William Friedkin, Oscar-winning director of 'French Connection' and 'The Exorcist,' dies at 87

William Friedkin, the acclaimed director best known for his Oscar-winning 1971 film "The French Connection" and the 1973 horror classic "The Exorcist," has died at 87.

Friedkin died Monday in Los Angeles. Stephen Galloway, a friend of Friedkin's wife, former studio chief Sherry Lansing, and dean of the film school at Chapman University, confirmed the news to USA TODAY.

The director had been working until recently on his final film, "The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial," starring Kiefer Sutherland as Phillip Queeg. The film will premiere at Venice International Film Festival in September.

The maverick Friedkin was part of a new generation of directors who redefined filmmaking in the 1970s that included Peter Bogdanovich, Francis Ford Coppola and Hal Ashby.

"The French Connection," based on a true story, deals with the efforts of maverick New York City police Detective James "Popeye" Doyle to track down Frenchman Fernando Rey, mastermind of a large drug pipeline funneling heroin into the U.S. It contains one of the most thrilling chase scenes ever filmed between a car and a commuter train, recklessly shot in New York City streets without a permit.

The drama won Friedkin an Academy Award for best director along with best picture, screenplay and film editing, and led critics to hail Friedkin, then just 32, as a leading member of this emerging generation of filmmakers.

He followed with an even bigger blockbuster, "The Exorcist," based on William Peter Blatty’s best-selling novel about a 12-year-old girl possessed by the devil.

The harrowing scenes of the girl’s possession and a splendid cast, including Linda Blair as the girl, Ellen Burstyn as her mother and Max Von Sydow and Jason Miller as the priests who try to exorcise the devil from her, helped make the film a box-office sensation. It was so scary for its era that many viewers fled the theater before it was over and some reported being unable to sleep for days after.

The most infamous moments of "The Exorcist"  − the head-spinning, the levitating, the vomiting − are what many movie fans remember. But the movie was about something much deeper, Friedkin told USA TODAY in 2013.

"It was not a promotion for the Catholic Church but definitely a story about the power of Christ and the mystery of faith that continues to this day," Friedkin says. "I'm flattered when people admire it, but when they call it a horror that's not how I feel about it."

"The Exorcist" received 10 Oscar nominations, including one for Friedkin as director, and won two, for Blatty’s script and for sound.

With that second success, Friedkin would go on to direct movies and TV shows well into the 21st century. But he would never again come close to matching the success of those early works.

Actor Elijah Wood paid tribute on X, formerly known as Twitter, calling Friedkin "a true cinematic master whose influence will continue to extend forever."

Horror producer Jason Blum, whose Blumhouse Productions is behind the upcoming trilogy of upcoming "Exorcist" sequels, wrote that he was "personally indebted to William Friedkin and saddened by his loss. More than any other filmmaker, he changed both the way directors approached horror films and also the perception of horror films in the broader culture."

Director Guillermo del Toro wrote on X, "The world has lost one of the Gods of Cinema. Cinema has lost a true scholar and I have lost a dear, loyal and true friend. We were blessed to have him."

Friedkin's other film credits included "To Live and Die in L.A.," "Cruising," "Rules of Engagement" and a TV remake of the classic play and Sidney Lumet movie "12 Angry Men." Friedkin also directed episodes for such TV shows as "The Twilight Zone," "Rebel Highway" and "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation."

Contributing: Brian Truitt, USA TODAY, and The Associated Press