William Friedkin facts for kids

Quick facts for kids William Friedkin
Friedkin in 2017
Born	William David Friedkin (1935-08-29)August 29, 1935 Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
Died	August 7, 2023(2023-08-07) (aged 87) Bel-Air, California, U.S.
Education	Senn High School
Occupation	Director producer screenwriter
Years active	1962–2023
Spouse(s)	Jeanne Moreau ​ ​ (m. 1977; div. 1979)​ Lesley-Anne Down ​ ​ (m. 1982; div. 1985)​ Kelly Lange ​ ​ (m. 1987; div. 1990)​ Sherry Lansing ​ ​ (m. 1991)​
Children	2
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William David Friedkin (born August 29, 1935 – died August 7, 2023) was an American film and TV director. He was also a producer and screenwriter. He became famous during the "New Hollywood" era in the 1970s. This was a time when many new and exciting films were made.

Friedkin started his career making documentaries in the early 1960s. He directed the crime thriller The French Connection (1971). This movie won five Academy Awards, including Best Picture. Friedkin himself won the Best Director award for it. He also directed the scary horror film The Exorcist (1973). For The Exorcist, he was nominated for another Best Director Oscar.

Some of his other well-known films include the drama The Boys in the Band (1970). He also made the thriller Sorcerer (1977) and the crime comedy The Brink's Job (1978). Later films include the crime thriller Cruising (1980) and the action thriller To Live and Die in L.A. (1985). He also directed the psychological horror film Bug (2006) and the dark comedy Killer Joe (2011).

Early Life and Education

William Friedkin was born in Chicago, Illinois, on August 29, 1935. His parents were Rachael and Louis Friedkin. His father was a salesman and a semi-professional softball player. His mother was a nurse. His parents and grandparents were Jewish immigrants from Ukraine. They had to leave Ukraine because of violence against Jewish people in 1903.

Friedkin's family was not rich when he was growing up. His father was not very interested in making a lot of money. Friedkin went to public schools in Chicago. He went to Senn High School. He was good at basketball and thought about playing professionally. He was not a serious student and graduated at age 16. He said he graduated because of "social promotion," not because he was super smart.

Friedkin started watching movies when he was a teenager. He said the movie Citizen Kane was a big influence on him. He didn't see it until he was 25. After that, he became a true movie lover. Other movies he liked were Les Diaboliques, The Wages of Fear, and Psycho. Documentaries on TV, like Harvest of Shame (1960), also helped him learn about filmmaking.

After high school, Friedkin got a job in the mail room at WGN-TV. Within two years, at age 18, he started directing TV shows and documentaries. One of his documentaries was The People vs. Paul Crump (1962). It won an award and helped a man named Paul Crump avoid the death penalty. This success helped Friedkin get a job with producer David L. Wolper. He also made a football documentary called Mayhem on a Sunday Afternoon.

Career Highlights

Starting in Hollywood (1965–1979)

In 1965, Friedkin moved to Hollywood. Two years later, he released his first feature film, Good Times. It starred the famous music duo Sonny and Cher. Friedkin later said this film was "unwatchable." He then directed other films like The Birthday Party and The Night They Raided Minsky's. He also directed The Boys in the Band, based on a play.

From left: Friedkin, Owen Roizman and William Peter Blatty on set of The Exorcist

His next film, The French Connection, came out in 1971. It was praised by critics. The film was shot in a rough, realistic style, like a documentary. It won five Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Director for Friedkin.

Friedkin's next movie was The Exorcist in 1973. It was based on a popular novel by William Peter Blatty. This film changed the horror movie genre. Many critics think it's one of the best horror movies ever. The Exorcist was nominated for 10 Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Director. It won awards for Best Screenplay and Best Sound.

After these two successful movies, Friedkin was seen as one of the top directors of the "New Hollywood" era. He joined Francis Ford Coppola and Peter Bogdanovich to form a production company. However, Friedkin soon left the company.

Friedkin's later movies did not always have the same big success. Sorcerer (1977) was a remake of a French film. It cost a lot of money to make. But it came out just one week after Star Wars, which became a huge hit. Sorcerer did not do well at the box office. Friedkin thought it was his best film. He was very sad about its failure. After that, he directed The Brink's Job (1978), a crime comedy. It also did not do well.

Later Films (1980–2023)

In 1980, Friedkin directed Cruising, a crime thriller starring Al Pacino. This film caused some protests during its making. It was not popular with critics or audiences.

In 1981, Friedkin had a heart attack and almost died. He spent months recovering. During the 1980s and 1990s, his films often received mixed reviews. They also had moderate ticket sales. These films included Deal of the Century (1983), starring Chevy Chase and Sigourney Weaver.

He directed the action/crime movie To Live and Die in L.A. (1985). This film starred William Petersen and Willem Dafoe. Critics liked it a lot. It was compared to The French Connection, especially for its car chase scene. His court drama Rampage (1987) got a good review from film critic Roger Ebert. He then directed the horror film The Guardian (1990) and the thriller Jade (1995). Even though Jade was not popular with critics, Friedkin said it was one of his favorite films to direct.

Friedkin at the 2012 Deauville American Film Festival

In 2000, The Exorcist was shown in theaters again with extra scenes. It earned $40 million in the U.S. alone. Friedkin directed the film Bug in 2007. He had enjoyed watching the stage play version of Bug in 2004. He felt he understood the story well. The film won an award at the Cannes Film Festival. Friedkin also directed two episodes of the TV series CSI: Crime Scene Investigation.

In 2011, Friedkin directed Killer Joe. This was a dark comedy based on a play. It starred Matthew McConaughey. Killer Joe was shown at the Venice International Film Festival. It opened in U.S. theaters in 2012. Critics liked it, but it did not do well at the box office. This might have been because of its strict NC-17 rating, which means only adults can see it.

In April 2013, Friedkin wrote a book about his life called The Friedkin Connection. He received a lifetime achievement award at the Venice International Film Festival in September. In 2017, Friedkin directed a documentary called The Devil and Father Amorth. It was about an exorcism in Italy. In 2022, it was announced that Friedkin would direct a new film. It was an adaptation of the play The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial. This film was shown at the Venice Film Festival in 2023.

Influences

Friedkin said that other famous directors influenced his work. These included Jean-Luc Godard, Federico Fellini, François Truffaut, and Akira Kurosawa. He also called Woody Allen "the greatest living filmmaker."

Friedkin said that the French film Z by Costa-Gavras greatly influenced his movie The French Connection. He explained that Z was shot like a documentary. It looked like the camera just happened to capture what was happening. Friedkin said this helped him realize how he could film The French Connection to make it feel very real.

Personal Life and Death

Friedkin with wife Sherry Lansing in 2012

William Friedkin was married four times:

• Jeanne Moreau: 1977–1979 (divorced)
• Lesley-Anne Down: 1982–1985 (divorced)
• Kelly Lange: 1987–1990 (divorced)
• Sherry Lansing: 1991–2023

Friedkin had a relationship with Kitty Hawks, the daughter of director Howard Hawks, for two years in the early 1970s. He also had a four-year relationship with dancer Jennifer Nairn-Smith. They had a son named Cedric, born in 1976. Friedkin and his second wife, Lesley-Anne Down, had a son named Jack, born in 1982. Friedkin was raised Jewish but later described himself as an agnostic. This means he was unsure if God exists.

William Friedkin died at his home in Bel Air, Los Angeles, on August 7, 2023. He was 87 years old. He died from heart failure and pneumonia.

Filmography

Movies Directed

Documentary Films Directed

Television Work

TV Movies Directed

Awards and Recognition

William Friedkin won many awards for his work.

• In 1972, he won an Academy Award for Best Director for The French Connection. He also won a Golden Globe and a Directors Guild of America award for the same film.
• In 1974, he won another Golden Globe for Best Director for The Exorcist.
• In 1986, his film To Live and Die in L.A. won the Audience Award at the Cognac Festival du Film Policier.
• He received a Lifetime Achievement Award at the Palm Beach International Film Festival in 2000.
• In 2006, his film Bug won the FIPRESCI prize at the Cannes Film Festival.
• In 2013, he received a Special Lion award at the Venice Film Festival for his career. He also won a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Saturn Awards.

See also

In Spanish: William Friedkin para niños