One of the most iconic Oscar-winning directors of the American New Wave, William Friedkin, has died at the age of 87 in Los Angeles.
Variety first broke the news which was subsequently confirmed by Chapman University dean Stephen Galloway – a friend of Friedkin’s wife Sherry Lansing.
The Chicago-born filmmaker is best remembered for directing 1971’s famed Gene Hackman and Roy Scheider-led cop drama “The French Connection” which won five Oscars, including Best Director and Best Picture.
He then followed that up with 1973’s “The Exorcist,” still widely considered one of (if not the) greatest horror films made. That also scored him an Oscar nomination for directing.
He began making films in the early 1960s with documentaries like “The People vs. Paul Crump,” “Mayhem on a Sunday Afternoon” and “The Thin Blue Line” which led to narrative movies like “Good Times,” “The Night They Raided Minsky’s” and the queer cinema milestone “The Boys in the Band”.
After his French Connection/Exorcist double, he followed that up with 1977’s “Sorcerer” – a remake of “The Wages of Fear” – which was a flop at the time but has undergone a critical re-evaluation and is now often dubbed an “overlooked masterpiece”.
The 1980’s New York gay leather scene film “Cruising” starring Al Pacino remains a flawed but fascinating time capsule, looking at a community in its last days before being irrevocably changed by the AIDS crisis.
Numerous films followed, none capturing the zeitgeist like his 1970s films did, but still delivering some notable titles, including “To Live and Die in L.A.,” “The Guardian,” “Jade,” “Rules of Engagement,” “The Hunted,” “Bug” and “Killer Joe”.
He also helmed various TV episodes over the years for shows ranging from “The Twilight Zone” to “CSI”.
His final film, the play adaptation “The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial,” is set to debut at the Venice Film Festival later this month.
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