Early life

Coppola was born in Los Angeles

Los Ángeles

Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...

, California

California

California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...

, the son of set decorator/artist Eleanor Coppola

Eleanor Coppola

Eleanor Coppola is the wife of the famed director Francis Ford Coppola.Coppola was born Eleanor Jessie Neil to an Irish-American family in Los Angeles. She met Francis Ford Coppola on the set of his directorial debut, Dementia 13 in 1962, where she was Assistant Art Director. They married a year...

 (née

Married and maiden names

A married name is the family name adopted by a person upon marriage. When a person assumes the family name of her spouse, the new name replaces the maiden name....

 Neil) and famed film director Francis Ford Coppola

Francis Ford Coppola

Francis Ford Coppola is an American film director, producer and screenwriter. He is widely acclaimed as one of Hollywood's most innovative and influential film directors...

. As the eldest Coppola sibling, he was older brother to Roman

Roman Coppola

Roman Coppola is an American film director and music video director.-Early life:Coppola was born in Neuilly-sur-Seine, France, the son of set decorator/artist Eleanor Coppola and Francis Ford Coppola. Coppola was born in the American Hospital in Neuilly-sur-Seine while his father was in Paris...

 and Sofia

Sofia Coppola

Sofia Carmina Coppola is an American screenwriter, film director, actress, and producer.In 2003 she received the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay for Lost in Translation, and became the third woman to be nominated for an Academy Award for Directing...

.

Career

Like his brother and sister, Gian-Carlo—known to his family and friends as Gio—often featured in his father's movies as background characters (The Godfather

The Godfather

The Godfather is a 1972 American epic crime film directed by Francis Ford Coppola, based on the 1969 novel by Mario Puzo. With a screenplay by Puzo, Coppola and an uncredited Robert Towne, the film stars Marlon Brando, Al Pacino, James Caan, Robert Duvall, Sterling Hayden, John Marley, Richard...

, The Conversation

The Conversation

The Conversation is a 1974 American psychological thriller film written, produced and directed by Francis Ford Coppola and starring Gene Hackman...

, Apocalypse Now Redux and Rumble Fish

Rumble Fish

Rumble Fish is a 1983 film directed by Francis Ford Coppola. It is based on the novel Rumble Fish by S.E. Hinton, who also co-wrote the screenplay....

), later acting as associate producer for Rumble Fish and The Outsiders

The Outsiders (film)

The Outsiders is a 1983 American drama film directed by Francis Ford Coppola, an adaptation of the novel The Outsiders by S. E. Hinton. The film was released in March 1983...

, and second unit director on The Cotton Club

The Cotton Club (film)

The Cotton Club is a 1984 crime-drama, centered on a famed Harlem jazz club of the 1930s, the Cotton Club.The movie was co-written and directed by Francis Ford Coppola, choreographed by Henry LeTang, and starred Richard Gere, Diane Lane, and Gregory Hines...

.

He also appeared with his brother Roman as the two sons of Robert Duvall

Robert Duvall

Robert Selden Duvall is an American actor and director. He has won an Academy Award, two Emmy Awards, four Golden Globe Awards and a BAFTA over the course of his career....

's Tom Hagen

Tom Hagen

Thomas "Tom" Feargal Hagen is a fictional character in the Godfather books and films. He was portrayed by Robert Duvall in the films. He is the informally adopted son of Don Vito Corleone and serves as the family lawyer and consigliere . Mild-mannered and soft-spoken, he often serves as a voice of...

 character, and they can be seen during the streetfight and Vito Corleone

Vito Corleone

Vito Andolini Corleone is a fictional character and the main character in Mario Puzo's novel The Godfather, as well as Francis Ford Coppola's The Godfather trilogy, where he was portrayed by Marlon Brando in The Godfather and by Robert De Niro in The Godfather Part II. Premiere Magazine listed Vito...

's funeral right behind Duvall and Al Pacino

Al Pacino

Alfredo James "Al" Pacino is an American film and stage actor and director. He is famous for playing mobsters, including Michael Corleone in The Godfather trilogy, Tony Montana in Scarface, Alphonse "Big Boy" Caprice in Dick Tracy and Carlito Brigante in Carlito's Way, though he has also appeared...

.

Death

Coppola was killed in a speedboating accident in May 1986 at the age of 22 in Annapolis, Maryland

Annapolis, Maryland

Annapolis is the capital of the U.S. state of Maryland, as well as the county seat of Anne Arundel County. It had a population of 38,394 at the 2010 census and is situated on the Chesapeake Bay at the mouth of the Severn River, south of Baltimore and about east of Washington, D.C. Annapolis is...

. Griffin O'Neal

Griffin O'Neal

-Early life:O'Neal was born in Los Angeles, California, the son of actor Ryan O'Neal and the late actress Joanna Cook Moore . He has one sister, Tatum, and two half brothers, Patrick and Redmond. His grandfather was novelist/screenwriter Charles "Blackie" O'Neal.-Films:Griffin O'Neal appeared in...

, who was piloting the boat, had attempted to pass between two slow-moving boats, failing to realize in his haste that both boats were connected by a towline. While O'Neal barely had time to duck, Coppola was struck and killed. At the time of the incident, O'Neal was being directed by Francis Ford Coppola in Gardens of Stone

Gardens of Stone

Gardens of Stone is a 1987 film by Francis Ford Coppola, based on the novel of the same title by Nicholas Proffitt.A drama, it stars James Caan, Anjelica Huston, James Earl Jones and D. B. Sweeney.-Plot:...

and was subsequently replaced. O'Neal was later charged with manslaughter over the accident. He ultimately pled guilty to the lesser charge of "negligent operation of a boat", was fined $200 and sentenced to 18 months probation in 1987. He eventually received an 18-day jail sentence for not performing 400 hours of community service as ordered.

At the time of his death, Coppola's fiancee, Jacqui de la Fontaine, was two months pregnant with their only daughter, Gian-Carla Coppola, (Gia) who was born on January 1, 1987. The now 24-year-old Gia was featured in the October 2011 issue of American Elle

Elle (magazine)

Elle is a worldwide magazine of French origin that focuses on women's fashion, beauty, health, and entertainment. Elle is also the world's largest fashion magazine. It was founded by Pierre Lazareff and his wife Hélène Gordon in 1945. The title, in French, means "she".-History:Elle was founded in...

magazine as a "fledgling director."

Francis Ford Coppola subsequently dedicated 1988's Tucker: The Man and His Dream

Tucker: The Man and His Dream

Tucker: The Man and His Dream is a 1988 biographical film directed by Francis Ford Coppola and starring Jeff Bridges. The film recounts the story of Preston Tucker and his attempt to produce and market the 1948 Tucker Sedan, which was met with scandal between the "Big Three automobile...

to Gio's memory due to his love of cars and for unwittingly inspiring the elder Coppola to revive the production of the long-gestating film and finishing it.

External links