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- Died
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William Friedkin
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.
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As director
The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial
The Devil and Father Amorth
Henri Langlois vu par...
Killer Joe
Bug
The Painter's Voice
The Hunted
Rules of Engagement
12 Angry Men
Jade
Blue Chips
Jailbreakers
The Guardian
C.A.T. Squad: Python Wolf
Rampage
C.A.T. Squad
Putting It Together: The Making of the Broadway Album
To Live and Die in L.A.
Deal of the Century
Cruising
The Brink's Job
Sorcerer
Conversation with Fritz Lang
The Exorcist
The French Connection
The Boys in the Band
The Night They Raided Minsky's
The Birthday Party
Good Times
The Pickle Brothers
As actor
Mineshaft: The Cruising Murders
Fear and Love: The Story of The Exorcist
The Lost Print: The Making of Orson Welles’ The Magnificent Ambersons
Algren
I Am Alfred Hitchcock
Fellini of the Spirits
Leap of Faith: William Friedkin on The Exorcist
The Devil and Father Amorth
Friedkin Uncut
Return to the Genre
Sorcerers: A Conversation with William Friedkin and Nicolas Winding Refn
Magician: The Astonishing Life and Work of Orson Welles
Henri Langlois vu par...
Tales from the Warner Bros. Lot
The Making of the Wonderful Wizard of Oz
A Fuller Life
Don't Say No Until I Finish Talking: The Story of Richard D. Zanuck
Casablanca: An Unlikely Classic
Stanley Kubrick in Focus
Michael Curtiz: The Greatest Director You Never Heard Of
Miller's Tale
Making the Boys
Raising Hell: Filming the Exorcist
The Exorcist Locations: Georgetown Then and Now
Godard Made in USA
Anatomy of a Chase
Fasten Your Seatbelt: The Thrilling Art of Alfred Hitchcock
The Master's Touch: Hitchcock's Signature Style
North by Northwest: One for the Ages
Victor Fleming: Master Craftsman