William David Friedkin (/ˈfriːdkɪn/; August 29, 1935 – August 7, 2023) was an American film, television and opera director, producer, and screenwriter who was closely identified with theNew Hollywood movement of the 1970s.[1][2] Beginning his career in documentaries in the early 1960s, he is best known for his crime thriller filmThe French Connection (1971), which won fiveAcademy Awards, includingBest Picture andBest Director, and the horror filmThe Exorcist (1973), which earned him another Academy Award nomination for Best Director.
Friedkin's other films in the 1970s and 1980s include the dramaThe Boys in the Band (1970), considered a milestone ofqueer cinema; the originally deprecated, now lauded thrillerSorcerer (1977); the crime comedy dramaThe Brink's Job (1978); the controversial thrillerCruising (1980);[3][4] and the neo-noir thrillerTo 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 filmBug (2006), the crime filmKiller Joe (2011), and the legal drama filmThe 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.
Friedkin was born in Chicago, Illinois, on August 29, 1935, the son of Rachael (née Green) and Louis Friedkin. His father was a semi-professional softball player, merchant seaman, and men's clothing salesman. His mother, whom Friedkin called "a saint," was a nurse.[5][6] His parents wereJewish emigrants from Ukraine, in theRussian empire.[7] His grandparents, parents, and other relatives fled Russia during a particularly violentanti-Jewish pogrom in 1903.[8] Friedkin's father was somewhat uninterested in making money, and the family was generally lower middle class while he was growing up. According to film historianPeter Biskind, "Friedkin viewed his father with a mixture of affection and contempt for not making more of himself."[5]
After attending public schools in Chicago, Friedkin enrolled atSenn High School, where he played basketball well enough to consider turning professional.[9] He was not a serious student and barely received grades good enough to graduate,[10] which he did at the age of 16.[11] He said this was because ofsocial promotion and not because he was bright.[12]
Friedkin began going to movies as a teenager,[9] and citedCitizen Kane as one of his key influences. Several sources claim that Friedkin saw this motion picture as a teenager,[13] but Friedkin himself said that he did not see the film until 1960, when he was 25 years old. Only then, Friedkin said, did he become a truecineaste.[14] Among the movies that he also saw as a teenager and young adult wereLes Diaboliques,The Wages of Fear (which he remade asSorcerer), andPsycho (which he viewed repeatedly, likeCitizen Kane). Televised documentaries such as 1960'sHarvest of Shame were also important to his developing sense of cinema.[9]
As mentioned in his voice-over commentary on the DVD re-release ofAlfred Hitchcock'sVertigo, Friedkin directed one of the last episodes ofThe Alfred Hitchcock Hour in 1965, called "Off Season". Hitchcock admonished Friedkin for not wearing a tie while directing.[20]
Friedkin's later movies did not achieve the same success.Sorcerer (1977), a $22 million Americanremake of the French classicThe Wages of Fear, co-produced by both Universal and Paramount, starringRoy Scheider, was overshadowed by theblockbuster box-office success ofStar Wars, which had been released exactly one week prior.[23] Friedkin considered it his finest film, and was personally devastated by its financial and critical failure (as mentioned by Friedkin himself in the 1999 documentary seriesThe Directors).Sorcerer was shortly followed by the crime-comedyThe Brink's Job (1978), based on the real-lifeGreat Brink's Robbery inBoston, Massachusetts, which was also unsuccessful at the box-office.[25]
In 1980, Friedkin directed an adaptation of theGerald Walker crime thrillerCruising, starringAl Pacino, which was protested during production and remains the subject of heated debate. It was critically assailed but performed moderately at the box office.[26]
In 1985, Friedkin directed the music video forBarbra Streisand's rendition of theWest Side Story song "Somewhere",[28] which she recorded for her twenty-fourth studio LP,The Broadway Album. He later appears as Streisand's interviewer (uncredited) on the television special, "Putting It Together: The Making of the Broadway Album".[29]
The action/crime movieTo Live and Die in L.A. (1985), starringWilliam Petersen andWillem Dafoe, was a critical favorite and drew comparisons to Friedkin's ownThe French Connection (particularly for its car chase sequence), while his courtroom drama/thrillerRampage (1987) received a fairly positive review fromRoger Ebert.[30] He next directed the cult classic horror filmThe Guardian (1990) and the thrillerJade (1995), starringLinda Fiorentino. Though the latter received an unfavorable response from critics and audiences, he said it was one of the favorite films he directed.[31]
In 2000,The Exorcist was re-released in theaters with extra footage and grossed $40 million in the U.S. alone. Friedkin directed the 2006 filmBug due to a positive experience watchingthe stage version in 2004. He was surprised to find that he was, metaphorically, on the same page as the playwright and felt that he could relate well to the story.[32] The film won theFIPRESCI prize at theCannes Film Festival. Later, Friedkin directed an episode of the TV seriesCSI: Crime Scene Investigation titled "Cockroaches", which re-teamed him withTo Live and Die in L.A. starWilliam Petersen.[33] He directed again forCSI's 200th episode, "Mascara".[34]
In regard to influences of specific films on his films, Friedkin noted thatThe French Connection['s] documentary-like realism was the direct result of the influence of having seenZ, a French film byCosta-Gavras:
After I sawZ, I realized how I could shootThe French Connection. Because he shotZ like a documentary. It was a fiction film but it was made like it was actually happening. Like the camera didn't know what was gonna happen next. And that is an induced technique. It looks like he happened upon the scene and captured what was going on as you do in a documentary. My first films were documentaries too. So I understood what he was doing but I never thought you could do that in a feature at that time until I sawZ.[42]
While filmingThe Boys in the Band in 1970, Friedkin began a relationship withKitty Hawks, daughter of directorHoward Hawks. It lasted two years, during which the couple announced theirengagement, but the relationship ended about 1972.[51] Friedkin began a four-year relationship with Australian dancer and choreographerJennifer Nairn-Smith in 1972. Although they announced an engagement twice, they never married. They had a son, Cedric, on November 27, 1976.[52][53] Friedkin and his second wife, Lesley-Anne Down, also had a son, Jack, born in 1982.[46] Friedkin was raised Jewish, but called himself an agnostic later in life, although he said that he strongly believed in the teachings ofJesus Christ.[54][55]
AnLA Opera production ofWagner'sTannhäuser was announced by Friedkin, but a spokesperson revealed it had been delayed indefinitely.[67] Friedkin had also been set to direct the premiere of an opera titledAn Inconvenient Truth to debut in 2011,[151] but he later departed from it when creative differences arose between him and the librettist.[152] In 2013, it was reported that he would helm a stage production ofHarold Pinter'sThe Birthday Party (which he had already directed asa feature film in 1968), forGeffen Playhouse.[153] A cast includingKatie Amess,Frances Barber,Steven Berkoff,Tim Roth andNick Ullett was assembled, but the production was soon postponed for an unknown reason, and never revived.[154]
Friedkin, William.The Friedkin Connection: A Memoir. New York: HarperCollins, 2013.ISBN978-0-06-177512-3
Friedkin, William.Conversations at the American Film Institute With the Great Moviemakers: The Next Generation. George Stevens, Jr., ed. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2012.ISBN978-0-307-27347-5
^Brent Lang (April 12, 2013)."Director William Friedkin on Clashes With Pacino, Hackman and Why an Atheist Couldn't Helm 'Exorcist'".The Wrap. RetrievedOctober 4, 2020.My personal beliefs are defined as agnostic. I'm someone who believes that the power of God and the soul are unknowable, but that anybody who says there is no God is not being honest about the mystery of fate. I was raised in the Jewish faith, but I strongly believe in the teachings of Jesus.
^Winkler, Irwin (2019).A Life in Movies: Stories from Fifty Years in Hollywood. New York: Abrams Press. pp. 525–726.ISBN9781419734526.
^abClagett, Thomas D. (August 1, 2002).William Friedkin: Films of Aberration, Obsession and Reality. Los Angeles, Calif.: Silman-James Press.ISBN9781879505612.
^"Daily News from New York, New York".New York Daily News. January 20, 1970. p. 47.Production Merger Phil D'Antoni and William Friedkin have joined forces with Milton Berle Paul W. Benson Productions to do the film version of "The Brass Go-between," a novel by Oliver Bleeck. The suspense-thriller will be shot on locations in Washington, D.
^Pinnock, Tom (October 19, 2012)."Peter Gabriel: "You could feel the horror..."".Uncut. RetrievedJuly 24, 2023.I had written a short story on [the sleeve of]Genesis Live – one of the stories I used to tell onstage – and William Friedkin, who was the king of Hollywood because ofThe Exorcist, wanted me to work with him. Not as a musician, but as a screenwriter and ideas man. That was very exciting to me. In the end, unfortunately, nothing happened; it was one of many Hollywood projects that bit the dust.
^Petros, George (1996)."Harlan Ellison"(PDF).Seconds Magazine. No. 39.I worked with Billy and we had a very strange experience. At one time, he took an option on one of my best stories, "The Whimper of Whipped Dogs." I went to Paris when he was married to Jeanne Moreau and he intended to do the film with her.
^Hefner, Hugh M., ed. (January 1, 1981).Playboy Magazine, July 1981. Playboy.
^Dunlevy, Dagmar (September 13, 1984). "Spielt in einem heißen Krimi: Laura Branigan".Bravo (in German).Her thick skin now also helps Laura over the disappointment that her part in the film "Sea Trial", in which she was to play the leading role with Michael Nouri (known from "Flashdance"), has been canceled. This adventure flick was directed by William Friedkin (known from "The Exorcist" and "French Connection"), who also shot the hot "Self Control" video, which had to be cut in the USA.
^"Manuel Dallori Donatella Versace Ex-husband Little Secrete Ex-pose". April 17, 2022.In 1999, director William Friedkin considered Angelina Jolie to portray Donatella, in a small role, in a film which never materialized entitled The Man Who Killed Versace written by Frederic Raphael.
^Archerd, Army (May 14, 2003)."Zanuck advises Polanski on next move".Variety. RetrievedJuly 25, 2024.Friedkin will direct a movie based on an incident in Puccini's life — the pic to star Placido, who will be needed (he'll also sing) for three months on the pic!
^"CONFUSING LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT WITH STAR POWER".Sun Sentinel. February 9, 2000. RetrievedAugust 13, 2023.Ms. Burke handed over the dais to producer Richard Zanuck (Jaws, Driving Miss Daisy), who would present the evening's first Lifetime Achievement Award to director William Friedkin.
^Aftab, Kaleem (June 7, 2012)."Killer instincts".The Sydney Morning Herald. RetrievedAugust 12, 2023.Was in competition at Venice, where it won the Golden Mouse (online critics' best film).
^"'Beasts of the Southern Wild' reçoit le Grand Prix de l'Union de la Critique de Cinéma".RTBF.be (in French). January 6, 2013. RetrievedAugust 12, 2023.Cinq films étaient en lice pour cette récompense: "Beasts of the Southern Wild", de Benh Zeitlin, "Take Shelter", de Jeff Nichols, "Shame", de Steve McQueen, "Ernest et Célestine", de Benjamin Renner, Vincent Patar et Stéphane Aubier, et "Killer Joe", de William Friedkin.
Biskind, Peter.Easy Riders, Raging Bulls: How the Sex-Drugs-And Rock 'N Roll Generation Saved Hollywood. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1998.ISBN0-684-80996-6
Claggett, Thomas D.William Friedkin: Films of Aberration, Obsession, and Reality. Los Angeles: Silman-James Press, 2003.ISBN0-89950-262-8
Derry, Charles, ed.Dark Dreams 2.0: A Psychological History of the Modern Horror Film From the 1950s to the 21st Century. Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland & Co., 2009.ISBN978-0-7864-3397-1
Edmonds, I. G. and Mimura, Reiko.The Oscar Directors. San Diego: A.S. Barnes, 1980.ISBN0-498-02444-X
Emery, Robert J., ed.The Directors: In Their Own Words. Vol. 2. New York: TV Books, 1999.ISBN1-57500-129-2
Hamm, Theodore.Rebel and a Cause: Caryl Chessman and the Politics of the Death Penalty in Postwar California, 1948–1974. Berkeley, Calif.: University of California Press, 2001.ISBN0-520-22427-2
Segaloff, Nat.Hurricane Billy: The Stormy Life and Films of William Friedkin. New York: Morrow, 1990.ISBN0-688-07852-4
Stevens, Jr., George, ed.Conversations at the American Film Institute With the Great Moviemakers: The Next Generation. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2012.ISBN978-0-307-27347-5
Wakeman, John.World Film Directors, 1945–1985. New York: Wilson, 1988.ISBN0-8242-0757-2
Walker, Elsie M. and Johnson, David T., eds.Conversations With Directors: An Anthology of Interviews From 'Literature/Film Quarterly'. Lanham, Md.: Scarecrow Press, 2008.ISBN978-0-8108-6122-0