OSCAR-WINNING film director William Friedkin has died Monday in Los Angeles at the age of 87.
The blockbuster filmmaker was best known for the 1971 Academy Award-winning movie The French Connection and fan-favorite The Exorcist.
William Friedkin has died at age 87
He is best known for his 1973 Blockbuster ‘The Exorcist’
William’s death has been confirmed by Chapman University dean Stephen Galloway, a friend of his wife, American philanthropist Sherry Lansing.
The screenwriter was just one month away from debuting what is now his final film, a remake of the Herman Wouk stage and screen drama, The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial.
The movie stars Kiefer Sutherland and is scheduled to premiere at the 2023 Venice Film Festival.
The Chicago native came up among a group of 1970s filmmakers who liked to challenge the status quo previously established in Hollywood.
He was behind several groundbreaking titles in the industry such as the gay-themed drama The Boys in the Band, and others like Cruising, Sorcerer, To Live and Die in L.A., Bug, Rules of Engagement, and Killer Joe.
William’s achievements at the box office were arbitrary, but he was the first to admit the reason behind his sporadic success.
“I never considered myself the great American anything. Not then and not now. I consider myself just another member of the crew, the highest paid member of the crew,” he previously confessed to The Los Angeles Times.
“Winning the Academy Award [and the Directors’ Guild Award for 1971’s “The French Connection”] was an enormous honor. But I thought I had won it prematurely, that I hadn’t paid enough dues at that point.”
William was born in Chicago in 1935 as the only child of two Jewish parents who fled Ukraine to the United States in the early 1900s.
The producer previously claimed that his mother, who worked as a nurse, was a “saint” though his father was largely unemployed and “seemed to have no sense of purpose except day-to-day survival.”
As a child, Friedkin grew up extremely poor and on welfare and he claimed his dad “never earned more than $50 a week in his whole life and died indigent.”
The director also said he “never knew” the state of his parent’s poverty.
In his 2014 memoir, William explained that he and “all his friends” lived the same way with “no moral compass.”
“I literally didn’t know the difference between right and wrong,” he explained.
William’s success in Hollywood declined in the years to follow his blockbuster hits but his dedication to the craft continued.
“I haven’t made my ‘Citizen Kane’, but there’s more work to do. I don’t know how much, but I’m loving it,” he claimed in his autobiography.
Friedkin originally found his voice in filmmaking alongside other 70s giants like Peter Bogdanovich, Francis Ford Coppola, and Hal Ashby.
The screenwriter hit A-list status around that time as part of a group of risk-taking creators.
With a focus on horror and police thrillers, he brought a high-energy voice to Hollywood.
After the fame that came with his Oscar win for The French Connection, Friedkin’s 1973’s The Exorcist grossed a jaw-dropping $500 million worldwide.
The movie’s unparalleled success kickstarted the blockbuster era along with other similar films like The Godfather.
The Exorcist is an iconic horror film that follows the demonic possession of a young girl.
William’s work on the film resulted in his second Oscar nomination for best director.
Friedkin has been married four times, to newscaster Kelly Lange, actresses Lesley-Anne Down, Jeanne Moreau, and Sherry Lansing.
The filmmaker is survived by Sherry and his two sons Jackson and Cedric.
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