opponents.





Granddaughter of Francesco Pennino . Her character in Rocky (1976), Adrian Pennino, was named after him.



Was the first family member of Francis Ford Coppola to play a part in the Godfather series, and she set a trend that the others followed: all of their characters had the same relationship to Michael Corleone in the films, that they had to Coppola in real life. Talia, as Francis' sister, played Michael's sister. Her mother Italia Coppola played Michael's mother - although only at the character's funeral. Her niece, and Francis' daughter, Sofia Coppola , played Michael's daughter and Connie Corleone's niece. Diane Keaton , who played Michael's wife, has also said that she based her performance as Kay on Eleanor Coppola , Francis' wife.



In the original script for Der Pate 2 (1974), Kay ( Diane Keaton ) was truly to have suffered a miscarriage. When Talia read it, she suggested to Francis Ford Coppola that Kay should have an abortion instead. Coppola agreed that this would hurt Michael much more, and he changed the script accordingly. As a thank you to Talia, he wrote for her the scene in which a tearful Connie begs Michael to forgive Fredo. She ended up being nominated for Best Supporting Actress for the film.



Her 1986 BMX film, Rad (1986), received negative reviews while in theaters, but quickly found a following and became a top-ten video rental for two years after the movie's release. It has since become a cult classic. Talia Shire's husband, Jack Schwartzman , was a producer of the film and she currently owns the rights to it. She refuses to release them, therefore, the movie can't be re-released or be put on DVD for all the fans.



Returned to work four months after giving birth to her son Matt Shire to begin filming Rocky (1976).



She has appeared in three films that have been selected for the National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically or aesthetically" significant: Der Pate (1972), Der Pate 2 (1974) and Rocky (1976).

To help conquer her shyness she persuaded her family to send her to Yale Drama School in 1966. She then moved to Hollywood and did several films for Roger Corman. Her break came with the part of Connie Corleone in 'The Godfather, repeating the role in The Godfather 2.





Alumna of Stella Adler Studio of Acting.

Personal Quotes (2)



[on her famous brother, Francis Ford Coppola ] He's the best director in the world - period.

I have a feeling when I'm 80 years old I'm going to get a phone call: There's going to be another Rocky.

