William Friedkin

Personal Info

Known For Director

Gender Male

Birthday 1935-08-29

Deathday 2023-08-07 (87 years old)

Place of Birth Chicago, Illinois, USA

Also Known As 윌리엄 프리드킨, 윌리암 프리드킨

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.

Known For

Director

2015
Verdi Aida

as Stage Director

2014
2012
Killer Joe

as Director

2007
Bug

as Director

2007
2003
The Hunted

as Director

2000
1997
12 Angry Men

as Director

1995
Jade

as Director

1994
Blue Chips

as Director

1994
Jailbreakers

as Director

1994
Rebel Highway

as Director

1990
The Guardian

as Director

1989
1987
Rampage

as Director

1986
C.A.T. Squad

as Director

1985
1985
The Twilight Zone

as Director

1984
Self Control

as Director

1983
1980
Cruising

as Director

1978
The Brink's Job

as Director

1977
Sorcerer

as Director

1973
The Exorcist

as Director

1971
1970
1968
The Birthday Party

as Director

1967
Good Times

as Director

1967
1966
The Thin Blue Line

as Director

1965
The Bold Men

as Director

Actor

2023
The Exorcist Untold

as Self (archive footage)

2021
Algren

as Self

2018
2014
Magician: The Astonishing Life and Work of Orson Welles

as Self - Filmmaker (archive footage)

2013
A Fuller Life

as Self - Reader (segment "My Ballsy Yarns")

2011
Making the Boys

as Himself

2011
2010
2009
2004
2004
2003
1997
1991
1989
The Simpsons

as Dr. Kenneth Humphries (voice)

Writer

1990
The Guardian

as Screenplay

1987
Rampage

as Writer

1985
1980
Cruising

as Writer

1977
Sorcerer

as Screenplay

1971
The French Connection

as Screenplay

1967
Good Times

as Screenplay

1966

Producer

1988
C.A.T. Squad: Python Wolf

as Executive Producer

1987
Rampage

as Producer

1986
C.A.T. Squad

as Executive Producer

1977
Sorcerer

as Producer

1967
Muggins

as Producer

1966
The Thin Blue Line

as Producer