Francis Ford Coppola

Francis Ford Coppola ( KOH-pə-lə; born April 7, 1939) is an American filmmaker. One of the leading figures of the New Hollywood, Coppola is widely regarded as one of the greatest and most influential filmmakers in the history of cinema. He has received various accolades including five Academy Awards, a BAFTA Award, three Golden Globe Awards, and two Palmes d'Or, as well as nominations for two Emmy Awards and a Grammy Award. Coppola was also honored with the Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award in 2010, the Kennedy Center Honors in 2024, and the AFI Life Achievement Award in 2025. Four of his films have been inducted into the National Film Registry by the Library of Congress.

Coppola made his directorial debut with Dementia 13 (1963). He then directed You're a Big Boy Now (1966), Finian's Rainbow (1968), and The Rain People (1970). After co-writing Patton (1970)—for which he and Edmund H. North earned the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay—his reputation as a filmmaker was cemented with the release of The Godfather (1972) and The Godfather Part II (1974), which both earned Academy Awards for Best Picture, and the latter earned him Best Director. The films revolutionized the gangster genre. During that time, Coppola released the thriller The Conversation (1974), which received the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival.

Coppola's next film, the Vietnam War epic Apocalypse Now (1979), had a notoriously lengthy and strenuous production and also won the Palme d'Or, making Coppola one of only ten filmmakers to have won the award twice. He later directed films such as The Outsiders and Rumble Fish (both 1983), The Cotton Club (1984), Peggy Sue Got Married (1986), The Godfather Part III (1990), Bram Stoker's Dracula (1992), and The Rainmaker (1997). Coppola also produced American Graffiti (1973), The Black Stallion (1979), and The Secret Garden (1993). Dissatisfied with the studio system, he transitioned to independent and experimental filmmaking with Youth Without Youth (2007), Tetro (2009), Twixt (2011), and Megalopolis (2024).

Coppola's father Carmine was a composer whose music featured in his son's films. Many of his relatives have found success in film: his sister Talia Shire is an actress, his daughter Sofia is a director, his son Roman is a screenwriter and his nephews Jason Schwartzman and Nicolas Cage are actors. Coppola was accused of sexual misconduct in 2024, including facing a civil lawsuit in Georgia.