WILLIAM FRIEDKIN (1935 - 2023)

William Friedkin, who was one of the young filmmakers during the American New Wave movement of the 1970's, responsible for moving the industry away from glossy, hyper-stylized productions and into more realistic narratives, has passed away. Never attending college nor studied film, Friedkin is probably best known for two groundbreaking movies: the gritty detective thriller, "The French Connection" from 1971 which won five Academy Awards (including Best Picture and Best Director) and the controversial 1973 supernatural drama, "The Exorcist". He had just completed a new feature film, a remake of "The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial" which had been selected to screen at this year's Venice Film Festival later this month but Friedkin had been in poor health recently and died from heart failure and pneumonia on August 7th at the age of eighty-seven.

Born and raised in Chicago, Friedkin initially had interest in becoming a professional baseball player while in high school but it would be the movies, a first viewing of the Orson Welles classic, "Citizen Kane" in particular, that would later truly capture his attention. After getting a job in the mail room at a local television station, he quickly worked his way up until he was directing live television shows and documentaries. A documentary, "The People vs. Paul Crump" he submitted to the San Francisco International Film Festival won him a prize in 1962 and giving Friedkin an opportunity to head West.

Friedkin's first major job in Hollywood was directing an episode of the television series, "The Alfred Hitchcock Hour" in 1965. The true sign in the changing of the guard was Hitchcock giving Friedkin a hard time for not wearing a tie on-set. This lead to the chance for him to direct his first feature two year later, the comedy-spoof, "Good Times" which starred the pop music duo, Sonny & Cher. The movie was savaged by critics and was a box-office flop and his following films, "The Birthday Party" and "The Night They Raided Minsky's" (co-written by Norman Lear) didn't fare much better yet Friedkin persevered. His next film was an unexpected and daring choice at the time: an adaptation of the Off-Broadway play, "The Boys in the Band". And while it was not a success at the box-office, largely due to it's subject matter involving a gathering of NYC gay men to celebrate the birthday of a friend, it did offer Friedkin the first taste of some positive critical reactions and this 1970 drama would become a milestone in the history of queer cinema.

This was followed by "The French Connection", shot in a style more suited for documentaries to create a sense of realism, with this low-budget film receiving almost universal critical raves, becoming a huge financial success and making unlikely movie stars out of Gene Hackman (who won the Best Actor Oscar for this role) and Roy Scheider. Then came, "The Exorcist", based on William Peter Blatty's best-selling novel, with the story involving the demonic possession of a young girl and her mother's attempt to save her through an exorcism by two priests that revolutionized the horror genre. Audiences waited for hours in long lines for a chance to see this disturbing, graphic film (many seeing it multiple times). Once in the theater, some viewers would have strong reactions to the film, ranging from people fainting, becoming violently ill to someone actually having to be carried out on a stretcher during a screening, helping to make "The Exorcist" one of the biggest hits of the year.

The rest of Friedkin's cinematic output had a few intriguing highlights ("To Live and Die in LA", "Sorcerer", "Cruising") yet most were poorly received and viewed as disappointments ("Deal of the Century", "The Guardian", "Jade", "Blue Chips" "Killer Joe"). Friedkin tended to gravitate towards themes involving the darker side of human nature in his movies, making them challenging and unsettling for some viewers. Yet regardless of the underwhelming receptions of these films during their inaugural release, the work of Friedkin, stimulating, provocative and highly influential, has been reevaluated over the years with some finding a greater appreciation from a new generation of movie audiences.

Friedkin was married four times: first in 1977 for three years to French actress, Jeanne Moreau, then to British actress, Lesley-Anne Down for four years. He married American journalist, Kelly Lange in 1987 before divorcing in 1990. Then Friedkin met Sherry Lansing, an actress turned producer and later became studio chief of Paramount Pictures for twelve years beginning in 1992. They wed in 1991 and remained together until his passing. Friedkin is survived by two children: a son, Cedric from a relationship with Australian choreographer, Jennifer Nairn-Smith and a son, Jack with his second wife, Down.