William Friedkin
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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.
Known for
Credits
Without Limits (1998)
as TV Director
A Decade Under the Influence (2003)
as Self
A Fuller Life (2013)
as Self - Reader (segment "My Ballsy Yarns")
Friedkin Uncut (2018)
as Self
Magician: The Astonishing Life and Work of Orson Welles (2014)
as Self - Filmmaker (archive footage)
The Fear of God: 25 Years of The Exorcist (1998)
as Self - Director
The Masterpiece That Almost Wasn't (2008)
as Self
Stanley Kubrick in Focus (2012)
as Self
Don't Say No Until I Finish Talking: The Story of Richard D. Zanuck (2013)
as Self
Miller's Tale (2011)
as Self
Tales from the Warner Bros. Lot (2013)
as Self
I Am Alfred Hitchcock (2021)
as Self (archive footage)
The Devil and Father Amorth (2018)
as Self
Standing on the Shoulders of Kubrick: The Legacy of 2001 (2007)
as Self
Casablanca: An Unlikely Classic (2012)
as Self
Fellini of the Spirits (2020)
as Self
Exorcising 'Cruising' (2007)
as Self
Leap of Faith: William Friedkin on The Exorcist (2019)
as Self
Henri Langlois vu par... (2014)
as Self
The Visions of Stanley Kubrick (2007)
as Self
Billy Wilder: The Human Comedy (1998)
as Self
The Man Who Shot Chinatown: The Life and Work of John A. Alonzo (2007)
as Self
Putting It Together: The Making of the Broadway Album (1986)
as Self
In the Master's Shadow: Hitchcock's Legacy (2008)
as Self
Godard Made in USA (2010)
as Self
The History of 'Cruising' (2007)
as Self
The Making of the Wonderful Wizard of Oz (2013)
as Self
Fasten Your Seatbelt: The Thrilling Art of Alfred Hitchcock (2009)
as Self
Mineshaft: The Cruising Murders (2026)
as Self (archive footage)
Pure Cinema: Through the Eyes of Hitchcock (2008)
as Self
Algren (2021)
as Self
View from the Overlook: Crafting 'The Shining' (2007)
as Self
Howard Hawks: American Artist (1997)
as Self
The Poughkeepsie Shuffle: Tracing 'The French Connection' (2000)
as Self
Fear in the Dark (1991)
as Self
Shadows of Suspense (2006)
as Self
Vision of a Future Passed: The Prophecy of 2001 (2007)
as Self
Great Bolshy Yarblockos!: Making 'A Clockwork Orange' (2007)
as Self
Shadows in the Dark: The Val Lewton Legacy (2005)
Actor
Michael Curtiz: The Greatest Director You Never Heard Of (2012)
as Self
Filming “The Hunted” (2003)
as Self
Making the Boys (2011)
as Self
Conversation with Fritz Lang (1975)
as Self
Fear and Love: The Story of The Exorcist (2024)
as Self
Hollywood Halloween (1997)
as Self
Making the Connection: Untold Stories of The French Connection (2001)
as Self
Oscars, Actors and The Exorcist (1974)
as Self
The Master's Touch: Hitchcock's Signature Style (2009)
as Self
Sorcerers: A Conversation with William Friedkin and Nicolas Winding Refn (2015)
Actor
The Cutting Edge (2003)
as Self
North by Northwest: One for the Ages (2009)
as Self
Counterfeit World: Making 'To Live and Die in L.A.' (2003)
as Self
Pursuing “The Hunted” (2003)
as Self
Anatomy of a Chase (2009)
as Self
Narc: The Friedkin Connection (2003)
as Self
A Little Solitaire (2004)
as Self
The Exorcist Locations: Georgetown Then and Now (2010)
as Self
Breaking Barriers: The Sound of Hitchcock (2008)
as Self
Victor Fleming: Master Craftsman (2009)
as Self
The Lost Print: The Making of Orson Welles’ The Magnificent Ambersons (2022)
as Self
Raising Hell: Filming the Exorcist (2010)
as Self
Tatort Oper - Wie Filmemacher Oper machen (2007)
as Self
Return to the Genre (2016)
Actor