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Augustino Coppola was a gunsmith and friend of Salvatore Tessio.

Biography[]

Augustino was a gunsmith during the war, and he continued to work as something of a black market supplier, particularly to Tessio and Peter Clemenza. He had one son, Carmine, who often entertained his father by playing the flute while he worked.

It is possible that he was related to Anthony Coppola.

Behind the scenes[]

Augustino Coppola was Francis Ford Coppola's paternal grandfather, who was a "legal" gunsmith, with a son named Carmine.

Augustino Coppola, while not a musician himself, encouraged his large family to study music, and two of his sons, Anton and Carmine, went on to have careers in music. Augustino worked as a tool-and-die maker, and he could boast of building the first Vitaphone sound system for Warner Bros. In real life, Augustino Coppola was similarly approached by neighborhood toughs; he oiled their guns while little Carmine stood nearby. "Who's this?" the gunmen wanted to know. "It's all right", Augustino Coppola assured them. "That's my son. Don't worry. He is studying the flute." When Augustino had finished working on the guns, the men gave him money for Carmine's musical education.[1]

Notes and references[]

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