American film director and producer. He burst into the limelight in 1972 as a young director with his five time Academy Award winning film “The Godfather.”
The son of Italian immigrants, Coppola’s father Carmine was a flutist for Toscanini’s ABC Symphony Orchestra. His mother Italia had been an actress whose own father was a playwright and songwriter. Coppola’s younger sister, Talia (Shire) went on to win critical acclaim for her roles as Sylvester Stallone’s wife in the “Rocky” films. Their older brother August, is father to Oscar-winning actor, Nicolas Cage. At age nine, Coppola contracted polio and spent a year in bed.
In 1962 he married artist Eleanor Neil. Together they had 3 children; Gian Carlo, Roman and daughter Sofia who had an acting part in “The Godfather II”. Both his sons worked as production assistants, Gian Carlo was also one of the film editors for his father’s movie “Gardens of Stone”. It was during this time in 1986 that 22-year old Gian Carlo was killed in a motorboat accident piloted by actor Ryan O’Neal’s son, Griffin, who was charged with manslaughter but later acquitted. His daughter, Sofia, made her directing debut in 2000.
In 1962, Coppola won a script-writing award from movie mogul Sam Goldwyn. He also went on to earn a masters degree in cinema in 1968 from UCLA. In 1969 he founded his San Francisco-based film company , American Zoetrope. His first commercial break came in 1972 as a writer-director as well as co-producer to the film “The Godfather.” At 36, he created a film that earned $285 million and became a legend as one of Hollywood’s greatest films. He personally made almost $7 million in addition to winning an Academy Award for directing the sequel in 1974.
In the 1970’s, he used his profits from the first two “Godfather” films to become a one-man impresario. He bought a magazine, a radio station, a restaurant, an office building and part of a movie art-house chain. Most of these enterprises were sold to pay off his increasing debts. It has been said that “The Godfather II” may not have been made had it not been for debts that needed to be paid. In 1990, “The Godfather III” was made largely for the same reason.
In 1982, Coppola found himself heavily in debt and lost his 23-acre Zoetrope studio to creditors after its first film-flop, “One From the Heart.” His career had been on a roller coaster ride and was plagued by various business problems and bad investments, forcing him into US bankruptcy court three times in one decade. Although he had made seven movies in the 1980’s, his finances were in shambles by early 1989.
His musician-composer father went on to win an Academy Award in 1974 for scoring the soundtrack on “The Godfather II.” In 1979, Coppola directed the over-budget “Apocalypse Now.” He also collaborated with his son on the film, “The Outsiders” in 1983. The same year, he directed “Rumblefish.” Other films included “The Cotton Club,” 1984, “Peggy Sue Got Married,” 1985 and in 1991, “Bram Stoker’s Dracula” which grossed over $200 million worldwide.
In early 1998, jurors awarded Coppola $20 million as compensation for losing the film project, “Pinocchio.” This was the largest civil verdict ever against a Hollywood studio. The Los Angeles jury awarded him $60 million in punitive damages on top of the $20 million, stemming from his charges that Warner Brothers sabotaged his intended version.
Coppola’s strength lies in the fact that he sees himself as a character in his films. He possesses a willingness to risk it all for his worth.
Link to Wikipedia biography