Everyone used to call him Billy Friedkin. William Friedkin has died at age 87 after a rollercoaster life in Hollywood. His back to back hits, “The French Connection” and “The Exorcist,” just preceded the Spielberg-Coppola-Scorsese barrage that followed. Friedkin was the first auteur of the new world of film in 1970 and rode the wave right til the end.
Let’s not diminish that he loved the Hollywood image. He was married to newscaster Kelly Lange, and then to actresses Lesley Anne Warren and French superstar Jeanne Moreau. His final and longest marriage was to genius Hollywood exec Sherry Lansing, in a real love match. Condolences to her and the family.
Friedkin had a lot of trouble on “The Night They Raided Misnky’s,” but it was a hit in 1968 and led to “The Boys in the Band,” which was very cutting edge at the time. Then came “The French Connection” and Gene Hackman and all its Oscars (five including Picture, Director, Actor in 1971. That set him up for life. So to come right back with “The Exorcist” two years later — with people fainting in screenings, women being carried, etc — was remarkable. Friedkin was a legend at a young age.
The rest of the career includes some questionable things like “Cruisin;” and a surprise hit with “To Live and Die in LA.” I met him in 1978 in Boston. I was going to college, he was shooting “The Brinks Job” with Peter Falk. The prep was during the winter, during a now historic snowstorm. But there was also one going on within the production. Cocaine everywhere. Hollywood comes to Boston. Jeanne Moreau visited him at the Copley Plaza. She and I discussed it years later. It was a surreal moment in time. (The movie isn’t very good.)
But Billy Friedkin is in the history books regardless. All you need is one classic that influences generations of filmmakers. That’s “The French Connection.” He won’t be forgotten.
