The mantra of The Godfather was "never go against the family."

Luckily that wasn't a problem for Francis Ford Coppola 's son Roman Coppola and daughter Sofia Coppola , who followed their Oscar-winning father into filmmaking, as did Francis' granddaughter Gia Coppola .

And the 85-year-old couldn't have scripted it any better.

In addition to always bringing his wife Eleanor Coppola and their kids with him on location, the winemaker also invited relatives to have what he called a "creative summer" every year at his Napa Valley estate.

"We used to do one-act plays or write songs," Francis—who reassured fans Aug. 5 that his trip to a hospital in Rome was for a routine procedure—told People in April 2025, "and that's what I think bred this appetite for artistic creation

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