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Born · August 29, 1935
Died · August 7, 2023 (87 years old)
Known For: Directing
Place of Birth: Chicago, Illinois, USA
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.
Himself (archive)
7.5
2024
Himself
0.0
2024
Self (archive footage)
0.0
2023
Self
7.3
2023
Self · (1 episode)
7.7
2023
Self
6.0
2021
Self
6.9
2021
Self
6.6
2020
Self
7.2
2018
Himself
5.0
2018
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2016
4.5
2015
Self - Filmmaker (archive footage)
6.7
2014
Self
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2014
Self
10.0
2013
Self - Reader (segment "My Ballsy Yarns")
6.6
2013
Self
6.1
2013
Self
5.7
2013
Self
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2012
Self
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2012
Self
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2012
Himself
5.1
2011
Self
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2011
Self
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2010
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2010
Self
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Self
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2009
Self
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2009
Self
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2009
Himself
7.5
2009
Self
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Self
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Self
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Himself
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Self · (1 episode)
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Himself
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Self
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Self
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Self
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2003
Self · (1 episode)
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Self
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Self
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Self · (1 episode)
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1998
Self - Director
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1998
Self
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Self
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Himself
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1997
Self
10.0
1991
Dr. Kenneth Humphries (voice) · (1 episode)
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1989
10.0
1986
Self
7.1
1975
Self · (1 episode)
7.7
1955