Simonetta Stefanelli (Italian pronunciation: [simoˈnetta stefaˈnɛlli]; born 30 November 1954) is an Italian entrepreneur, fashion designer and retired actress. Internationally, she is best known for her performance as Apollonia Vitelli-Corleone in the 1972 film The Godfather, directed by Francis Ford Coppola.
After their love story unraveled on screen, Michael was left devastated when Apollonia was killed by a car bomb that was initially intended for him. Soon after the fatal attack, orchestrated by bodyguard Fabrizio, Michael returned to the U.S. completely heartbroken over his wife's death.
Michael has become a true Corleone (embracing both Italian culture and mob affiliation), and his marriage to Apollonia signifies Michael's official acceptance of this change and what it means for his future. When Michael marries Apollonia, he is wedding himself not just to her, but to Sicily and his father's values.
Kay did not know. In the Movie, Michael tracks Kay down after he has been back for several years. In the movie Kay does not know. In the book Kay does not know.
Katherine "Kay" Michelson (née Adams), formerly Kay Corleone, was the long-term girlfriend, then second wife, of Michael Corleone. She is a schoolteacher by profession and the mother of Anthony and Mary Corleone.
Michael has become a true Corleone (embracing both Italian culture and mob affiliation), and his marriage to Apollonia signifies Michael's official acceptance of this change and what it means for his future.
Michael married Appolonia because he was passionately in love with her. As the Sicilians say, he had been “struck by the thunderbolt.” She also represented redemption to him. A chance to redeem himself with a fresh start in a new and loving marriage!
By The Godfather Part II, Kay has decided that Michael is a cold, distant, inattentive husband and father, but only after an attempt is made on his life in the family home does she resolve to rebel against him.
The Godfather's Michael Corleone may have loved many things, but his first wife Apollonia wasn't one of them. The pair were wed in Sicily in the mid-stages of the groundbreaking 1972 Francis Ford Coppola film, not long after Michael took refuge there after murdering police captain McCluskey and Virgil Sollozzo.
Michael and Kay tour Sicily together, during which Michael asks for Kay's forgiveness. Kay admits she will always love him, and they begin to rekindle their relationship.
Al Pacino said that Michael loved Kay from the beginning. Remember that Mario's character of Michael was a man who had dreams and I do not ever want to dismiss this important deep aspect of Michael.
In the novel she was at least 1 month pregnant and in the movie it was not clear. She is seen but there is no clear way to tell. In the first Godfather film, why did Michael threaten Apollonia's father with death when he refused to allow him to meet her, then after being threatened, smiled and agreed to it?
At the Long Beach Causeway toll plaza, Barzini's men trap Sonny and shoot him to death. During a meeting with the other crime family dons to establish peace, Vito realizes that Barzini masterminded Sonny's murder. After Michael returns from Sicily, he assumes Sonny's place as Vito's heir apparent.
After Sonny's death, Don Corleone agrees to lend his political protection to the enterprise and forgive the other families for having his son killed. Although it initially appears that Don Philip Tattaglia is responsible for organizing the anti-Corleone alliance, Vito soon realizes that Barzini is the true mastermind.
The same year, Stefanelli landed her breakout role as the innocent Apollonia Vitelli-Corleone, the beautiful but doomed first wife of Michael Corleone (Al Pacino) in the American crime film The Godfather, directed by Francis Ford Coppola.
According to The Godfather Part III, Hagen has already died before the time frame of the film, which is 1979–1980. There is no specific indication in the film as to when or how he died, except that it was prior to his son, Andrew (John Savage), being ordained a Roman Catholic priest.
The marriage, however, has made Michael's presence there known to the Corleone Family's enemies. Necessary precaution restricts the couple inside the villa's walls, but Michael relishes his days as a newlywed and spends the time teaching Apollonia English and instructing her to drive a car.
Brando, who was only 47 at the time, underwent a transformation with the help of prosthetics, makeup, and a wig to make him appear older and burdened as the head of a crime family.
The Godfather. Born in 1925, Connie is the youngest child and only daughter of Mafia don Vito Corleone and his wife Carmela. She is the sister of Sonny, Fredo and Michael Corleone and adoptive sister of Tom. In 1945, she marries Sonny's friend Carlo Rizzi.
He then flees to Sicily, where he falls in love with Simonetta Stefanelli's Apollonia. Tragically, she's later killed in a car bomb planted by Michael's bodyguard Fabrizio (Angelo Infanti), who betrayed him to his enemies. While Michael gets revenge on those who ordered the hit, Fabrizio is never seen again.
Vincent is the illegitimate son of Sonny Corleone and his mistress Lucy Mancini. He eventually succeeds his uncle Michael as head of the Corleone family.
However, when his father is nearly assassinated in late 1945, he is thrust back into the world he has avoided for so long. Reaffirming his loyalty at his father's bedside, Michael volunteers to kill both the men responsible: the drug kingpin Virgil Sollozzo and corrupt police captain Mark McCluskey.
My friend and I were rewatching 1 last night, laughing about how in the movie Apollonia was probably 15 and Michael was 25, so then we googled and - she was 16/17 during filming.
In the late summer of 1948, Sonny Corleone was lured into a trap and was killed at the Jones Beach Causeway by Barzini family hitmen in order to avenge Carlo. The hit was engineered by Emilio Barzini after Carlo, angered at the loss of his income and at the fact that Sonny had beaten him, helped set it up.
Michael has spent four years in Sicily to avoid prosecution for his murder of a high-ranking New York City police officer. After the murders of his wife Apollonia and his brother Sonny, he is eager to return home to his family in New York.
