¬ Announcement: ShareTV is now streaming full-length episodes of TV Shows from
ABC &
ABC Family
 |
William Friedkin
Age: 74
Height: 6'
Birth Place: Chicago, Illinois, USA
Born: Aug. 29th, 1935
+ Add to My Celebs
|
William Friedkin's Main TV Roles
NOTE: Complete List of Works can be found at
IMDB
BIOGRAPHY: Friedkin's mother was an operating room nurse. His father was a merchant seaman, semi-pro softball player and ultimately sold clothes in a men's discount chain. He never earned more than $50/week in his whole life and died indigent. Friedkin became infatuated with Orson Welles after seeing Citizen Kane (1941). He went to work for WGN TV immediately after graduating from high school where he started making documentaries, one of which won the Golden Gate Award at the 1962 San Francisco film festival. In 1965, he moved to Hollywood and immediately started directing TV shows, including an episode of the "The Alfred Hitchcock Hour" (1962). Hitchcock chastised him for not wearing a tie.
TRIVIA:
- Does not like to work with storyboards.
- He directed 5 different actors in Oscar-nominated performances: 'Gene Hackman' (qv), 'Roy Scheider' (qv), 'Jason Miller (I)' (qv), 'Ellen Burstyn' (qv) and 'Linda Blair' (qv). Hackman won an Oscar for _The French Connection (1971)_ (qv).
- His video for 'Laura Branigan' (qv)'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 "Hollywood Animal: A Memoir," 'Joe Eszterhas' (qv) claims that Friedkin's wife 'Sherry Lansing' (qv), the boss of Paramount Pictures' Motion Picture Group, made him issue a statement that he supported Paramount's hiring of Friedkin as director for his _Jade (1995)_ (qv) script. In truth, Eszterhas did not want the former Oscar-winner, whom he considered a washed-up has-been, to direct the picture, but deferred to Lansing's wishes.
- 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 36 at the time. The record returned to 'Norman Taurog' (qv).
- Biography in: John Wakeman, editor. "World Film Directors, Volume Two, 1945-1985". Pages 372-375. New York: The H.W. Wilson Company, 1988.
- After _The Exorcist (1973)_ (qv), he was planning on making a film about Aliens and Atlantis. But, after _Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977)_ (qv) went into production, he abandoned the film and made _Sorcerer (1977)_ (qv), instead.
- In 1985, was sued for plagiarism by 'Michael Mann (I)' (qv), who claimed that _To Live and Die in L.A. (1985)_ (qv) stole the entire concept of Mann's TV series _"Miami Vice" (1984)_ (qv). Mann lost the lawsuit.
William Friedkin Photos | powered by  |
Previous |
Next (1)
William Friedkin Fans [0]
Page created in 0.0853 seconds
Facebook
Twitter
