Talia Shire (/tli ar/; produced April 25, 1946) is an American actress most known for her characters as Connie Corleone in “The Godfather” movies and Adrian Balboa in the “Rocky” show. Shire was born Talia Rose Coppola in Lake Success, Ny, the daughter of Italia (ne Pennino) and arranger/composer Carmine Coppola. She’s three kids. Her son Matthew Orlando Shire is the kid of her first marriage to composer David Shire. Shire first became well-known for her part of Connie Corleone in The Godfather and its own sequels. Afterwards, she impersonated Adrian Pennino Balboa, the girlfriend (and later wife) of Rocky Balboa in the Rocky films. She also starred in such movies as I Huckabees, Kiss the Bride and 2007’s Homo Erectus.
Academy Award for Best Actress, Academy Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role, Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture – Drama, National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Supporting Actress, Tony Award for Best Play
Movies
Rocky, Rocky II, Rocky IV, Rocky III, The Godfather, Rocky V, The Godfather Part II, The Godfather Part III, I Heart Huckabees, Looking for Palladin, New York Stories, Kiss the Bride, Rad, Gas-s-s-s, The Dunwich Horror, The Landlady, Dim Sum Funeral, Old Boyfriends, Rich Man, Poor Man, The Return of...
Star Sign
Taurus
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Quote
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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.
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[on her famous brother, Francis Ford Coppola] He's the best director in the world - period.
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Fact
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Her 1986 BMX film, RAD 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.
2
In the original script for The Godfather: Part II (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.
As of 2014, has appeared in four films that were nominated for the Best Picture Oscar: The Godfather (1972), The Godfather: Part II (1974), Rocky (1976) and The Godfather: Part III (1990), with the latter being the only film to not win in the category.
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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.
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Played the girlfriend of a poor boxer twice in 1976: With Nick Nolte in the TV miniseries "Rich Man, Poor Man" and with Sylvester Stallone in "Rocky.".
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Granddaughter of Francesco Pennino. Her character in Rocky (1976), Adrian Pennino, was named after him.
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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.
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Like her character Connie Corleone in the Godfather saga, she too is the youngest member of her family and the only daughter.