William Friedkin, renowned director of The Exorcist, passes away at 87.
Oscar-winning Director William Friedkin Passes Away at 87
Oscar-winning director William Friedkin, best known for his films The Exorcist and The French Connection, passed away in Los Angeles on Monday at the age of 87. His wife, Sherry Lansing, a former producer and Paramount Pictures studio head, confirmed his death.
A Pioneer of the “New Hollywood” Movement
Friedkin’s cinematic contributions in the 1970s garnered attention during the “New Hollywood” movement, when young directors produced experimental films that broke the mold of the typical studio movie.
The French Connection: A Cinematic Triumph
Friedkin’s 1971 film The French Connection won five Oscars and revolved around the seizure of a large amount of heroin smuggled on a French ocean liner.
The Exorcist: A Terrifying Masterpiece
His other famous film, The Exorcist, depicts a young girl possessed by a demon and a priest attempting to rescue her through an exorcism. Friedkin went to inventive lengths to capture genuine and surprised responses from the actors, including using a mixture meant to look like vomit (really porridge and pea soup) to elicit an expression of true disgust.
Friedkin even installed a refrigeration system costing $50,000 to cool the set to 20 degrees below zero, making the actors’ breath visible during the chilling exorcism scene in the bedroom.
A Different Perspective on Horror
William Peter Blatty, the late author of the 1971 book The Exorcist that inspired the movie, revealed that he had originally planned to write a non-fictional account of an exorcism, not a horror novel.
“Bill Friedkin never thought it was a horror film and neither did I. When I was writing the novel, I thought I was crafting a supernatural detective story with an apostolic intent,” Blatty said in a 2013 interview.
He added, “I cannot to this day recall a moment when I thought, ‘Ah, this ought to scare the bejesus out of them.'”
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