Francis Ford Coppola

Director

1 title

Date of Birth: 1939-04-07 (age 87)
Nationality: United States
Place of birth: Detroit, Michigan, USA

Awards:

He co-authored the script for Patton, winning the Academy Award in 1970. It went on to win three Academy Awards, including his second, which he won for Best Adapted Screenplay, and it was instrumental in cementing his position as one of the prominent American film directors. Coppola followed it with an equally successful sequel The Godfather Part II, which became the first ever sequel to win the Academy Award for Best Picture. The film received yet higher praises than its predecessor, and gave him three Academy Awards—for Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Director and Best Picture. The film went on to win the Palme d'Or at the 1974 Cannes Film Festival. It won his second Palme d'Or at the 1979 Cannes Film Festival.

Mini Bio

Francis Ford Coppola (born April 7, 1939) is an American filmmaker. He is widely acclaimed as one of Hollywood's most celebrated and influential film directors. He epitomized the group of filmmakers known as the New Hollywood, which included George Lucas, Martin Scorsese, Robert Altman, Woody Allen and William Friedkin, who emerged in the early 1970s with unconventional ideas that challenged contemporary filmmaking. His directorial fame escalated with the release of The Godfather in 1972. The film revolutionized movie-making in the gangster genre, garnering universal laurels from critics and public alike. In the same year was released The Conversation, which he directed, produced and wrote. His next directorial venture was Apocalypse Now in 1979, and it was as notorious for its lengthy and troubled production as it was critically acclaimed for its vivid and stark depiction of the Vietnam War. Although some of Coppola's ventures in the 1980s and early 1990s were critically lauded, Coppola's later work has not met the same level of critical and commercial success as his '70s films.

Backstage

Made a commercial for Suntory whiskey with legendary Japanese director Akira Kurosawa in the 1970s, an event which later influenced a salient plot point in his daughter Sofia's movie, Lost in Translation (2003).
George Lucas said that he based the character Han Solo from the original Star Wars trilogy on Coppola.
As a child, his bedroom was covered with pictures of his favorite film star, Jane Powell. When he discovered she had married Geary Steffin, he tore them all down.
He is among an elite group of seven directors who have won Best Picture, Best Director and Best Screenplay (Original/Adapted) for the same film. In 1975, he won all three for The Godfather Part II (1974). The others are Leo McCarey, Billy Wilder, James L. Brooks, Peter Jackson Joel Coen and Ethan Coen and Alejandro G. Iñárritu.
There are three generations of Oscar winners in the Coppola family: Francis, his father Carmine Coppola, his nephew Nicolas Cage and his daughter Sofia Coppola. They are the second family to do so, the first family is the Hustons - Anjelica Huston, John Huston and Walter Huston.
In 1971 and 1973, George C. Scott and Marlon Brando refused their respective Best Actor awards for Patton (1970) and The Godfather (1972) \- both written by Coppola.
Says his greatest directorial influence is Elia Kazan.
Uncle of Nicolas Cage, Christopher Coppola, Marc Coppola, Robert Schwartzman, Jason Schwartzman, John Schwartzman, Matthew Shire and Stephanie Schwartzman.
Won five Oscars in four years - one in 1971 for Patton (1970), one in 1973 for The Godfather (1972), and three in 1975 for The Godfather Part II (1974).
He, George Lucas and Steven Spielberg presented Martin Scorsese with his first ever Oscar for Best Director for The Departed (2006). All four directors were part of the "New Hollywood" movement in the 1960s and 1970s.

Movies

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