Anecdotes

According to writer/director Larry Cohen, composer Bernard Herrmann was approached by Friedkin to score L'Exorciste (1973). After screening the movie to Herrmann, Friedkin said, "I want you to write me a better score than you wrote for Citizen Kane (1941)", to which Herrmann replied, "Then why don't you make a better movie than 'Citizen Kane'?".

Often goes to extreme lengths to get the desired realism in his scenes. Infamous examples include the illegal car chase from French Connection (1971) (which employed a stunt driver racing amidst unsuspecting drivers and pedestrians), and his effective tactics to get certain reactions from his actors in L'Exorciste (1973) (discharging firearms close to the actors' ears, slapping them in the face, violently yanking them with ropes, etc.).

Had once been considered by fellow filmmaker Michael Mann for the original role of Hannibal Lecter in Le Sixième Sens (1986).

Does not like to work with storyboards.

Was offered the chance to direct L'Exorciste (1973) by producer William Peter Blatty after Blatty screened French Connection (1971). Warner Bros. had been pressuring him to use another director but after seeing Friedkin's film, Blatty decided he wanted the film of his novel to be infused with as much energy as Friedkin had brought to The French Connection (1971).

The night he won his Academy Award for directing French Connection (1971), he was riding with his manager when their Rolls-Royce broke down several miles from the ceremony. They had to hitch a ride from a driver at a gas station in order to arrive in time.

He directed five different actors in Oscar-nominated performances: Gene Hackman, Roy Scheider, Jason Miller, Ellen Burstyn and Linda Blair. Hackman won an Oscar for French Connection (1971).

He claims that he didn't become a true fan of cinema until the age of 25 when he saw Citizen Kane (1941).

Has cited Mister Babadook (2014) as the scariest movie he has ever seen.

While on his first directing assignment for Suspicion (1962), he was reprimanded by Sir Alfred Hitchcock for not wearing a tie.

He was not a very good student in high school and only barely graduated.

After L'Exorciste (1973), he was planning on making a film about aliens and Atlantis. However, after Rencontres du troisième type (1977) went into production, he abandoned the film and made Le Convoi de la peur (1977) instead.

He was believed to be the youngest person to win the Best Director Oscar, at age 32. Later, he was discovered to have actually been born in 1935, and was age 36 at the time. The record returned to Norman Taurog.

In 1985, he was sued for plagiarism by Michael Mann, who claimed that Police fédérale, Los Angeles (1985) stole the entire concept of Mann's TV series Deux flics à Miami (1984). Mann lost the lawsuit.

His music video for Laura Branigan's song "Self Control" has never been shown in its entirety on MTV. Friedkin's uncut version features a brief shot of a female breast.

In an interview in Linda Ruth Williams' book "The Erotic Thriller in Contemporary Cinema", Friedkin said that Jade (1995) is his favorite of all his films.

He has directed two films that have been selected for the National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically or aesthetically" significant: French Connection (1971) and L'Exorciste (1973).

With the death of Mike Nichols, Friedkin became the earliest surviving Best Director Oscar winner, all the winners before 1972 having passed on. With Friedkin's death, Francis Ford Coppola became the earliest surviving winner (for The Godfather, Part 2).

Began his career in the mailroom of WGN-TV in Chicago. Within two years, he was directing live television.

He was a very talented basketball player in his youth and considered pursuing that as a profession.

He wanted Steve McQueen for the lead role on Le Convoi de la peur (1977), but Steve's condition was that his wife had a role, which Friedkin would not accept.

He was awarded a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6925 Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood, California on August 14, 1997.

Joe Eszterhas, in "Hollywood Animal: A Memoir", claims that Friedkin's wife Sherry Lansing, the boss of Paramount Pictures' Motion Picture Group, made Eszterhas issue a statement that he supported Paramount's hiring of Friedkin as director for his Jade (1995) script. In truth, Eszterhas did not want the former Oscar-winner, whom he considered a washed-up has-been, to direct the picture, but he deferred to Lansing's wishes.

Attended high school with writer/director Philip Kaufman.

In 1997, it was announced that "The Ripper Diaries", a film he was scheduled to direct with Sir Anthony Hopkins starring, had been put on hold.

Filed for divorce from Lesley Anne Down in August 1985.

He was going to work with Peter Gabriel on a film project, but Gabriel was caught up with work with his former band Genesis on the album "The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway" (1974). The project was called off.

His two most famous films, French Connection (1971) and L'Exorciste (1973), both begin in a foreign country, in which something in that country is brought over to the United States and then dealt with by US "authorities" in that field. The French Connection (1971) has drugs coming from France and then dealt with by US narcotics officers; The Exorcist (1973) has a demonic presence (from an idol) coming from Iraq to the United States, and dealt with by priests in the US.

Profiled in "Conversations with Directors: An Anthology of Interviews from Literature/Film Quarterly", E.M. Walker, D.T. Johnson, eds. Lanham, MD: Scarecrow Press (2008).

Directed two of the American Film Institute's top 100 most thrilling movies: L'Exorciste (1973) at #3 and French Connection (1971) at #8.

Has two sons: Jackson Friedkin with Lesley-Anne Down; and Cedric Friedkin with Australian dancer Jennifer Nairn-Smith. The boys' nanny was Lala Sloatman.

His son Jack was born in 1982.

Ex-stepfather of Jérôme Richard.

Biography in: John Wakeman, editor. "World Film Directors, Volume Two, 1945-1985". Pages 372-375. New York: The H.W. Wilson Company (1988).