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William Friedkin, best known for his work directing The Exorcist and The French Connection, has died, aged 87. Friedkin died in his Bel Air home earlier today, reports claim, after struggling with pneumonia and heart failure. Friedkin’s death comes only weeks before the release of The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial, Friedkin’s latest directorial project starring Kiefer Sutherland. William Friedkin has left behind a decades-long career in Hollywood, with a resume that includes some of the biggest blockbusters of the 1970s and one of the most infamous horror movies of all time.
The French Connection: William Friedkin’s Rise to Fame
William Friedkin first rose to fame in 1971, when Friedkin, a relatively-unknown filmmaker, teamed up with Philip D’Antoni to direct The French Connection, the intense story of two real-life New York cops responsible for bringing down an international heroin ring. Before the film, Friedkin had started working for a Chicago-based TV station. There, he directed documentaries until the mid-1960s when Steve Brody hired him to direct Good Times (1967), starring the dynamic duo of Sonny & Cher.
The French Connection would prove to be the key to true stardom, however, as William Friedkin combined his cutting-edge editing style with a modest budget and a cast of relative nobodies who would eventually become household names, like Gene Hackman, Roy Scheider, and Fernando Rey.
Moreover, The French Connection would win William Friedkin an Oscar for Best Director in 1972, as well as a nomination for Best Direction at the 1973 BAFTA Awards. The fast-paced, non-stop action of the film, paired with Friedkin’s unique directorial style, was quick to catch the public eye, and The French Connection remains a highly-praised action movie even today. Not long after its release, Friedkin was quick to follow up its groundbreaking success when he teamed up with writer/producer William Peter Blatty for The Exorcist (1973).
The Exorcist: William Friedkin’s Last Big Hit
Based on Blatty’s 1971 novel of the same name, The Exorcist follows the story of Regan MacNeil, a 12-year-old girl possessed by a terrifying demon. The film featured such iconic scenes as Linda Blair’s Regan projectile vomiting in the face of the priest attempting to exorcise her and spinning her head in a full circle, earning The Exorcist a spot as one of Hollywood’s top-grossing movies to date and the first horror movie to be nominated for a Best Picture Oscar.
Unfortunately for William Friedkin, none of his future projects would quite measure up to the success of The Exorcist. 1980 would see the release of Cruising, starring Al Pacino, Paul Sorvino, and Karen Allen in a dark psychological thriller that would later come under scrutiny for potentially inspiring some real-world hate crimes.
Sometime in the 1980s, Friedkin and Blatty would once again pair up to make The Exorcist III, only for Friedkin to exit the project over “creative differences.” Otherwise, the decade saw Friedkin transition to directing more television projects like The Twilight Zone, C.A.T. Squad, and Tales From the Crypt.
In 1991, William Friedkin married Sherry Lansing, head of Paramount Pictures in Hollywood at the time. After the two were married, Friedkin returned to the world of films, directing The Hunted (2003) with Tommy Lee Jones and Benicio Del Toro. Some of Friedkin’s most recent projects include Killer Joe (2011) and The Devil and Father Amorth (2017). His last film, The Caine Mutiny Court Martial, is set to be released next month, though it’s unclear if that will change because of Friedkin’s death.
William Friedkin, 87, is survived by his wife, Sherry Lansing, and his two sons, Jackson and Cedric Friedkin, who are both filmmakers in their own right.
