On This Day

Birthday of William Friedkin

August 29th 1935

10:47 29 August 2024

American film director William Friedkin was born on this day in 1935. His directorial career began in the early 1960s making live television shows and documentaries for WGN-TV in Chicago. After moving to Hollywood he made his feature debut, the musical comedy 'Good Times' (1967) starring Sonny and Cher. It was an inauspicious beginning and the director has since called the movie "unwatchable".

An adaptation of Harold Pinter's 'The Birthday Party' (1968) was next, followed by 'The Night they Raided Minsky's' (1968) and 'The Boys in the Band' (1970). It was his next two films that brought Friedkin major critical and commercial success and confirmed his status as a leading director of "New Hollywood".

'The French Connection' (1971) starring Gene Hackman as tough NYPD cop Popeye Doyle was shot in a gritty documentary style showing the influence of the directors years working in television and won five Academy Awards including Best Picture and a Best Director Oscar for Friedkin. 'The Exorcist' (1973) revolutionized the horror movie genre and is still widely considered to be one of the greatest horror films ever made. William Friedkin passed away last year and although he never matched the success of his two early seventies blockbusters, his skill as a great filmmaker is still clearly evident in his later work including 'Sorcerer' (1977), 'The Brink's Job' (1978), 'Cruising' (1980), 'To Live and Die in L.A.' (1985), 'The Guardian' (1990), 'Jade' (1995) and 'Killer joe' (2011).