Eleanor Coppola — the filmmaker and wife of famed director Francis Ford Coppola — has died … according to a statement made by her family.
The matriarch of the famous film family passed away Friday at her home in Rutherford, CA … a small town in Napa Valley. They did not give a cause of death.
Eleanor met Francis in 1962 while working as an assistant art director on his first movie, “Dementia 13” … and the couple started dating.
Eleanor got pregnant shortly thereafter, married Coppola in Las Vegas and gave birth to their first son, Gian-Carlo.
The couple had two more children … producer Roman Coppola and director Sofia Coppola — setting up a true dynasty in filmmaking.
And, Eleanor stuck with filmmaking too … shooting behind-the-scenes footage of many of her husband’s projects — including “Apocalypse Now” which she turned into the 1991 documentary “Hearts of Darkness: A Filmmaker’s Apocalypse.”
Eleanor later said she was just trying to keep herself busy while shooting the footage … and, she happened to capture a truly disastrous production where lead actor Martin Sheen had a heart attack, and a construction crew member died.
Later in life, Eleanor got into narrative filmmaking … directing “Paris Can Wait” in 2016 and “Love Is Love Is Love” in 2020.
She’s survived by Francis, Roman, Sofia and her many grandchildren.
Eleanor was 87.
RIP
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