Francis Ford Coppola

February 3, 1997

Coppola has not only gained fame as a director, but as a producer and distributor for films from the likes of George Lucas, Akira Kurosawa and Wim Wenders. Born in Detroit on April 7, 1939, he entered UCLA's famed film school in 1960, earning his masters degree there. His first work as a director was on the low-budget, Roger Corman quickie Dementia 13 (1963). His subsequent work between 1963 and 1972 was mediocre at best. He received mixed reviews for his UCLA thesis project You're a Big Boy Now (1966), the bland musical Finian's Rainbow (1968) and the social drama The Rain People (1969). About the only time he found succes during that period was as a screenwriter. He won his first Oscar when he wrote the screenplay (in collaboration with Edmund North) for Patton.

1972 proved the turning point in an extremely rocky career. His gangster epic, The Godfather, earned him acclaim and wealth that has rarely been rivaled for a young filmaker. The 1970's were kind to Coppola (compared to the 80's and 90's). His work during those years include the second part in his Godfather trilogy (The Godfather, Part II (1974)), The Conversation (1974) and his crowning achievement Apocalypse Now (1979). It would take him 13 years to recover from the success of these films.

Such films as The Cotton Club (1984), Tucker (1988), One From the Heart (1982) and Gardens of Stone (1987) were remembered more as costly failures than for anything else. The 1990's started to seem promising for Coppola when he completed his famed trilogy with the erratic-but-elegant The Godfather, Part III (1990) and the lavish adaptation of Bram Stoker's Dracula (1992). However, Jack (1996) (a limp Robin Williams vehicle) seemed to show that Coppola's filmaking magic was dead and that he had forgotten how to make films with passion. Still, despite these minor problems in his career, he has helped filmakers in times of trouble (distribution wise) and influenced as many directors as Spielberg, Lucas and Scorsese have.

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