and six of the eight BAFTAs. In 1993, it was deemed “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant” by the United States Library of Congress and selected for preservation in their National Film Registry. It also won another sixteen awards including the Golden Screen (Germany), National Syndicate of Film Journalists (Italy), Kinema Junpo Awards (Japan), Sant Jordi Awards (Catalonia), and more from the USA.

After that he wasn’t heard of much. Oh, apart from ‘Man On The Moon’, ‘The People vs. Larry Flynt’, ‘Valmont’, ‘Ragtime’, ’Amadeus’…

1. Francis Ford Coppola – 1974 – The Godfather II

Back to the USA, April 1939 in Detroit, Michigan to be precise. His father, Carmine, was a classical musician and moved to New York to play the flute in the cities orchestras. Confined to bed with polioat age nine, he devised puppet shows for his own entertainment and soon began making 8mm films. After earning a B.A. in drama, he pursued a Master of Fine Arts degree at the UCLA, studying filmmaking.

Following this he took a variety of jobs in the movie business including sound-man, dialogue director, associate producer and, eventually, got his chance as director of ‘Dementia 13’ in 1963. 1962’s ‘The Bellboy And The Playgirls’ does list him as director but that was down to him adding some new 3-D colour footage.

Although mainly known as a director, he is a dab hand with a screenplay. He got his first Oscar for Best Original Screenplay for the aforementioned ‘Patton’ in 1970. Many think that he should have got Best Director in 1972 for