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William Friedkin, the groundbreaking US director of “The Exorcist” and “The French Connection,” died on Monday, Aug. 7, a family friend told AFP. He was 87.
Friedkin passed away in Los Angeles after suffering unspecified health issues in recent years, said Stephen Galloway, a former Hollywood Reporter executive editor.
“He died this morning,” confirmed Galloway, after speaking with Friedkin’s wife.
The director had “been working until a few weeks ago,” but “had been in declining health,” he added.
Oscar-winning director Guillermo del Toro led the tributes on Monday, calling Friedkin “one of the Gods of Cinema.”
“Cinema has lost a true Scholar and I have lost a dear, loyal and true friend,” he wrote on social media.
Fellow horror director Eli Roth posted a tribute on Instagram to “one of the most impactful directors of all time” who “set the course of my life in a different direction.”
Actor Elijah Wood described Friedkin as “a true cinematic master whose influence will continue to extend forever.”
Friedkin was among a crop of influential young “New Hollywood” directors in the 1970s who fundamentally reshaped the US film industry, upsetting a long-established system in which powerful studio producers had reigned supreme.
