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Francis Ford Coppola was born April 7th, 1939 in Detroit, Michigan, but he grew up in New York in a creative, supportive Italian-American family. His father, Carmine Coppola was a composer and musician, and gave Francis a middle name that was after the "Ford Sunday Evening Hour" which was a performance his father played the flute for. His mother also in the entertainment business, was an actress. Growing up in Queens and on Long Island, he suffered through polio at age 9 and grew into a high school misfit, living in the shadow of his confident, intellectual brother August. But once Francis started directing College Theater and film he became a charismatic figure. Little did he know that he was going to become one of the most successful and controversial moviemakers in the US. Coppola graduated with a degree in drama from Hofstra University, and did graduate work at UCLA in filmmaking and earned his Master's. He, like so many other directors worked as assistant with filmmaker Roger Corman, working in such positions as soundman, dialogue director, associate producer and, eventually, director of Tonight For Sure (1961), Dementia 13 (1963), and You're a Big Boy Now (1967), were Coppola's first feature films. During the next three years, Coppola was involved in a variety of script collaborations, including writing an adaptation of This Property is Condemned, by Tennessee Williams and screenplays for Is Paris Burning?, and Patton, the film for which Coppola won his first Oscar for screenplay.
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