William Friedkin

William Friedkin

Directing • Born 1935-08-29 – Died 2023-08-07

Directing2Chicago, Illinois, USA

Biography

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.

Filmography

66 credits
Raising Hell: Filming the Exorcist

Raising Hell: Filming the Exorcist

Movie • 2010

Self

The Masterpiece That Almost Wasn't

The Masterpiece That Almost Wasn't

Movie • 2008

Self

Tatort Oper - Wie Filmemacher Oper machen

Tatort Oper - Wie Filmemacher Oper machen

Movie • 2007

Self

Shadows in the Dark: The Val Lewton Legacy

Shadows in the Dark: The Val Lewton Legacy

Movie • 2005

Pure Cinema: Through the Eyes of Hitchcock

Pure Cinema: Through the Eyes of Hitchcock

Movie • 2008

Self

Breaking Barriers: The Sound of Hitchcock

Breaking Barriers: The Sound of Hitchcock

Movie • 2008

Self

The Fear of God: 25 Years of The Exorcist

The Fear of God: 25 Years of The Exorcist

Movie • 1998

Self - Director

A Little Solitaire

A Little Solitaire

Movie • 2004

Self

Miller's Tale

Miller's Tale

Movie • 2011

Self

Fear and Love: The Story of The Exorcist

Fear and Love: The Story of The Exorcist

Movie • 2024

Self

Anatomy of a Chase

Anatomy of a Chase

Movie • 2009

Self

Great Bolshy Yarblockos!: Making 'A Clockwork Orange'

Great Bolshy Yarblockos!: Making 'A Clockwork Orange'

Movie • 2007

Self

Tales from the Warner Bros. Lot

Tales from the Warner Bros. Lot

Movie • 2013

Self

The Exorcist Locations: Georgetown Then and Now

The Exorcist Locations: Georgetown Then and Now

Movie • 2010

Self

Conversation with Fritz Lang

Conversation with Fritz Lang

Movie • 1975

Self

The Making of the Wonderful Wizard of Oz

The Making of the Wonderful Wizard of Oz

Movie • 2013

Self

Filming “The Hunted”

Filming “The Hunted”

Movie • 2003

Self

Pursuing “The Hunted”

Pursuing “The Hunted”

Movie • 2003

Self

The Cutting Edge

The Cutting Edge

Movie • 2003

Self

Fasten Your Seatbelt: The Thrilling Art of Alfred Hitchcock

Fasten Your Seatbelt: The Thrilling Art of Alfred Hitchcock

Movie • 2009

Self

Casablanca: An Unlikely Classic

Casablanca: An Unlikely Classic

Movie • 2012

Self

Making the Connection: Untold Stories of The French Connection

Making the Connection: Untold Stories of The French Connection

Movie • 2001

Self

The Visions of Stanley Kubrick

The Visions of Stanley Kubrick

Movie • 2007

Self

View from the Overlook: Crafting 'The Shining'

View from the Overlook: Crafting 'The Shining'

Movie • 2007

Self

Magician: The Astonishing Life and Work of Orson Welles

Magician: The Astonishing Life and Work of Orson Welles

Movie • 2014

Self - Filmmaker (archive footage)

Stanley Kubrick in Focus

Stanley Kubrick in Focus

Movie • 2012

Self

Fear in the Dark

Fear in the Dark

Movie • 1991

Self

The Master's Touch: Hitchcock's Signature Style

The Master's Touch: Hitchcock's Signature Style

Movie • 2009

Self

North by Northwest: One for the Ages

North by Northwest: One for the Ages

Movie • 2009

Self

A Fuller Life

A Fuller Life

Movie • 2013

Self - Reader (segment "My Ballsy Yarns")

A Decade Under the Influence

A Decade Under the Influence

Movie • 2003

Self

The History of 'Cruising'

The History of 'Cruising'

Movie • 2007

Self

Exorcising 'Cruising'

Exorcising 'Cruising'

Movie • 2007

Self

In the Master's Shadow: Hitchcock's Legacy

In the Master's Shadow: Hitchcock's Legacy

Movie • 2008

Self

Making the Boys

Making the Boys

Movie • 2011

Self

Billy Wilder: The Human Comedy

Billy Wilder: The Human Comedy

Movie • 1998

Self

The Devil and Father Amorth

The Devil and Father Amorth

Movie • 2018

Self

Michael Curtiz: The Greatest Director You Never Heard Of

Michael Curtiz: The Greatest Director You Never Heard Of

Movie • 2012

Self

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

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

Movie • 2003

Self

Friedkin Uncut

Friedkin Uncut

Movie • 2018

Self

Putting It Together: The Making of the Broadway Album

Putting It Together: The Making of the Broadway Album

Movie • 1986

Self

Algren

Algren

Movie • 2021

Self

Vision of a Future Passed: The Prophecy of 2001

Vision of a Future Passed: The Prophecy of 2001

Movie • 2007

Self

Victor Fleming: Master Craftsman

Victor Fleming: Master Craftsman

Movie • 2009

Self

Sorcerers: A Conversation with William Friedkin and Nicolas Winding Refn

Sorcerers: A Conversation with William Friedkin and Nicolas Winding Refn

Movie • 2015

Leap of Faith: William Friedkin on The Exorcist

Leap of Faith: William Friedkin on The Exorcist

Movie • 2019

Self

Henri Langlois vu par...

Henri Langlois vu par...

Movie • 2014

Self

Godard Made in USA

Godard Made in USA

Movie • 2010

Self

Fellini of the Spirits

Fellini of the Spirits

Movie • 2020

Self

Howard Hawks: American Artist

Howard Hawks: American Artist

Movie • 1997

Self

Hollywood Halloween

Hollywood Halloween

Movie • 1997

Self

Return to the Genre

Return to the Genre

Movie • 2016

The Man Who Shot Chinatown: The Life and Work of John A. Alonzo

The Man Who Shot Chinatown: The Life and Work of John A. Alonzo

Movie • 2007

Self

Don't Say No Until I Finish Talking: The Story of Richard D. Zanuck

Don't Say No Until I Finish Talking: The Story of Richard D. Zanuck

Movie • 2013

Self

I Am Alfred Hitchcock

I Am Alfred Hitchcock

Movie • 2021

Self (archive footage)

The Poughkeepsie Shuffle: Tracing 'The French Connection'

The Poughkeepsie Shuffle: Tracing 'The French Connection'

Movie • 2000

Self

Shadows of Suspense

Shadows of Suspense

Movie • 2006

Self

The Lost Print: The Making of Orson Welles’ The Magnificent Ambersons

The Lost Print: The Making of Orson Welles’ The Magnificent Ambersons

Movie • 2022

Self

Without Limits

Without Limits

Movie • 1998

TV Director

Narc: The Friedkin Connection

Narc: The Friedkin Connection

Movie • 2003

Self

The History of 'Cruising'

The History of 'Cruising'

Movie • 2007

Self

Oscars, Actors and The Exorcist

Oscars, Actors and The Exorcist

Movie • 1974

Self

100 Years of Warner Bros.

100 Years of Warner Bros.

TV • 2023

Self

Through the Night with...

Through the Night with...

TV • 2002

Self

Leçon de Cinéma

Leçon de Cinéma

TV • 2004

Self

The Simpsons

The Simpsons

TV • 1989

Dr. Kenneth Humphries (voice)