William Friedkin, the Oscar-winning director of “The French Connection” who later shocked and enthralled audiences with “The Exorcist”, died Monday. He was 87.
Friedkin died in Los Angeles said his wife, studio executive Sherry Lansing.
Originally known for documentaries, Friedkin astounded his way onto the scene in 1971 with “The French Connection.” The neo-noir starring Gene Hackman, Roy Scheider and Fernando Rey won five Oscars, with Friedkin taking home best director.
Just two years later, Friedkin captivated and terrified audiences in a whole new way with “The Exorcist.” The supernatural picture horrified movie-goers nationwide, but they couldn’t get enough, and the extraordinary film smashed box office records.
“You don’t just do any picture next,” Friedkin said while promoting “The Exorcist” in 1973. “You try to make a film as good or better than the last one, to uphold the tradition of the Academy Award.”
Friedkin’s further films included “Sorcerer,” “Cruising” and “To Live and Die in L.A.” A lifelong cinephile, Friedkin’s final film, “The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial”, will debut next month at the Venice Film Festival.
“I’m not just going to do any film that I have no real passion for simply to make a film, and then ask people to buy tickets to see it,” he said in a 2021 interview. “If I don’t want to see it myself, I have no interest in making it.”
Born Aug. 29, 1935 in Chicago, Friedkin often cited “Citizen Kane” as the movie that spawned his love of cinema.
His first film was a documentary, 1962′s “The People vs. Paul Crump,” about a man on death row in Chicago. He followed up with further exploration of the criminal justice system, including 1966′s “Thin Blue Line.”
“The French Connection” and “The Exorcist” both spawned in some way from Friedkin’s documentary talents. The author of the original “Exorcist” book, William Peter Blatty, wanted him as director to make the adaptation feel as real as possible.
Friedkin famously took things a bit too far to create the thrilling car chase scene in “The French Connection” in which stunt driver Bill Hickman speeds through real-life New York streets.
“I wouldn’t do that today,” he said in a 2021 interview. “It was very dangerous. I can’t tell you how much. At one time we were in the car at 90 miles an hour for 26 blocks, and we paid no attention to green lights or red lights. We just blew through traffic, as you can see.”
Friedkin’s commitment to realism and occasionally overwhelming intensity earned him a fair share of detractors throughout the years — not that Friedkin himself ever bothered to pay them attention.
“If you’re going to make a film or an album of music or a painting, you cannot afford to stop and think what other people will think of it,” Friedkin said in a 2018 interview. “I don’t have anyone to answer to. I make a film because I want to. Sometimes they’re successful, sometimes they’re not, but the way I think about my films is always very personal.”
With News Wire Services
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