William Friedkin

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William Friedkin at Festival de Sitges 2017 (cropped) William Friedkin (August 29, 1935 – August 7, 2023) was an American film director, producer, and screenwriter best known for directing The French Connection (1971), which won him the Academy Award for Best Director, and The Exorcist (1973), a landmark horror film that achieved massive commercial success and cultural impact., a remake of Wages of Fear, and To Live and Die in L.A. (1985) showcased his versatility in action and neo-noir genres, though some projects such as Cruising (1980) drew criticism for their depiction of urban subcultures and moral ambiguity. and Killer Joe (2011), and received a Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement at the 2013 Venice Film Festival.( Friedkin died in Los Angeles from heart failure and pneumonia at age 87, leaving a legacy of influential cinema that prioritized visceral storytelling over conventional polish.(

In brief

William David Friedkin (; August 29, 1935 – August 7, 2023) was an American 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 criticized, 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.