Directing · Chicago, Illinois, USA · Born August 29, 1935
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.
MovieMineshaft: The Cruising Murders
2026
as Self (archive footage)
MovieFear and Love: The Story of The Exorcist
2024
as Self
TV100 Years of Warner Bros.
2023
as Self
The Lost Print: The Making of Orson Welles’ The Magnificent Ambersons
2022
as Self
MovieAlgren
2021
as Self
MovieI Am Alfred Hitchcock
2021
as Self (archive footage)
MovieFellini of the Spirits
2020
as Self
MovieLeap of Faith: William Friedkin on The Exorcist
2019
as Self
MovieFriedkin Uncut
2018
as Self
MovieThe Devil and Father Amorth
2018
as Self
Return to the Genre
2016
MovieSorcerers: A Conversation with William Friedkin and Nicolas Winding Refn
2015
MovieMagician: The Astonishing Life and Work of Orson Welles
2014
as Self - Filmmaker (archive footage)
MovieHenri Langlois vu par...
2014
as Self
MovieThe Making of the Wonderful Wizard of Oz
2013
as Self
MovieA Fuller Life
2013
as Self - Reader (segment "My Ballsy Yarns")
MovieDon't Say No Until I Finish Talking: The Story of Richard D. Zanuck
2013
as Self
MovieTales from the Warner Bros. Lot
2013
as Self
Stanley Kubrick in Focus
2012
as Self
MovieCasablanca: An Unlikely Classic
2012
as Self
MovieMichael Curtiz: The Greatest Director You Never Heard Of
2012
as Self
MovieMaking the Boys
2011
as Self
MovieMiller's Tale
2011
as Self
MovieGodard Made in USA
2010
as Self
MovieThe Exorcist Locations: Georgetown Then and Now
2010
as Self
MovieRaising Hell: Filming the Exorcist
2010
as Self
Fasten Your Seatbelt: The Thrilling Art of Alfred Hitchcock
2009
as Self
MovieThe Master's Touch: Hitchcock's Signature Style
2009
as Self
MovieNorth by Northwest: One for the Ages
2009
as Self
MovieVictor Fleming: Master Craftsman
2009
as Self
MovieAnatomy of a Chase
2009
as Self
MovieBreaking Barriers: The Sound of Hitchcock
2008
as Self
MoviePure Cinema: Through the Eyes of Hitchcock
2008
as Self
MovieIn the Master's Shadow: Hitchcock's Legacy
2008
as Self
MovieThe Masterpiece That Almost Wasn't
2008
as Self
MovieGreat Bolshy Yarblockos!: Making 'A Clockwork Orange'
2007
as Self
MovieView from the Overlook: Crafting 'The Shining'
2007
as Self
MovieThe Visions of Stanley Kubrick
2007
as Self
MovieVision of a Future Passed: The Prophecy of 2001
2007
as Self
MovieStanding on the Shoulders of Kubrick: The Legacy of 2001
2007
as Self
MovieThe History of 'Cruising'
2007
as Self
MovieExorcising 'Cruising'
2007
as Self
Tatort Oper - Wie Filmemacher Oper machen
2007
as Self
MovieThe Man Who Shot Chinatown: The Life and Work of John A. Alonzo
2007
as Self
MovieShadows of Suspense
2006
as Self
MovieShadows in the Dark: The Val Lewton Legacy
2005
A Little Solitaire
2004
as Self
TVLeçon de Cinéma
2004
as Self
MovieCounterfeit World: Making 'To Live and Die in L.A.'
2003
as Self
Filming “The Hunted”
2003
as Self
Pursuing “The Hunted”
2003
as Self
The Cutting Edge
2003
as Self
MovieNarc: The Friedkin Connection
2003
as Self
MovieA Decade Under the Influence
2003
as Self
TVThrough the Night with...
2002
as Self
MovieMaking the Connection: Untold Stories of The French Connection
2001
as Self
MovieThe Poughkeepsie Shuffle: Tracing 'The French Connection'
2000
as Self
MovieWithout Limits
1998
as TV Director
MovieThe Fear of God: 25 Years of The Exorcist
1998
as Self - Director
MovieBilly Wilder: The Human Comedy
1998
as Self
Howard Hawks: American Artist
1997
as Self
MovieHollywood Halloween
1997
as Self
MovieFear in the Dark
1991
as Self
TVThe Simpsons
1989
as Dr. Kenneth Humphries (voice)
MoviePutting It Together: The Making of the Broadway Album
1986
as Self
MovieConversation with Fritz Lang
1975
as Self
Oscars, Actors and The Exorcist
1974
as Self
