Eleanor Coppola, documentary filmmaker, film director and matriarch of big names in world cinema, died on Friday at the age of 87 at her home in Rutherford, northern California, surrounded by her family, as reported by her family in a statement. without specifying the causes of death.
Born in 1936 in California as Eleanor Jessie Neil, she had been married since 1963 to Francis Ford Coppola, with whom she fathered a saga of filmmakers headed by Sofía Coppola, Roman Coppola and the late Gian Carlo Coppola.
Eleanor served as a director of films such as 'Paris Can Wait' (2016) and 'Love is Love is Love' (2020), but stood out as a documentary filmmaker. In 'Hearts in Darkness', her most famous title, she narrates the eventful filming of 'Apocalypse Now' (1979), which she experienced first-hand when accompanying her husband to Vietnam to film it for 15 long months. Many of the anecdotes that are known today about one of the most stormy filmings in history are thanks to that work. Other of her documentaries include filming of films by Sofía Coppola, such as 'María Antoinette' (2007) and 'The Virgin Suicides' (1999).
She also had a lesser-known side as a writer who began with the book 'Notes on Making of Apocalypse Now' and ended with her own autobiography, titled 'Notes on a Life'. Notes of a Life'), which begins with the death at the age of 22 of Gian Carlo, the eldest of his children, who was dedicated to acting and film production.
The wife of the director of the 'Godfather' saga met her husband when she was working as an art director on the horror film 'Dementia 13' (1962), in which Francis made his directorial debut. A year later they said 'I do'.
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