James Cagney and his wife were loyal customers at our restaurant since the early ’70s. He was such a down to earth guy. He never conducted himself as an unapproachable celebrity. It wasn’t until we moved to this location that James Cagney and my father got very friendly. Mr. Cagney and his wife would usually come in on Sunday afternoons for quiet dinners in the back room. On more festive occasions when he had guests he would come in on a Saturday night with a group of people. Never would I have thought that in Poughkeepsie we would have such a revolving door of celebrities. But then again Poughkeepsie did get mentioned in the French Connection movie. Remember the quote “You picking your toes in Poughkeepsie?” Sheesh!
While writing this post I did some research on James Cagney. I found some peculiar similarities between Jimmy and my father. Cagney’s first job was on stage as a dancer making $55 dollars a week of which $40 of it was given to his mother. When my father and his brothers first came to America the money that they made was also sent home to their mother. In fact James Cagney bought his Stanfordville farm in 1954 the same year my father came to America. And if it could be a weirder coincidence James Cagney retired in 1961 to go back to his Stanfordville farm to raise Morgan horses the same year my father and his brothers opened up Coppola’s Restaurant.
As I have written on previous posts he brought in Martin Sheen and John Travolta to experience Coppola’s. I remember on one occasion he came with his best friend Ralph Bellamy. Ralph Bellamy was part of James Cagney’s acting friends who called themselves “The Irish Mafia.” I recognized Ralph Bellamy right away. Remember the film Trading Places with Eddie Murphy? I didn’t realize he was such a well known actor in his earlier years but seeing that movie Trading Places I recognized him right away. I did have a few words with Ralph Bellamy. He actually whispered in my ear!! I will never forget his words to me……..” Please give me the check!” Haha!!!
Liza Minelli was also a guest of James Cagney’s who also enjoyed Coppola’s Italian food. Whenever someone came into town to visit James Cagney he made sure they ate Coppola’s Italian food. I have so much more to tell you about James Cagney but I will put more in another post. Did you all know that he was friends with President Ronald Reagan and supported his campaign 1980 and 1984? President Reagan gave his eulogy when he died. Those ’80s were memorable years. We couldn’t wait for the weekends to see Jimmy Cagney and all his famous friends. March 31, 2011 was the 25th anniversary of Cagney’s death. As I gaze at our wall of celebrities I miss those years where Poughkeepsie was more than just a quote from the French Connection!