I have heard that all my life, that Copeland named his restaurant after the French Connection guy and not the animated sailor.. but i was never sure of its veracity (?)
He reopened his restaurant as “Popeyes” — named for Gene Hackman’s hard-boiled police detective Popeye Doyle from the 1971 film The French Connection — and started serving the authentic New Orleans-style spicy chicken that is famous today.