William Friedkin
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.
Personal Details
Also Known As
Movies (49)
The Alex Leyba Movie II
as Self (archive footage)
2025
Fear and Love: The Story of The Exorcist
as Self
2024
Leap of Faith: William Friedkin on The Exorcist
as Self
2023
The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial
Teleplay (Writing)
2023
The Lost Print: The Making of Orson Welles’ The Magnificent Ambersons
as Self
2022
Algren
as Self
2021
I Am Alfred Hitchcock
as Self
2021
Fellini of the Spirits
as Self
2020
Friedkin Uncut
as Self
2018
The Devil and Father Amorth
as Self
2018
Return to the Genre
2016
Sorcerers: A Conversation with William Friedkin and Nicolas Winding Refn
2015
Verdi Aida
Stage Director (Directing)
2015
Magician: The Astonishing Life and Work of Orson Welles
as Self - Filmmaker (archive footage)
2014
Henri Langlois vu par...
as Self
2014
The Making of the Wonderful Wizard of Oz
as Self
2013
A Fuller Life
as Self - Reader (segment "My Ballsy Yarns")
2013
Don't Say No Until I Finish Talking: The Story of Richard D. Zanuck
as Self
2013
Tales from the Warner Bros. Lot
as Self
2013
Stanley Kubrick in Focus
as Self
2012
Killer Joe
Director (Directing)
2012
Casablanca: An Unlikely Classic
as Self
2012
Michael Curtiz: The Greatest Director You Never Heard Of
as Self
2012
Making the Boys
as Self
2011
Miller's Tale
as Self
2011
Godard Made in USA
as Self
2010
The Exorcist Locations: Georgetown Then and Now
as Self
2010
Raising Hell: Filming the Exorcist
as Self
2010
Fasten Your Seatbelt: The Thrilling Art of Alfred Hitchcock
as Self
2009
The Master's Touch: Hitchcock's Signature Style
as Self
2009
North by Northwest: One for the Ages
as Self
2009
Victor Fleming: Master Craftsman
as Self
2009
Anatomy of a Chase
as Self
2009
Pure Cinema: Through the Eyes of Hitchcock
as Self
2008
Breaking Barriers: The Sound of Hitchcock
as Self
2008
In the Master's Shadow: Hitchcock's Legacy
as Self
2008
The Masterpiece That Almost Wasn't
as Self
2008
Great Bolshy Yarblockos!: Making 'A Clockwork Orange'
as Self
2007
The Visions of Stanley Kubrick
as Self
2007
View from the Overlook: Crafting 'The Shining'
as Self
2007
Vision of a Future Passed: The Prophecy of 2001
as Self
2007
The History of 'Cruising'
as Self
2007
Exorcising 'Cruising'
as Self
2007
The History of 'Cruising'
as Self
2007
Tatort Oper - Wie Filmemacher Oper machen
as Self
2007
The Painter's Voice
Director (Directing)
2007
Bug
Director (Directing)
2007
The Man Who Shot Chinatown: The Life and Work of John A. Alonzo
as Self
2007
Shadows of Suspense
as Self
2006
