Francis Ford Coppola Shares Adoring Photo of Late Wife Eleanor After Her Death at 87

Francis Ford Coppola's family confirmed Eleanor Coppola's death on April 12

Francis Ford Coppola is mourning his wife.

On April 16, the legendary filmmaker, 85, shared a photo of his late wife Eleanor to Instagram four days after their family confirmed her death at 87. The image showed Eleanor, a documentary filmmaker and writer in her own right, smiling over a bouquet of flowers in an outdoor setting.

Francis did not write a caption alongside the post; it is the first image he has shared to the social media platform since his family revealed news of Eleanor's death with The Associated Press. The family told the AP on April 12 that she died at her home in Rutherford, Calif., and did not give a cause of death.

The couple's daughter, filmmaker Sofia Coppola, previously did not appear at a New York Film Festival screening of her movie Priscilla in October 2023 in order to spend time with Eleanor. "I'm so sorry to not be there with you, but I'm with my mother, to whom this film is dedicated," she wrote in a statement regarding her absence at the time, as read by the movie's producer Youree Henley at the screening.

Related: The Coppola Family: All About the Film Dynasty Including Sofia Coppola and Nicolas Cage

Eleanor and Francis had been married since 1963; the couple originally met while she worked as an assistant art director on the set of his 1963 directorial debut Dementia 13, according to The Hollywood Reporter. In addition to Sofia, 52, the pair shared sons Roman, 58, and Gian-Carlo, who died in 1986 in a boating accident at 22.

Francis is renowned in the film industry for making movies like The Godfather trilogy and 1979's Apocalypse Now. Eleanor, in turn, directed a documentary about the making of Apocalypse Now titled Hearts of Darkness: A Filmmaker’s Apocalypse, which follows Francis during the famously fraught production of his Vietnam War epic.

Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE's free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer​​, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories. 

Other documentaries Eleanor directed included films revolving around the production of Sofia's The Virgin Suicides (1999) and Marie Antoinette (2006). She published two nonfiction books: Notes: The Making of Apocalypse Now and Notes on a Life, and even ventured into narrative filmmaking in her 80s with her 2016 film Paris Can Wait  and 2020's Love Is Love Is Love, per her IMDb page.

Related: Sofia Coppola on Growing Up in a 'Show Business Family': 'People Look at You in a Different Way'

“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 venturing into filmmaking. “It was terrifying, but part of the challenge was cutting through all of your fears and just going for it.”

For more People news, make sure to sign up for our newsletter!

Read the original article on People.