Francis Ford Coppola health update: Oscar-winning director of The Godfather hospitalised in Rome for heart procedure
Francis Ford Coppola, Oscar-winning director of Hollywood classics such as The Godfather, has been hospitalised in Rome.
Reports surfaced that the 86-year-old filmmaker has been admitted to hospital with heart issues. However, Coppola took to Instagram to confirm that his stay was not an emergency, but that he was undergoing a scheduled procedure with renowned heart doctor Dr Andrea Natale.
He said on the social media site: “Da Dada (what my kids call me) is fine, taking an opportunity while in Rome to do the update of my 30 year old afib [atrial fibrillation] procedure with its inventor, a great Italian doctor - Dr. Andrea Natale! I am well!”
A representative for Coppola rubbished media reports that the legendary director has suffered a mild cardiac arrhythmia. They said: “Mr Coppola went in for a scheduled update procedure with acclaimed Dr Andrea Natale, his doctor of over 30 years, and is resting nicely.”
Local Italian media had previously reported that Coppola was admitted to Policlinico Tor Vergata hospital in Rome for a scheduled procedure, but suffered from the cardiac arrhythmia before the operation, with doctors placing him under observation. Coppola’s representative called these reports “not true”, adding: “There was not an emergency. He went to the hospital in a car.”
Coppola is considered to be one of the greatest living directors, and one of the most influential filmmakers of all time. His big screens hits have included The Godfather trilogy, Apocalypse Now and The Conversation. He earned the Academy Award for Best Picture for The Godfather and The Godfather Part II, the latter of which he also earned the Best Director statue for.
Coppola recently embarked on a six-city tour of the US to support his recent film Megalopolis, where he opened up to a San Francisco audience about the death of his wife Eleanor in April 2024. He said at the event: “I lost my wife [Eleanor Coppola] a year ago, around this time.
“But my attitude for death is that I always lived my life so that when I was at the moment approaching death, I wouldn’t say, ‘Oh, I wish I had done this and I wish I had done that.’ Instead, I say to myself, ‘I got to do this.’”