William Friedkin
Directing
Born August 29, 1935 in Chicago, 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.
Filmography
Mineshaft: The Cruising Murders
Self (archive footage)
Fear and Love: The Story of The Exorcist
Self
The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial
100 Years of Warner Bros.
Self
Algren
Self
I Am Alfred Hitchcock
Self (archive footage)
Fellini of the Spirits
Self
Leap of Faith: William Friedkin on The Exorcist
Self
Friedkin Uncut
Self
The Devil and Father Amorth
Self
Sorcerers: A Conversation with William Friedkin and Nicolas Winding Refn
Verdi Aida
Magician: The Astonishing Life and Work of Orson Welles
Self - Filmmaker (archive footage)
Henri Langlois vu par...
Self
The Making of the Wonderful Wizard of Oz
Self
A Fuller Life
Self - Reader (segment "My Ballsy Yarns")
Don't Say No Until I Finish Talking: The Story of Richard D. Zanuck
Self
Tales from the Warner Bros. Lot
Self
Killer Joe
Casablanca: An Unlikely Classic
Self
Michael Curtiz: The Greatest Director You Never Heard Of
Self
Making the Boys
Self
Miller's Tale
Self
Godard Made in USA
Self
The Exorcist Locations: Georgetown Then and Now
Self
Raising Hell: Filming the Exorcist
Self
The Master's Touch: Hitchcock's Signature Style
Self
North by Northwest: One for the Ages
Self
Victor Fleming: Master Craftsman
Self
Anatomy of a Chase
Self
Pure Cinema: Through the Eyes of Hitchcock
Self
Breaking Barriers: The Sound of Hitchcock
Self
In the Master's Shadow: Hitchcock's Legacy
Self
The Masterpiece That Almost Wasn't
Self
Great Bolshy Yarblockos!: Making 'A Clockwork Orange'
Self
The Visions of Stanley Kubrick
Self
View from the Overlook: Crafting 'The Shining'
Self
Vision of a Future Passed: The Prophecy of 2001
Self
Standing on the Shoulders of Kubrick: The Legacy of 2001
Self
The History of 'Cruising'
Self
Exorcising 'Cruising'
Self
The Painter's Voice
Bug
The Man Who Shot Chinatown: The Life and Work of John A. Alonzo
Self
Shadows of Suspense
Self
Shadows in the Dark: The Val Lewton Legacy
Leçon de Cinéma
Self
Counterfeit World: Making 'To Live and Die in L.A.'
Self
Narc: The Friedkin Connection
Self
A Decade Under the Influence
Self
The Hunted
Through the Night with...
Self
Making the Connection: Untold Stories of The French Connection
Self
CSI: Crime Scene Investigation
Rules of Engagement
The Poughkeepsie Shuffle: Tracing 'The French Connection'
Self
Without Limits
TV Director
The Fear of God: 25 Years of The Exorcist
Self - Director
Billy Wilder: The Human Comedy
Self
12 Angry Men
Hollywood Halloween
Self
Jade
Jailbreakers
Rebel Highway
Blue Chips
Fear in the Dark
Self
The Guardian
The Simpsons
Dr. Kenneth Humphries (voice)
Tales from the Crypt
C.A.T. Squad: Python Wolf
Rampage
C.A.T. Squad
Putting It Together: The Making of the Broadway Album
Self
To Live and Die in L.A.
The Twilight Zone
Deal of the Century
Cruising
The Brink's Job
Sorcerer
Conversation with Fritz Lang
Self
The Exorcist
Paper Moon
The French Connection
The Boys in the Band
The Night They Raided Minsky's
The Birthday Party
Good Times
Muggins
The Thin Blue Line
Pro Football: Mayhem on a Sunday Afternoon
The Bold Men
The Alfred Hitchcock Hour
The People vs. Paul Crump