Eleanor Coppola, wife of the director and author of the trilogy "The Godfather" Francis Ford Coppola, died at the age of 87, reported the agency Associated Press, citing information from the family.
She is reported to have died on Friday at her home in California. The cause of death has not been specified.
Eleanor Coppola documents the making of some of her husband's iconic films.
Eleanor, who grew up in Orange County, California, met Francis while working as an assistant art director on his directorial debut, the Roger Corman-produced 1963 horror film “Dementia 13”. She studied design at UCLA. Months after meeting Eleanor became pregnant and the couple married in Las Vegas in February 1963.
Their firstborn, Gian-Carlo, quickly became a regular in his father's films, as did their subsequent children, Roman (born 1965) and Sofia (born 1971). After appearing in their father's films and growing up on the set, they all became actors in other films as well.
Gian-Carlo, who was seen in the background in many of his father's films, died at the age of 22 in a boating accident in 1986. The boat was operated by Griffin O'Neill, son of Ryan O& #39;Neil who was found guilty of negligence.
Roman has directed several of his own films and regularly collaborates with Wes Anderson. He is president of his father's San Francisco-based film company, American Zoetrope.
Sofia became one of the most acclaimed directors of her generation as a screenwriter and director of films including “Lost in Translation” and "Priscilla" released in 2023. Sofia dedicated this film to her mother.
Joining the family business, Coppola's children follow in not only their father's footsteps, but also their mother's. Starting with “Apocalypse Now” since 1979, Eleanor has frequently documented the behind-the-scenes life of Francis' films. The pictures of "Apocalypse Now" in the Philippines it lasts 238 days. Typhoon destroys sets. Martin Sheen has a heart attack. A member of the construction team also died.
Eleanor documented much of the chaos in what would become one of the most famous films about filmmaking, “Hearts of Darkness: The Director's Apocalypse” since 1991
„I was just trying to occupy myself with something because we had been there so long,” Eleanor told CNN in 1991. “They wanted five minutes for a TV commercial or something. I just kept shooting, but I had no idea... “, continued Eleanor, who ended up shooting 60 hours of footage. “So it was a surprise for both of us and a life-changing experience.“
Eleanor also published “Notes: on the Making of “Apocalypse Now““ in 1979. While the film focuses on the turmoil on set, the book chronicles some of Eleanor's inner turmoil, including the challenges of being married to a larger-than-life figure. She writes that she was “a woman isolated from her friends, her affairs and her projects” during their year in Manila. She also openly discusses Francis having an extramarital affair.
„There is a part of me that was waiting for Frances to leave me or die so I could make my life the way I want it,” writes Eleanor.
However, they remain together throughout her life. And Eleanor continues to look for creative outlets for herself. Documented several more of her husband's films as well as "CQ" of Roman and "Marie Antoinette" of Sofia. She wrote a memoir in 2008 - “Notes of a Life“.
In 2016, at the age of 80, Eleanor made her directorial debut in Paris Can Wait, a romantic comedy starring Diane Lane. And repeats this with “Love is love“ in 2020. Initially, Eleanor only set out to write the script for “Paris Can Wait”.
„One morning at the breakfast table, my husband said, “Well, you should direct it”. I was completely shocked,'' Eleanor told the AP. “But I said “Well, I’ve never written a screenplay before and I’ve never directed, why not?” I was kind of saying “why not“ of everything.
Eleanor dies just as Francis prepares the long-planned, self-financed epic "Metropolis", due to premiere next month at the Cannes Film Festival.
Eleanor recently completed her third memoir, the family said. In the manuscript she writes:
„I appreciate how my unexpected life has stretched and pulled me in so many extraordinary ways and taken me in multiple directions beyond my wildest imagination.“