Eleanor Coppola documented the making of some of husband Francis Ford Coppola’s iconic films, including the infamous Torture Making apocalypse now, who raised a family of filmmakers, has died. She is 87 years old.

Coppola died on Friday at his home in Rutherford, California, surrounded by his family, his family announced in a statement. No cause of death was given.

Eleanor, who grew up in Orange County, California, met Francis when he was an assistant artistic director and was directing Francis’ directorial debut, the 1963 horror film produced by Roger Corman. piece Dementia 13. (She studied design at UCLA.) After a few months of dating, Eleanor became pregnant, and the two were married in Las Vegas in February 1963.

Their eldest son, Gian-Carlo, soon became a regular in his father’s films, as did subsequent children Romain (born 1965) and Sofia (born 1971). All got into movies after starring in their father’s movies and growing up on the sets.

“I don’t know what the family gave, but I hope they set an example of a family encouraging each other in the creative process, whatever it may be,” Eleanor told The Associated Press in 2017 Associated Press. “This happens in our family.” We didn’t ask them or expect them to, but Sophia once said, “The nut doesn’t fall far from the tree.”

Gian-Carlo, who appeared in the background of many of his father’s films and began doing second set photography, died in a boating accident in 1986 at the age of 22. He was killed on a boat driven by Ryan O’Neal’s son, Griffin O’Neal, who was found guilty of negligence.

Roman has directed several of his own films and frequently collaborated with Wes Anderson. He is president of his father’s San Francisco-based film company, American Peep Show.

Sofia became one of the most acclaimed filmmakers of her generation, writing and directing films including Lost in Translation and the 2023 version Priscilla. Sofia dedicated the film to her mother.

In joining the family business, Coppola’s children followed not only their father’s footsteps, but their mother’s.Since 1979 apocalypse nowAfter that, Eleanor often documented Francis’ life behind the scenes of his films.Filming in the Philippines apocalypse now Lasted 238 days. A typhoon destroyed the set. Martin Sheen has a heart attack. One construction worker died.

Eleanor documented much of the chaos in one of the most famous 1991 filmmaking films Heart of Darkness: A Filmmaker’s Revelation.

In 1991, Eleanor told CNN: “I just wanted to keep myself occupied because we were out there so long. They wanted five minutes for a TV spot or something, and I thought sooner or later I was going to get five. Minutes.” minute movie, and then it was extended to 15 minutes. “

“I just kept shooting, but I don’t know…I saw myself evolving with the camera,” continued Eleanor, who ended up shooting 60 hours of footage. “So, it was a surprise and a life-changing experience for both of us.”

Eleanor also posted Notes: On the Making of Apocalypse Now” in 1979. While the film focuses on the chaos of the movie’s scenes, the book depicts some of Eleanor’s inner turmoil, including the challenges of marrying a larger-than-life figure. She wrote that in Manila During that year, she was a “woman cut off from my friends, my affairs, and my projects.” She also confessed that Frances had had an extramarital affair.

“Part of me has been waiting for Francis to leave me, or die so that I can live the life I want,” Eleanor wrote. “I wonder if I would have the courage to live the life I want without him involved. way to achieve it.”

However, they remained together throughout her life. Eleanor continued to find creative outlets for herself.She also recorded several of her husband’s films as well as Roman’s films Chongqing and Sophia’s Marie Antoinette. She wrote a memoir in 2008, life notes.

In 2016, 80-year-old Eleanor made her film debut in Paris can waitIt is a romantic comedy starring Diane Lane.she went on love is love is love 2020.Eleanor initially just wanted to write a screenplay Paris can wait.

“One morning at the breakfast table, my husband said, ‘Well, you should direct.’ I was completely stunned,” Eleanor told The Associated Press. “But I said ‘Well, I’ve never written a screenplay before and I’ve never directed before, why not?’ I said ‘why not’ to everything.”

When Eleanor died, Francis was preparing a long-planned, self-financed epic, Metropoliswhich will premiere at the Cannes Film Festival next month.

She is survived by her husband; her son Roman and his wife Jen, and their children Pascale, Marcello and Alessandro; her daughter Sophia and her husband Thomas, and their children Romy and Cosima; her granddaughter Gia and her husband Honor, and their child Beaumont; and her brother William Neal and his wife Lisa.

Eleanor recently completed her third memoir, family members said. She wrote in her manuscript:

“I am grateful for how my unexpected life has stretched and pulled me in so many extraordinary ways and taken me in so many directions beyond my wildest imagination.”