Film
Francis Ford Coppola
Director of The Godfather and Apocalypse Now
Born 1939
Photo: The White House · Public domain
Francis Ford Coppola directed The Godfather, its sequel and Apocalypse Now within a single decade, three films routinely listed among the greatest ever made. He won five Academy Awards and repeatedly risked his own money to keep his films alive.
Key achievements
- Directed The Godfather and Apocalypse Now
- Five Academy Awards for writing, directing and producing
- Won the Samuel Goldwyn Writing Award as a UCLA student
Universities
Los Angeles, California
Took a master of fine arts in film at the UCLA Film School, submitting a feature he had already directed as his thesis.
Facts
- He contracted polio as a child and spent a year largely immobile, inventing puppet shows and a home cinema to entertain himself.
- The studio wanted a different director, a different Michael and no Marlon Brando; he fought for all three and was nearly fired several times.
- He mortgaged his own property to finish Apocalypse Now, a shoot disrupted by a typhoon and his lead actor's heart attack.
Photographs
Photographs come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences; the author and licence are shown on each image.