William Friedkin, Director of ‘French Connection’ and ‘Exorcist,’ Dies at 87

William Friedkin died in Los Angeles on Monday. No cause of death has yet been confirmed. The director was said to have suffered health issues in recent years.

Friedkin died before his latest movie, The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial, could hit screens at the Venice Film Festival beginning on 30 August.

Though his career started in the early 1960s, his most notable success came in the following decade with the release of 1971’s The French Connection. The film’s five Oscars included best picture and best actor for Gene Hackman.

The Exorcist, released in 1973, had audiences horrified and entranced by the story of a 12-year-old girl possessed by the devil. News media at the time reported cinemagoers fainting and vomiting in their seats, and people leaving the theatre shaking and screaming.

His other films included the drama The Boys in the Band (1970), the thriller Sorcerer (1977), the crime comedy-drama The Brink’s Job (1978), the crime thriller Cruising (1980), the neo-noir thriller To Live and Die in L.A. (1985), the psychological horror film Bug (2006), and the black comedy Killer Joe (2011).

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