FRANCIS FORD COPPOLA
Name: Francis Ford Coppola
Born: 7 April 1939 Detroit, Michigan, U.S.
Francis Ford Coppola (born April 7, 1939) is a five-time Academy Award winning
American film director, producer, and screenwriter. Coppola is also a vintner,
magazine publisher, and hotelier. He earned an M.F.A. in film directing from the
UCLA Film School. He is most renowned for directing the highly regarded
Godfather trilogy, The Conversation, and the Vietnam War epic Apocalypse Now.
Francis Ford Coppola was born to Carmine Coppola (who, at the time, was the
first flautist for the Detroit Symphony Orchestra) and his wife, Italia, in
Detroit, Michigan, on April 7, 1939. He was the second of three children (his
sister is actress Talia Shire). Two years later, Carmine became the first
flautist for the NBC Symphony Orchestra and the family moved to New York City,
finding a home in Woodside, Queens, where Francis spent the remainder of his
childhood.
Coppola had poliomyelitis, or polio, as a boy, leaving him bedridden for large
periods of his childhood, and allowing him to indulge his imagination with
homemade puppet theater productions. Using his father's 8mm movie camera, he
began making movies when he was 10. He studied theatre at Hofstra University and
graduated from the University in 1960, prior to earning a Master of Fine Arts
degree in film direction from UCLA Film School. There, he made numerous short
films. While in UCLA's Film Department, Francis met Jim Morrison, whose music
was used later in Apocalypse Now.
Coppola often worked with family members on his films. He cast his two sons in
The Godfather as extras during the street fight scene and Don Corleone's funeral;
his daughter, Sofia Coppola, appeared in the first and third installments of the
series. His sister, Talia Shire, played Connie Corleone in all three Godfather
films. His father Carmine, a composer and professional musician, co-wrote much
of the music in The Godfather, The Godfather Part II, and Apocalypse Now. His
nephew, Nicholas Cage, starred in Coppola's film Peggy Sue Got Married and was
featured in Rumble Fish and The Cotton Club.
His eldest son, Gian-Carlo Coppola, was in the early stages of a film production
career when he was killed on May 26, 1986 in a speedboat accident. Coppola's
surviving son, Roman Coppola, is a filmmaker and music video director whose
filmography includes the feature film CQ and music videos for The Strokes, as
well as co-writing the Wes Anderson film The Darjeeling Limited.
Coppola's daughter, Sofia Coppola, is an Academy Award-winning writer and -nominated
director. Her films include the critically-acclaimed films The Virgin Suicides
and Lost in Translation. In 2004, she became the first American woman to be
nominated for the Academy Award for Best Director, for Lost in Translation.
Other famous members of Coppola's family include his nephews, Jason Schwartzman
and Robert Schwartzman. Jason Schwartzman has starred in several films, such as
Rushmore and Slackers. He also co-wrote (along with director Wes Anderson and
cousin Roman Coppola) and starred in the 2007 film The Darjeeling Limited. His
brother, Robert Schwartzman, is the lead singer in the band Rooney and has made
small appearances in several films, including his cousin's The Virgin Suicides.
In recent years, Coppola, with his family, has expanded his business ventures to
include winemaking in California's Napa Valley at the Rubicon Estate Winery in
Rutherford, California. His company, Francis Ford Coppola Presents, owns a
winery in Geyserville, Sonoma County, California. The company also produces a
line of pastas and pasta sauces, and it owns several cafes and resorts.
Name: Francis Ford Coppola
Born: 7 April 1939 Detroit, Michigan, U.S.
Francis Ford Coppola (born April 7, 1939) is a five-time Academy Award winning
American film director, producer, and screenwriter. Coppola is also a vintner,
magazine publisher, and hotelier. He earned an M.F.A. in film directing from the
UCLA Film School. He is most renowned for directing the highly regarded
Godfather trilogy, The Conversation, and the Vietnam War epic Apocalypse Now.
Francis Ford Coppola was born to Carmine Coppola (who, at the time, was the
first flautist for the Detroit Symphony Orchestra) and his wife, Italia, in
Detroit, Michigan, on April 7, 1939. He was the second of three children (his
sister is actress Talia Shire). Two years later, Carmine became the first
flautist for the NBC Symphony Orchestra and the family moved to New York City,
finding a home in Woodside, Queens, where Francis spent the remainder of his
childhood.
Coppola had poliomyelitis, or polio, as a boy, leaving him bedridden for large
periods of his childhood, and allowing him to indulge his imagination with
homemade puppet theater productions. Using his father's 8mm movie camera, he
began making movies when he was 10. He studied theatre at Hofstra University and
graduated from the University in 1960, prior to earning a Master of Fine Arts
degree in film direction from UCLA Film School. There, he made numerous short
films. While in UCLA's Film Department, Francis met Jim Morrison, whose music
was used later in Apocalypse Now.
Coppola often worked with family members on his films. He cast his two sons in
The Godfather as extras during the street fight scene and Don Corleone's funeral;
his daughter, Sofia Coppola, appeared in the first and third installments of the
series. His sister, Talia Shire, played Connie Corleone in all three Godfather
films. His father Carmine, a composer and professional musician, co-wrote much
of the music in The Godfather, The Godfather Part II, and Apocalypse Now. His
nephew, Nicholas Cage, starred in Coppola's film Peggy Sue Got Married and was
featured in Rumble Fish and The Cotton Club.
His eldest son, Gian-Carlo Coppola, was in the early stages of a film production
career when he was killed on May 26, 1986 in a speedboat accident. Coppola's
surviving son, Roman Coppola, is a filmmaker and music video director whose
filmography includes the feature film CQ and music videos for The Strokes, as
well as co-writing the Wes Anderson film The Darjeeling Limited.
Coppola's daughter, Sofia Coppola, is an Academy Award-winning writer and -nominated
director. Her films include the critically-acclaimed films The Virgin Suicides
and Lost in Translation. In 2004, she became the first American woman to be
nominated for the Academy Award for Best Director, for Lost in Translation.
Other famous members of Coppola's family include his nephews, Jason Schwartzman
and Robert Schwartzman. Jason Schwartzman has starred in several films, such as
Rushmore and Slackers. He also co-wrote (along with director Wes Anderson and
cousin Roman Coppola) and starred in the 2007 film The Darjeeling Limited. His
brother, Robert Schwartzman, is the lead singer in the band Rooney and has made
small appearances in several films, including his cousin's The Virgin Suicides.
In recent years, Coppola, with his family, has expanded his business ventures to
include winemaking in California's Napa Valley at the Rubicon Estate Winery in
Rutherford, California. His company, Francis Ford Coppola Presents, owns a
winery in Geyserville, Sonoma County, California. The company also produces a
line of pastas and pasta sauces, and it owns several cafes and resorts.