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William Friedkin

William Friedkin

Birthday: 1935-08-29 | Place of Birth: Chicago, Illinois, USA

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.

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Known For

Acting

Year
Title

Role

2021
Algren

as    Self

2020
Fellini of the Spirits

as    Self

2018
2018
Friedkin Uncut

as    Self

2014
Henri Langlois vu par...

as    Self

2013
2013
A Fuller Life

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

2012
Stanley Kubrick in Focus

as    Self

2012
2011
Miller's Tale

as    Self

2011
Making the Boys

as    Self

2010
Godard Made in USA

as    Self

2009