Profession:Filmmaker

Nationality:

Biography: Francis Ford Coppola is a hugely influential film director, producer and scriptwriter responsible for such films asThe Godfather trilogy and "Apocalypse Now".

Coppola, educated at UCLA film school, was part of the "New Hollywood" group of directors, along withGeorge Lucas andSteven Spielberg who came to the fore in the 1970s.

Coppola's first success came with "Patton" (1970) for which he won an Oscar for Best Original Screenplay. In 1972 he released "The Godfather" starringMarlon Brando. The film's depiction of an American mafia family won Coppola 3 Academy awards and is regularly ranked as one of the best films ever made.

Further success followed with "The Godfather Part II", often considered superior to its predecessor, and which help start the sequel trend in cinema. "Apocalyse Now" (1979) later followed and gained similar praise, however the film remains notorious for its arduous and controversial production.

Later films included "The Outsiders (1983), "The Godfather Part III" (1990) and "Bram Stoker's Dracula" (1992), but have not been as influential.

Born:April 7,1939
Birthplace: Detroit, Michigan, USA
Age:86 years old

Generation:Silent Generation
Chinese Zodiac:Rabbit
Star Sign:Aries

• 1972-03-15 "The Godfather," based on the book byMario Puzo, directed by Francis Ford Coppola, and starringMarlon Brando andAl Pacino, premieres in NYC (Academy Award for Best Picture 1973)
• 1973-01-28 30th Golden Globes:The Godfather,Marlon Brando and Liv Ullmann win
• 1973-03-27 45th Academy Awards: "The Godfather",Marlon Brando & Liza Minnelli win; Brando declines the Oscar for Best Actor to protest Hollywood’s portrayal of Native Americans in film, in a speech by activist Sacheen Littlefeather
• 1974-05-24 27th Cannes Film Festival: "The Conversation" directed by Francis Ford Coppola wins the Grand Prix du Festival International du Film
• 1974-12-20 "The Godfather Part II", directed by Francis Ford Coppola and starringAl Pacino andRobert De Niro, is released (Academy Awards Best Picture 1975)
• 1975-04-08 47th Academy Awards: "The Godfather Part II",Ellen Burstyn &Art Carney win
• 1979-05-24 32nd Cannes Film Festival: "Apocalypse Now" directed by Francis Ford Coppola and "Die Biechtrommel" directed by Volker Schlondorff jointly awarded the Palme d'Or
• 1979-08-15Apocalypse Now, directed by Francis Ford Coppola and starringMarlon Brando,Robert Duvall, andMartin Sheen, is released (Palme d'Or 1979)
• 1990-12-25 "The Godfather Part III" crime family film directed by Francis Ford Coppola and starringAl Pacino,Diane Keaton, and Andy Garcia opens nationally
• 2024-12-08 Kennedy Center Honors ceremony held for filmmaker Francis Ford Coppola, jazz musician Arturo Sandoval, singer-songwriter Bonnie Raitt, rock band The Grateful Dead, and Harlem's Apollo Theater, in Washington D.C.

• 1963-02-02 Filmmaker Francis Ford Coppola (23) weds documentary filmmaker Eleanor Jessie Neil (26) in Las Vegas, Nevada

• Sacheen Littlefeather, who gave Marlon Brando's Oscar rejection speech, dies at 75 -NPR

• Alain Delon
• Ben Stiller
• Cecil B. DeMille
• David Attenborough
• Harvey Weinstein
• Michael Landon