Francis Ford Coppola Is 87! See the Five-Time Oscar Winner's Life and Career in Photos
Francis Ford Coppola Is 87! See the Five-Time Oscar Winner's Life and Career in Photos
Brendan LeTue, April 7, 2026 at 10:30 AM UTC
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Francis Ford Coppola in 2025Credit: Jerod Harris/Getty
Francis Ford Coppola has left a lasting legacy on film in more ways than one.
The acclaimed director of The Godfather and its sequel, who celebrates his 87th birthday on April 7, 2026, began working in the industry in his early 20s. He's gone on to win two Palme d'Ors at the Cannes Film Festival and five Academy Awards throughout his six-decade career.
His famous family, the Coppolas, have spawned three generations of successful actors and filmmakers, including his daughter Sofia and nephews Nicolas Cage and Jason Schwartzman.
As he turns 87, see Coppola's life and legendary career in photos.
01 of 10
Francis Ford Coppola's Childhood
Francis Ford Coppola in 1967
Francis Ford Coppola was born on April 7, 1939, in Detroit to mom Italia and flautist father Carmine Coppola. He has an older brother, August (who died in 2009 at age 75), and a younger sister, actress Talia Shire.
He attended Hofstra University as a theater arts major, and his classmates included Lainie Kazan and James Caan, whom he later cast in several of his films.
02 of 10
Francis Ford Coppola's Marriage to Eleanor Coppola
Eleanor and Francis Ford CoppolaCredit: Ron Galella/Ron Galella Collection via Getty
He met his forever love, Eleanor Neil, on the set of his first directorial debut, 1963's Dementia 13, on which she worked as the assistant art director. They dated for several months before she found out she was pregnant, and they wed in 1963, welcoming son Gian-Carlo the same year.
They remained together until her death in April 2024 at age 87. Shortly after her death, Coppola posted a sweet photo of his late wife smiling over a bouquet. He also dedicated his most recent film, Megalopolis, to Eleanor when it premiered at Cannes in May 2024.
In an August 2024 interview with Rolling Stone, Coppola explained that she had been diagnosed with a noncancerous tumor in 2010.
03 of 10
Francis Ford Coppola Directs 'The Godfather'
Marlon Brando and Francis Ford CoppolaCredit: Anthony Pescatore/NY Daily News via Getty
The Godfather, starring Caan, Al Pacino and Marlon Brando as the Corleone mafia family, cemented Coppola's directing and screenwriting ability. The 1972 film became the highest grossing of the year, as well as one of the most acclaimed. At the Oscars, it took home Best Picture, Best Actor for Brando and Best Adapted Screenplay for Coppola and Mario Puzo.
04 of 10
Francis Ford Coppola Directs 'The Godfather Part II'
Francis Ford Coppola and Robert De NiroCredit: Michael Ochs Archive/Getty
A follow-up to The Godfather arrived two years later, featuring another star-studded cast with Pacino, Robert Duvall, Diane Keaton, Robert De Niro, Coppola's younger sister Talia and more. It achieved similar critical success at the Oscars, becoming the first sequel to win Best Picture and winning De Niro a trophy for Best Supporting Actor.
05 of 10
Francis Ford Coppola Wins Big
Francis Ford Coppola in 1975Credit: Michael Montfort/Michael Ochs Archives/Getty
At the 1975 Oscars, he went home with three trophies: Best Picture, Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Director.
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"To do a sequel to The Godfather is a sure-fire way to fail and blow everything I was lucky enough to get up to that point," he said in his acceptance speech for Best Director. "Then I went home, and I thought about it. I realized that because maybe it was such an easy way to fail, [that] was probably the best reason to try to tackle what seems to be so impossible."
06 of 10
Francis Ford Coppola's Three Kids
Francis Ford Coppola, Roman Coppola, Sofia Coppola and Gian-Carlo CoppolaCredit: NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal via Getty
With Eleanor, Coppola raised three children: Gian-Carlo, born in 1963, Roman, born in 1965, and Sofia, born in 1971.
In 1986, at the age of 22, Gian-Carlo tragically died in a speedboating accident, and Coppola dedicated his next picture, Tucker: The Man and His Dream, to his late son.
Roman and Sofia have followed in their father's footsteps to become filmmakers: Roman has collaborated on several projects with Wes Anderson and Sofia became the third woman ever to receive a nomination for Best Director for 2003's Lost in Translation.
07 of 10
Francis Ford Coppola Directs 'Apocalypse Now'
Francis Ford CoppolaCredit: Caterine Milinaire/Sygma via Getty
The 1979 epic war film Apocalypse Now, starring Brando, Duvall and Martin Sheen, won Coppola his second Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival. Although it was released to mixed reviews, the film has since become recognized as one of the best movies depicting the Vietnam War. It also earned Coppola another Best Director nomination, along with seven more Oscar nods.
08 of 10
Francis Ford Coppola Directs 'Bram Stoker's Dracula'
Francis Ford Coppola and Anthony HopkinsCredit: Zoetrope/Columbia Tri-Star/Kobal/Shutterstock
He directed Gary Oldman, Winona Ryder, Sir Anthony Hopkins and Keanu Reeves in the 1992 horror Bram Stoker's Dracula. Oldman plays the titular vampire, who falls in love with Ryder's Mina Murray.
09 of 10
Francis Ford Coppola as a Grandfather
Pascale Coppola, Francis Ford Coppola and Romy MarsCredit: ZOULERAH NORDDINE/AFP via Getty
Gian-Carlo's fiancée Jacqui de la Fontaine was two months pregnant at the time of his death, and she gave birth to Coppola's first granddaughter, Gia, on Jan. 1, 1987.
Through Roman, he has two granddaughters, Pascale and Venice, and a grandson, Marcello. Sofia welcomed her daughters Romy and Cosima with husband Thomas Mars in 2006 and 2010, respectively.
Despite his influential filmography, Coppola has said that his main legacy is through lineage.
"My kids, they are my real legacy. My children all know that the secret of making art is to make it personal,” he told Crain Currency in 2024. “You know a Sofia Coppola film even without knowing her name is on it. It doesn’t change my legacy."
10 of 10
Francis Ford Coppola Directs 'Megalopolis'
Francis Ford Coppola and Adam DriverCredit: Phil Caruso/Lionsgate
Nearly five decades after Coppola first came up with the idea for Megalopolis, he premiered the ambitious film at Cannes in May 2024, releasing it in theaters later that September. Adam Driver portrays architect Cesar Catilina, who clashes with corrupt Mayor Franklyn Cicero (played by Giancarlo Esposito) in a modern retelling of the fall of Rome.
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