Francis Ford Coppola is a director.
Francis Ford Coppola ( [ pronˈkoʊpələ ] born April 7 , 1939 ) , also credited as Francis Coppola , is a semi-retired American film director , producer , and screenwriter . After directing The Rain People ( 1969 ) , he co-wrote the 1970 film Patton , earning the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay along with co-writer Edmund H. North . Highly regarded by critics , it brought him three more Academy Awards : Best Adapted Screenplay , Best Director and Best Picture , and made him the second director , after Billy Wilder , to be honored three times for the same film . He next directed 1979 's Apocalypse Now .