William Friedkin

Known for DirectingBorn 1935-08-29Died 2023-08-07Chicago, Illinois, USA

William David Friedkin (August 29, 1935 – August 7, 2023) was an American film, television and opera director, producer, and screenwriter who was closely identified with the "New Hollywood" movement of the 1970s. Beginning his career in documentaries in the early 1960s, he is best known for his crime thriller film The French Connection (1971), which won five Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Director, and the horror film The Exorcist (1973), which earned him another Academy Award nomination for Best Director. Friedkin's other films in the 1970s and 1980s include the drama The Boys in the Band (1970), considered a milestone of queer cinema; the originally deprecated, now lauded thriller Sorcerer (1977); the crime comedy drama The Brink's Job (1978); the controversial thriller Cruising (1980); and the neo-noir thriller To Live and Die in L.A. (1985). Although Friedkin's works suffered an overall commercial and critical decline in the late 1980s, his last three feature films, all based on plays, were positively received by critics: the psychological horror film Bug (2006), the crime film Killer Joe (2011), and the legal drama film The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial (2023), released two months after his death. He also worked extensively as an opera director from 1998 until his death, and directed various television films and series episodes for television. Description above from the Wikipedia article William Friedkin, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.Read more

Movies & web series

The Making of the Wonderful Wizard of Oz

Shadows in the Dark: The Val Lewton Legacy

Narc: The Friedkin Connection

Fear in the Dark

Putting It Together: The Making of the Broadway Album

The People vs. Paul Crump

Through the Night with...

The Poughkeepsie Shuffle: Tracing 'The French Connection'

Hollywood Halloween

A Decade Under the Influence

Rebel Highway

100 Years of Warner Bros.

The Simpsons

Tales from the Crypt

The History of 'Cruising'

Counterfeit World: Making 'To Live and Die in L.A.'

12 Angry Men

Paper Moon

CSI: Crime Scene Investigation

Victor Fleming: Master Craftsman

Leap of Faith: William Friedkin on The Exorcist

The Twilight Zone

I Am Alfred Hitchcock

The Exorcist

View from the Overlook: Crafting 'The Shining'

The Alfred Hitchcock Hour

The Fear of God: 25 Years of The Exorcist

The Masterpiece That Almost Wasn't

Friedkin Uncut

Sorcerer

Miller's Tale

The French Connection

Leçon de Cinéma

Making the Connection: Untold Stories of The French Connection

To Live and Die in L.A.

The Visions of Stanley Kubrick

The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial

The Master's Touch: Hitchcock's Signature Style

North by Northwest: One for the Ages

Tales from the Warner Bros. Lot

In the Master's Shadow: Hitchcock's Legacy

Conversation with Fritz Lang

Michael Curtiz: The Greatest Director You Never Heard Of

Fellini of the Spirits

A Fuller Life

The Boys in the Band

Magician: The Astonishing Life and Work of Orson Welles

Killer Joe