Director Research

“William Friedkin”

William Friedkin (born August 29, 1935) is an American film director, producer and screenwriter best known for directing The French Connection in 1971 and The Exorcist  in 1973. . He has won many awards in his life but his passion and enthusiasm for directing movies is still at the same peak as it was when he first made a documentary in his high school.

William Friedkin, an inspiration?

Friedkin's mother was an operating room nurse. His father was a merchant seaman, semi-pro softball player and ultimately sold clothes in a men's discount chain. Ultimately, his father never earned more than $50/week in his whole life and died indigent. Eventually young Will became infatuated with Orson Welles after seeing Citizen Kane (1941). He went to work for WGN TV immediately after graduating from high school where he started making documentaries, one of which won the Golden Gate Award at the 1962 San Francisco film festival. In 1965, he moved to Hollywood and immediately started directing TV shows, including an episode of the The Alfred Hitchcock Hour (1962). He proved that when there is a will, there is a way, and if you are really passionate about something and wants to get it done, then no one in this world can stop you. He is an inspiration for anyone who wants to reach at the heights of success on which Will is right now and thinks that lack of finance will not let them do this.

Early WorkAs 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. In 1967 he directed a TV pilot for the ABC network called "The Pickle Brothers". It was written and produced by Dee Caruso and Gerald Gardner, and Quincy Jones did the music. Several other "art" films followed (including the gay-themed movie The Boys in the Band), although Friedkin did not want to be known as an art house director. He wanted to be known for action, serious drama, and for stories about an America turned upside down by crime, hypocrisy, the occult, and amorality, which he mounted up into his films. In addition, America was changing in the wake of Vietnam, The Sexual Revolution, and Watergate. Friedkin wanted to reflect what was going on.

Critical SuccessIn 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 an 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 Award.

Personal LifeWilliam Friedkin has been married four times:

Jeanne Moreau, married February 8, 1977 and divorced in 1979.

Lesley-Anne Down, married in 1982 and divorced in 1985.

Kelly Lange, married on June 7, 1987, and divorced in 1990.

Sherry Lansing, married on July 6, 1991. They remain married as of April 2013.

While he was filming The Boys in the Band in 1970, Friedkin began a relationship with Kitty Hawks, daughter of director Howard. It lasted two years, during which the couple announced their engagement, but the relationship ended about 1972. Friedkin began a four-year relationship with Australian dancer and choreographer Jennifer Nairn-Smith in 1972.

Although they announced an engagement twice, they never married. They did, however, have a son, Cedric, born on November 27, 1976.

Friedkin and his second wife, Lesley-Anne Down, also had a son, Jack, born in 1983.

Some Famous Movies

The Famous Connection

The Exorcist Cruising To Live and Die in

L.A Rampage

Killer Joe

Some Awards He has Won

1 Academy Award 1 Directors Guild of

America Award 2 Golden Globes

Awards 1 Cognac Festival du

Film Policier Award 3 Saturn Awards Movie Masterpiece Award for Exorcist

And Many More.

His Directing Style

This is a secret, revealed on the DVDs, which all the aforementioned contemporary imitators would do well to heed. Friedkin never told his camera people what the action would be. They were left to find it themselves. But still struggling to be “professionals,” the cameramen would make their jerks and searches as subtle as possible, leaving the audience with the feeling that not only are they in the action but everything is moving so quickly they are struggling to keep up. Now in his seventies, Will is directing what is perhaps the most stylized medium of them all – Opera. Working with Los Angeles Opera, among other companies, Friedkin has directed in Europe, Israel, and on both coasts. And, if he has his way, there will be a new term soon - documentary – induced – opera.

Made BY:-Syed Shan Tariq

As-F

References:-

http://topmoviedirectors.com/william_friedkin.htm

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001243/bio?ref_=nm_ov_bio_sm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Friedkin