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In 1965, he moved to Hollywood and immediately started directing TV shows, including an episode of the The Alfred Hitchcock Hour (1962) ; Hitchcock infamously chastised him for not wearing a tie. Born August 29, 1935. Died August 7, 2023 (87) Add to list. Won 1 Oscar. 23 wins & 18 nominations total. Photos 81. Known for. To Live and Die in L.A.
- January 1, 1
- Chicago, Illinois, USA
- January 1, 1
- Bel Air, Los Angeles, California, USA
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 aft...
- “The French Connection” (1971) The making of “The French Connection” has taken on its own mythology, but the story (recounted by Todd McCarthy in his Howard Hawks book) goes that, after making a handful of respectable films, Friedkin asked Howard Hawks what he thought of his films.
- “The Exorcist” (1973) How do you follow up one of the greatest films of all time? By making another stone-cold classic. What’s fascinating isn’t just that Friedkin was able to follow up “The French Connection” with “The Exorcist,” a movie that was just as complicated (if not more complicated) than the previous movie, but that he wasn’t the studio’s first choice for director — supposedly Warner Bros.
- “Sorcerer” (1977) Perhaps Friedkin’s towering achievement as a filmmaker was, unsurprisingly, ignored at the time of its release. An adaptation of George Arnaud’s 1950 novel “Le Salaire de la peur” (previously made as Henri-Georges Clouzot’s “The Wages of Fear,” a movie Friedkin unsuccessfully lobbied to have re-released in America ahead of his version), it follows a bunch of lowlifes (led by his “French Connection” collaborator Roy Scheider) who convene in South America to drive a truck full of nitroglycerin through the treacherous jungle.
- “Cruising” (1980) One of Friedkin’s strangest and most haunting movies, “Cruising” stars Al Pacino as an NYPD cop who goes undercover to try and solve a series of unsolved killings in the city’s gay community.
A list of 22 movies directed by William Friedkin, from Good Times (1967) to Rampage (1987). Includes ratings, summaries, and cast information for each movie.
- Jeremy Urquhart
- Senior Author
- 'The Exorcist' (1973) Given The Exorcist is arguably the greatest horror movie of all time, or at least the very best demonic possession movie of all time, it's easy to select it as William Friedkin's best film overall.
- 'The French Connection' (1971) 14 years before To Live and Die in L.A., William Friedkin made something somewhat similar - and perhaps even a little better - with 1971's The French Connection.
- 'To Live and Die in L.A.' (1985) Neo-noir thrillers from the 1980s don't get a whole lot better than To Live and Die in L.A. This is a downbeat and unpredictable action/crime/thriller movie that never lets up for almost two hours, following a Secret Service agent who's willing to take some extreme risks when it comes to taking down a counterfeiter, given he has personal/revenge-related reasons for doing so.
- 'Sorcerer' (1977) A seemingly straightforward adventure/thriller movie with a ton of fascinating subtext, Sorcerer deserves its status as one of William Friedkin's very best movies.
A guide to the best films by the Oscar-winning director of The French Connection and The Exorcist, from his New Hollywood classics to his recent legal drama. See ratings, reviews, and trailers for his thrillers, horrors, and dramas.
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1. The French Connection. 1971 1h 44m R. 7.7 (136K) Rate. 94 Metascore. A pair of NYPD detectives in the Narcotics Bureau stumble onto a heroin smuggling ring based in Marseilles, but stopping them and capturing their leaders proves an elusive goal. Director William Friedkin Stars Gene Hackman Roy Scheider Fernando Rey. 2. The Exorcist.
