Francis Ford Coppola

Born in 1939 in Detroit, Francis Ford Coppola grew up in New York and is the son of Carmine Coppola a composer and Italia Coppola an actress. He graduated from the Hofstra University with a degree in drama and did graduate work at UCLA. Coppola's first feature film was Dementia 13 (1963). Coppola wrote an adaption of This Property is Condemned as well as screenplays for Is Paris Burning (1966) and Coppola's Academy Award winning Patton (1970). George Lucas and Francis Coppola formed American Zoetrope and their first project was THX 1138 (1971). In 1973 Coppola produced American Graffiti. This film received five Academy Awards.
Coppola won an Oscar for writing the screenplay and directing the Godfather (1972) which was also the highest grossing movie in history. He worked on the screenplay for The Great Gatsby (1974), The Conversation (1974), and The Godfather: Part II, another Oscar winning movie for Coppola. Academy Awards were won for Coppola for his film Apocalypse Now (1979) and he received acclaim for The Black Stallion (1979).
Coppola was influential in helping his nephew Nicolas Cage become a star and is known to cast family members in his movies. His sister Talia Shire was in the Godfather and his daughter Sofia Coppola was Michael's daughter Mary in the same film. Coppola married Eleanor Coppola in 1963; they have three children and are still married. Coppola enjoys his vineyard in Rutherford California and is known to make Rubicon wine.