William Friedkin, the grittily virtuosic, famously tough straight-shooter passed away at age 87 Monday, leaving behind a legacy and wide-ranging career as unique, complex and tough as nails as the filmmaker himself was known to be. Both a crafty auteur of nonfiction fare where he got his earnest start and a popular household name thanks to “The Exorcist” — who among us have not spent many a sleepless night traumatized by visions of Linda Blair’s evil grin and weightlessly spinning head? — Friedkin did it all for the moving image, with over 40 credits across film, TV and music videos to his name.
Source: William Friedkin’s Tough-as-Nails Cinema Leaves a Legacy as Unique and Resolute as He Was – IMDb