August Coppola 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 father of actor Nicolas Cage. August Coppola was the son of composer and flutist Carmine Coppola (1910–1991) and Italia Pennino (1912–2004), a lyricist and matriarch of the Coppola family. His siblings are film director Francis Ford Coppola and actress Talia Shire; his uncle is composer Anton Coppola. August Coppola married German-American dancer Joy Vogelsang in 1960; they had three sons: Marc, Christopher, and Nicolas. Among his nieces and nephews are director Sofia Coppola
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