Biography
Talia Shire (born Talia Coppola) attended the Yale School of Drama and landed roles in several
Roger Corman films. The sister of filmmaker
Francis Ford Coppola, she benefited from her family connection when she was cast in
The Godfather (1972), launching her screen career in earnest. After receiving a Best Supporting Actress Oscar nomination for her performance in
The Godfather Part II (1974), Shire was cast by
Sylvester Stallone to play his girlfriend in the hit
Rocky (1976), for which she won the New York Film Critics Award and received a Best Actress Oscar nomination. Although Shire went on to appear in a number of films throughout the 1980s and '90s, her career primarily revolved around the eight films emerging from the original
Godfather and
Rocky movies. Divorced from composer
David Shire, she later married producer Jack Schwartzman; the two of them developed movie projects together, forming the TaliaFilm production company. The mother of actors
Jason Schwartzman and
Robert Schwartzman, Shire directed the film
One Night Stand in 1994. ~ All Movie Guide