Francis Ford Coppola by Manuel D. Mancilla

Early Life He was born on April 7, 1939 in Detroit, USA, but he grew up in a New York suburb His father, Carmine Coppola, was a composer and musician. His mother, Italia Coppola, had been an actress Was trained in music and became proficient on the tuba and won a musical scholarship to the New York Military Academy. Caught polio when he was a child. he practiced puppetry and made 8mm features edited from home movies while he was sick Graduated with a degree in drama from Hofstra University, and did graduate work at UCLA where he worked as an all purpose assistant to Roger Corman Married Eleanor Jessie Neil in 1963 and had 3 kids: Gian-Carlo Coppola (deceased), Roman Coppola, and Sofia Coppola

Early Career Became a training assistant for Roger Corman, Coppola worked as sound- man, dialogue director, associate producer under Corman. The first feature film Coppola directed was Dementia 13 (1963) a horror thriller which he directed with a $40,000 budget. The movie did well enough to earn back its budget and gained a cult following. During the next four years, Coppola was involved in a variety of script collaboration such as writing an adaptation of This Property is Condemned and screenplays for Is Paris Burning? (1966) and Patton(1970). Coppola won an Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay on Patton Collaborated with George Lucas’s THX1138 (1971), American Graffiti (1973) Lucas Directed and Coppola Produced on both films.

The Godfather Released in 1972 and starred Marlon Brando, Al Pacino and James Caan directed by Francis Ford Coppola and produced by Albert S. Ruddy. Based on Mario Puzo's 1969 novel of the same name. Became one of the highest-grossing movies in history $245,066,411 and won 3 Oscars: Best Actor in a Leading Role - Marlon Brando Best Picture Best Screenplay - Francis Ford Coppola PLOT: The aging founder of an organized crime dynasty transfers control of his clandestine empire to his reluctant son. Trailer

The Godfather Part II Released in 1974 and Starred Al Pacino, Robert De Niro and Robert Duvall. Francis Ford Coppola produced, directed, and co-wrote the film with Mario Puzo It won 6 Oscars, including: Best Director – Francis Ford Coppola Best Picture - Francis Ford Coppola Best Screenplay - Francis Ford Coppola PLOT: The early life and career of Vito Corleone in 1920s New York is portrayed while his son, Michael, expands and tightens his grip on his crime syndicate stretching from Lake Tahoe, Nevada to pre-revolution 1958 Cuba. Trailer

The Conversation Released in 1974 and starred Gene Hackman, John Cazale and Allen Garfield and produced and directed by Francis Ford Coppola The Conversation was nominated for 3 oscars but did not win any. (It lost Best Picture to The Godfather: Part II) PLOT: A paranoid and personally-secretive surveillance expert has a crisis of conscience when he suspects that a couple he is spying on will be murdered. Trailer

Apocalypse Now Released in 1979 and starred Martin Sheen, Marlon Brando and Robert Duvall, directed and produced by Francis Ford Coppola. Adaptation of Joseph Conrad's novel Heart of Darkness. Won 2 oscars for Best Cinematography and Best Sound. The film was shot in the Philippines which caused many problemS: (Martin Sheen suffered a heart attack, and extreme weather destroyed several expensive sets, Marlon Brando showed up overweight onset and the movie premier was postponed several times to complete post-production.) PLOT: During the on-going Vietnam War, Captain Willard is sent on a dangerous mission into Cambodia to assassinate a renegade Green Beret who has set himself up as a god among a local tribe. Trailer

The Godfather Part III Released in 1990, starred Al Pacino, Diane Keaton Andy Garcia and Sofia Coppola. Was directed and produced by Francis Ford Coppola. Although a financial success, Critics often consider it the weakest movie in the Godfather Trilogy. Coppola and Puzo originally wanted the title it The Death of Michael Corleone, as they considered the movie an epilogue and not part of The Godfather series. PLOT: In the midst of trying to legitimize his business dealings in 1979 New York and Italy, aging mafia Don Michael Corleone seeks to vow for his sins while taking a young protégé under his wing.

Film Style Frequently uses long tracking shots wide-angle shots that create a sense of scope and allow audiences to feel the magnitude of scenes Frequently casts Robert Duvall, the late John Cazale, Nicolas Cage (Coppola's Nephew), Diane Keaton, Al Pacino, Matt Dillon, Harrison Ford, Laurence Fishburne and Marlon Brando Coppola's films usually deal with the members, structures, dynamics, rules and rituals of families. The families in his films come in all shapes and sizes: those created by birth (The Godfather) social forces (The Outsiders), as well as those made from random circumstance (Apocalypse Now).

Trivia Coppola's daughter Sofia Coppola is involved in the film industry. Apart from acting, she's also a Director, her most notable film is Lost in Translation(2003) which won Sofia Coppola the oscar for Best Original Screenplay. Coppola's son Roman Coppola is also a director, He has directed mostly music videos for artists like Daft Punk, Green Day, and multiple videos for Phoenix and The Strokes Recently he has gone back to making independent films with his latest film being Tetro (2009) Coppola and George Lucas established American Zoetrope, an independent film production company in 1969 Coppola has collaborated with Akira Kurosawa, Coppola was executive producer for Kurosawa's Kagemusha (1980) Apart from collaborating with George Lucas on American Graffiti, both were executive producers for The Black Stallion (1979)

Awards Coppola has won many awards throughout his career including 3 Oscars Apart from Academy Awards Coppola has won: BAFTA Best Direction award for Apocalypse Now Palme d'Or from Cannes Film Festival for Apocalypse Now and The Conversation Coppola has also won Golden Globes for Apocalypse Now (Best Director and Best Original Score) and The Godfather (Best Director and Best Screenplay)

Quotes "My movie (Apocalypse Now) is not about Vietnam... my movie is Vietnam." "What the studios want now is "risk-free" films but with any sort of art you have to take risks." "The easiest way to make sure a movie is successful is to make a traditional movie very well. If you make a slightly unusual movie or [don't] exactly follow the rules as everyone sees them, then you get in trouble or, like with Apocalypse, wait 20 years to hear that was really good." "I just feel that at a certain point you have to go back to the beginning again. The best thing for me at this point in my life is to become a student again and make movies with the eyes I had when I was enthusiastic about it in the first place."