Anton Coppola Anton Coppola Antonio Francesco Coppola (born March 21, 1917) is an American opera conductor and composer. He is the uncle of film director Francis Ford Coppola and actress Talia Shire, as well as the grand-uncle of Nicolas Cage, Sofia Coppola, Gian-Carlo Coppola, Jason Schwartzman and Robert Schwartzman, and is the younger brother of American composer and musician Carmine Coppola. Coppola started his career at the age of eight with the Metropolitan Opera Children's Chorus. At the age of 9 he was in the Met's debut of Turandot. He served as an army bandmaster during World War II, conductor at Radio
Francis Ford Coppola began filming "Apocalypse Now", an adaptation of Joseph Conrad's "Heart of Darkness" set in Cambodia during the Vietnam War (Coppola himself briefly appears as a TV news director). The production of the film was plagued by numerous problems, including typhoons, nervous breakdowns, the firing of Harvey Keitel, Martin Sheen's heart attack, extras from the Philippine military and half of the supplied helicopters leaving in the middle of scenes to go fight rebels and an unprepared Brando with a bloated appearance (which Coppola attempted to hide by shooting him in the shadows). It was delayed so often it was nicknamed "Apocalypse