Eleanor Coppola, Emmy-Winning Director and Screenwriter, Dead at 87

Emmy-winning filmmaker Eleanor Coppola has died at age 87.

On Friday, April 12, Eleanor died at her home in Rutherford, Calf., her family confirmed to the Associated Press.

Eleanor made her directing debut in 1991’s Hearts of Darkness: A Filmmaker’s Apocalypse," a behind-the-scenes documentary about her husband Francis Ford Coppola's 1979 film, Apocalypse Now. In 1992, she won a Primetime Emmy for directing the doc, taking home a trophy in the Outstanding Individual Achievement - Informational Programming category.

Additionally, Eleanor directed and wrote the screenplays for 2016's Paris Can Wait and 2020's Love Is Love Is Love.

“I’m this housewife who suddenly decided she’s going to write a film and actually direct it,” Eleanor told The Hollywood Reporter in 2016 of her narrative feature debut. “It was terrifying, but part of the challenge was cutting through all of your fears and just going for it.”

Eleanor and Francis married in 1963 and welcomed three children: Gian-Carlo, Sofia and Roman. Tragically, Gian-Carlo died in 1986 in a boating accident.

Roman became a director and producer in his own right (he often works with Wes Anderson) and serves as the president of his father's film company, American Zoetrope.

Meanwhile, Sofia has written and directed films like 2003's Lost in Translation and 2023's Priscilla. Sofia dedicated the later project to her mother. Additionally, Eleanor directed documentaries about the making of Sofia's Virgin Suicides (1999) and Marie Antoinette (2006).

On top of her screenwriting and directing, Eleanor penned two nonfiction books: Notes: The Making of Apocalypse Now and Notes on a Life. She recently finished her third memoir, her family told the AP.

She wrote in the manuscript: “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.”

Notably, she is also Nicolas Cage's aunt, as his father, the late August Coppola, is Francis' brother.

Eleanor is survived by her husband; daughter Sofia; son Roman; six grandchildren; and one great-grandchild.

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