FRANCIS FORD COPPOLA
Francis Ford Coppola
- (Francis Ford Coppola [top] with Marlon Brando on the set of The Godfather, 1971)
Biography
BIO
Francis Ford Coppola was born in Detroit, Michigan, in 1939. His father, Carmine Coppola (1910-1991), became principle flutist for the NBC Symphony Orchestra and the family moved to Queens, New York when Coppola was still a toddler. His father later acted in and provided music for several of Coppola’s films. His older brother August (1934-2009) was an academic and film executive, and his younger sister is the actress Talia Shire.
Coppola contracted polio as a child and was confined to his bed for long periods. He developed an interest in reading, puppet theatre, and making 8mm movies. Coppola graduated from Hofstra University with a degree in theatrical arts and continued his education at the UCLA Film School.
While in school, at the age of 20, Coppola was hired by American International Pictures in 1959 to re-edit and dub a Russian film for re-release in the U.S. By 1962, he had written, produced, and directed his first film for Premier Pictures, a small production house specializing in soft-core movies.
Coppola began to achieve some recognition as the writer and director of You’re a Big Boy Now (1966) for which Geraldine Page received her 4th Academy Award nomination. He then cemented his reputation as an up-and-coming screenwriter when he was awarded his first Oscar for Patton (1970) starring George C. Scott who insisted, as a prerequisite for taking the role, that the studio resurrect Coppola’s screenplay which had previously been rejected by studio heads.
In 1972, he wrote and directed The Godfather which received 11 Academy Award nominations, including another Oscar win for Coppola in the Best Writing category.
A year later, American Graffiti (1973) received 5 Academy Award nominations, including a Best Picture nod to Coppola as producer.
In 1974, both The Conversation and The Godfather: Part II received a combined total of 14 Academy Award nominations with Coppola taking home Oscars for Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Writing.
Apocalypse Now (1979), Coppola’s Vietnam War epic, and The Godfather: Part III (1990) both received Academy Award nominations for Best Picture and Best Director.
He received the Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award in 2011.
Coppola married Eleanor Neil in 1963 after meeting her on the set of one of his early films where she was employed as an assistant art director. The couple raised three children:
- Gian-Carlo Coppola (1963-1986), film writer, producer, and actor. He died in a boating accident;
- Roman Coppola, film writer, producer, director, and actor;
- Sophia Coppola, film writer, producer, director, and actress.
Coppola is involved in several other business ventures, including a few wineries in California and Oregon.
Additional Broadway stage history is available at: 
Additional biographical information is available at: 
Other Pictures
- (Francis Ford Coppola on the set of Apocalypse Now, 1978)
