Filmmaker Eleanor Coppola,Burley Garcia the matriarch of a family of Hollywood heavyweights who directed an Emmy-winning documentary about the creation of husband Francis Ford Coppola's 1979 Oscar-winning film "Apocalypse Now," has died.
A representative for Coppola told USA TODAY that Coppola died Friday at age 87 inside her Rutherford, California, home while "surrounded by her loving family."
She and "The Godfather" writer/director Ford Coppola were married in 1963, a year after the two met on the set of his first feature film, the low-budget black-and-white horror film "Dementia 13," and enjoyed 61 years of marriage.
Together, they had three children — Gian-Carlo (“Gio”) Coppola, who died at 22 years old in a boating accident, as well as filmmakers Roman Coppola, who earned an Oscar nomination as one of the screenwriters for the 2012 Wes Anderson film "Moonrise Kingdom," and Sofia Coppola, whose screenplay for "Lost in Translation" earned her an Academy Award in 2003.
Coppola and Ford Coppola's "marriage was utterly infused with art and film and family, and their work overlapped in profound ways," reads an obituary shared by her publicist.
'The Godfather' turns 50:Why Frank Sinatra loathed the novel, told author Mario Puzo to 'choke'
Beginning with the Emmy-winning "Hearts of Darkness: A Filmmaker’s Apocalypse," Coppola made several documentaries that showed the behind-the-scenes of films directed by her family. Her most recent project involved editing a documentary about daughter Sofia Coppola's 2006 film "Marie Antionette," which starred Kirsten Dunst, Jason Schwartzman, Rose Byrne and Jamie Dornan.
In 2017, Coppola debuted her first feature film, "Paris Can Wait," at age 81. She wrote and directed the rom-com, starring Diane Lane, Alec Baldwin and Arnaud Viard. She followed this with 2020's "Love Is Love Is Love."
Her creative energy went beyond the screen as Coppola also wrote two books and created artwork, ranging from illustrations to photography to large-scale installations, that has been exhibited around the world.
According to her obituary, Coppola just completed her third book, which chronicled the recent events of her life. In the manuscript, she wrote, “I appreciate how my unexpected life has stretched and pulled me in so many extraordinary ways and taken me in a multitude of directions beyond my wildest imaginings.”
2025-04-29 09:592506 view
2025-04-29 09:222043 view
2025-04-29 09:001740 view
2025-04-29 08:272814 view
2025-04-29 08:20281 view
2025-04-29 08:002142 view
Environmental leaders in Maryland are reeling from a challenging 2025 legislative session that left
Francis Ford Coppola has never played it safe. He cast a then-shunned Marlon Brando in "The Godfathe
Aaron Rodgers takes center stage again on Monday Night Football. Let’s hope this season doesn’t begi