Dismay at the death of Oscar winner William Friedkin. The American filmmaker died at the age of 87, his wife has confirmed.
The director of cult films such as “The French Connection” and “The Exorcist”, William Friedkin († 87), is dead. Like his wife Sherry Lansing, according to the British “The Guardians‘ said he died on Monday (August 7) in Los Angeles. The exact cause of death is not yet known. Friedkin would have been 88 on August 29. His 1973 work The Exorcist shocked viewers around the world. The film received ten Oscar nominations and was dubbed “the scariest movie ever” by critics. A year earlier, in 1972, Friedkin had received the Oscar for best director for the thriller The French Connection. Above all, the spectacular chase with Gene Hackman and Roy Schneider went down in film history. Overall, the film received five Oscars, including best picture.
Film icon William Friedkin: A survey of his career and influence in the New Hollywood era
Friedkin was one of the “New Hollywood” elite of the 1970s, which also included well-known directors such as Roman Polanski, Francis ford Coppola and Martin Scorsese belonged. Together they created groundbreaking films. However, a Friedkin film, Breathless with Fear, was a failure at the box office. The adventure thriller hit theaters in 1977, a month after the launch of Star Wars, and didn’t stand a chance against the latter’s success. Friedkin also directed other thrillers such as Cruising (1980), Jade (1995) and The Huntsman (2002). He could no longer build on his earlier successes.
William Friedkin’s impressive career from working-class son to celebrated director
Born in Chicago in 1935, the working-class son worked his way up from school boy to live broadcast director at a television station. His desire to become a filmmaker was inspired by Orson Welles’ classic film, Citizen Kane, which he had seen as a young man. His first documentary film about a man sentenced to death won a festival prize in 1962. In 1965, Friedkin made his Hollywood debut with the musical film Good Times, about the pop duo Sonny and Cher. In 2013 he was awarded the Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement at the Venice Film Festival.
