Coppola was born on May 4, 1936. She graduated from the University of California with a degree in commercial design and began working in the film industry. On the set of a horror movie “Madness”for which she helped with the set design, she met a debuting director Francis Ford Coppola. When, after a few months of dating, the woman discovered that she was pregnant, the couple got married.
Eleanor she accompanied her husband while working on his next films. By “Apocalypse Time” she acted as a documentarian. The production of the film encountered further difficulties. A typhoon destroyed part of the decorations, the main character Martin Sheen had a heart attack, Marlon Brando gave everyone a headache with his behavior, and the Philippine government delayed delivering the promised helicopters. Coppola had a nervous breakdown, and Eleanor at one point even urged him to abandon the project.
The finished film was released in 1979 and received the Palme d'Or in Cannes and eight Oscar nominations (it was awarded for cinematography and sound). Recorded on set “Apocalypse Now” the material was used by Eleanor to make the documentary “Hearts of darkness”. It was published in 1991 and met with excellent reception. The creator's wife “The Godfather” She received, among others, an Emmy and a Film Directors Guild Award for it.
Eleanor was present in the creative lives of all members of her family. She accompanied her daughter Sofia on the sets of her films, making, among others, a documentary of the photos for “Marie Antoinette”. In 2016, she made her debut as a feature director. “Paris can wait” was a romantic comedy starring Diane Lane and Alec Baldwin. In 2020, she shot her last film “Love is love is love”.
She was also a writer. She published her memoirs from the set “Apocalypse Now” in 1979 and an autobiography “Notes on a Life” in 2008. She recently finished working on her third publication.