William Friedkin

William Friedkin Movies and TV Shows

William Friedkin is an American film director, producer and screenwriter best known for directing The French Connection in 1971 and The Exorcist in 1973; for the former, he won the Academy Award for Best Director. Some of his other films include Sorcerer, Cruising, To Live and Die in L.A., Jade, Rules of Engagement, The Hunted, Bug, and Killer Joe. As mentioned in Friedkin's voice-over commentary on the DVD re-release of Alfred Hitchcock's Vertigo, Friedkin directed one of the last episodes of The Alfred Hitchcock Hour in 1965, called "Off Season". Hitchcock admonished Friedkin for not wearing a tie while directing. In 1965 Friedkin moved to Hollywood and two years later released his first feature film, Good Times starring Sonny and Cher. Several other "art" films followed, including the adaptation of Mart Crowley's The Boys in the Band and most notably The Birthday Party, based on an unpublished screenplay by Harold Pinter, which he adapted from his own play. Friedkin, however, did not want to be known as an art house director, but rather for action and serious drama through stories about an America upended by crime, hypocrisy, the occult, and amorality. All of which he mounted up into his films to reflect what was going on in an America that was changing in the wake of Vietnam, the Sexual Revolution, and Watergate. In 1971, his The French Connection was released to wide critical acclaim. Shot in a gritty style more suited for documentaries than Hollywood features, the film won five Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Director. Friedkin followed up with 1973's The Exorcist, based on William Peter Blatty's best-selling novel, which revolutionized the horror genre and is considered by some critics to be one of the greatest horror movies of all time. The Exorcist was nominated for 10 Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Director. It won the Best Screenplay and Best Sound Mixing. Following these two pictures, Friedkin, along with Francis Ford Coppola and Peter Bogdanovich, was deemed one of the premier directors of New Hollywood; In 1973 the trio announced the formation of an independent production company at Paramount, The Directors Company. Whereas Coppola directed The Conversation and Bogdanovich, the Henry James adaptation, Daisy Miller, Friedkin abruptly left the company, which was soon closed by Paramount. Friedkin's later movies did not achieve the same success. Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, Friedkin's films received mostly lackluster reviews and moderate ticket sales. However, his action/crime movie To Live and Die in L.A. (1985), starring William Petersen and Willem Dafoe, was a critical favorite and drew comparisons to Friedkin's own The French Connection (particularly for its car-chase sequence). In 2011 Friedkin directed Killer Joe, a black comedy written by Tracy Letts, and starring Matthew McConaughey. Killer Joe premiered at the 68th Venice International Film Festival, prior to its North American debut at the 2011 Toronto International Film Festival. In April 2013 Friedkin published a memoir, The Friedkin Connection. He was presented with a lifetime achievement award at the 70th Venice International Film Festival in September.

Personal info

  • Gender: Male
  • Date of birth: 29/08/1935 (89 years old)
  • Place of birth: Chicago, Illinois, USA
  • nationality: American
  • height: 1.83 m
  • Net worth: $70,000,000
  • twitter: WilliamFriedkin
Year
Genre
IMDB
TMDB
Available on the following streaming services in the UK
2023

Drama

War & Politics

6.8
67%
2020

Animation

Documentary

6.4
66%
The Devil and Father Amorth
IMDB 4.6
TMDB 51%
role:
Writer & 2 more
2018

Documentary

Horror

4.6
51%
Magician: The Astonishing Life and Work of Orson Welles
IMDB 6.9
TMDB 69%
role:
Self - Filmmaker (archive footage)
2014

Documentary

6.9
69%
Killer Joe
IMDB 6.7
TMDB 65%
role:
Director
2011

Comedy

Crime

Drama

Thriller

6.7
65%
Making the Boys
IMDB 7.3
TMDB 56%
role:
Himself
Not available
2011

Documentary

7.3
56%
Not available
Bug
IMDB 6.1
TMDB 61%
role:
Director
2007

Drama

Horror

Thriller

6.1
61%
The Hunted
IMDB 6.1
TMDB 62%
role:
Director
2003

Action

Crime

Drama

Thriller

6.1
62%
2000

Action

Adventure

Drama

History

War & Politics

6.4
62%
12 Angry Men
IMDB 7.8
TMDB 77%
role:
Director
1997

Crime

Drama

TV Movie

7.8
77%
Jade
IMDB 5.3
TMDB 54%
role:
Director
1995

Mystery

Thriller

5.3
54%
Blue Chips
IMDB 6.3
TMDB 61%
role:
Director
1994

Drama

6.3
61%
The Guardian
IMDB 5.4
TMDB 57%
role:
Director & 1 more
1990

Drama

Horror

Mystery

Thriller

5.4
57%
To Live and Die in L.A.
IMDB 7.3
TMDB 71%
role:
Director & 1 more
1985

Action

Crime

Thriller

7.3
71%
Cruising
IMDB 6.5
TMDB 64%
role:
Writer & 1 more
1980

Crime

Drama

Horror

Mystery

Thriller

6.5
64%
Sorcerer
IMDB 7.7
TMDB 74%
role:
Producer & 1 more
1977

Adventure

Thriller

7.7
74%
The Exorcist
IMDB 8.1
TMDB 77%
role:
Director
1973

Horror

8.1
77%
Paper Moon
IMDB 8.1
TMDB 79%
role:
Executive Producer
1973

Comedy

Crime

Drama

8.1
79%
1971

Action

Crime

Thriller

7.7
75%

FAQs

Some movies or TV shows available in the UK starring or involving William Friedkin are, for example, The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial, Magician: The Astonishing Life and Work of Orson Welles and Killer Joe.
The streaming services with the largest selection are Prime Video, iTunes and Amazon.
The best StreamFat ratings are Paper Moon (8.0), The Exorcist (7.9) and 12 Angry Men (7.8).