William Friedkin, Oscar-Winning Director Of The Exorcist, Dead At 87
One of cinema's most celebrated filmmakers of all time has sadly passed away. William Friedkin, the renowned director behind "The French Connection" and the horror classic "The Exorcist" has died at the age of 87. The news was first reported by Variety and confirmed by a family friend of Sherry Lansing, Friedkin's wife and a former film executive. A bona fide titan in the industry and commonly considered a worthy peer counted among the likes of Francis Ford Coppola, Stanley Kubrick, Robert Altman, Sidney Lumet, and more, Friedkin's work helped usher in the era and movement known as "New Hollywood" — forever changing the business and shifting the balance of power from producers to directors.
One of the foremost genre directors of his time, William Friedkin exploded into prominence in the 1970s and went on to become an influential figure whose work would inspire others to follow in his footsteps for decades to come. He remained active throughout the '90s and early 2000s, directing movies such as "Jade" and the Samuel L. Jackson/Tommy Lee Jones two-hander "Rules of Engagement" in 2000 before returning to his television roots to helm a few episodes of "CSI." In fact, the legendary artist still has one completed project that's yet to be released: "The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial," starring Kiefer Sutherland, "Oppenheimer" scene-stealer Jason Clarke, and the late Lance Reddick. This final Friedkin production is set to premiere at this year's Venice Film Festival before its eventual wide release, giving audiences another chance to appreciate the storied filmmaker and his contributions to the medium one last time.
Friedkin leaves behind a legacy
Born in Chicago in 1935 to Jewish immigrants, William Friedkin began to make a name for himself in his late 20s and early 30s with the death row documentary "The People vs. Paul Crump" and even directing an episode of 1965's "The Alfred Hitchcock Hour" for television. Within five years of his feature debut "Good Times," starring Sonny and Cher, Friedkin truly announced his arrival with 1971's "The French Connection." Led by a young Gene Hackman in an award-winning performance, the visceral crime/thriller put Friedkin on the map to stay with a film still considered to be among the greatest movies ever made. Only two years later, he delivered his adaptation of the hair-raising "The Exorcist," which arguably made an even greater impact on audiences worldwide and the industry as a whole. Nominated for 10 Academy Awards, the timeless horror movie officially vaulted Friedkin into the same company as Coppola, Peter Bogdanovich, and other star-making directors of the 1970s.
Gifted with remarkable talents only rivaled by his refreshingly blunt opinionating, Friedkin brought an unmistakable sense of style and personality to his work. In addition to later efforts such as 1977's "Sorcerer" and "To Live and Die in L.A." in 1985, Friedkin also published his incredibly enlightening memoir "The Friedkin Connection" in 2013 and was the subject of the documentary special "Friedkin Uncut," which boasted industry veterans such as Francis Ford Coppola, Quentin Tarantino, Willem Dafoe, Wes Anderson, Michael Shannon, Matthew McConaughey, and many more singing Friedkin's praises and celebrating the auteur's immense influence on film. Friedkin leaves behind his wife Sherry and two sons.