William Friedkin, the Oscar-winning director who was part of the new wave of American filmmakers of the 1970s, died Aug. 7.  He was 87.

The wealth and fame that he achieved were a stark contrast from his humble beginnings in working-class Chicago, where Friedkin was born in  to Jewish immigrants from Ukraine.

In his youth he became fascinated by the works of auteurs such as Welles,  Bergman, and Godard and yearned to emulate what he saw. 

His passport to showbiz was via the mailroom of a TV station.  He rose up the ranks to work on productions.

He eventually proceeded to direct hundreds of local television programs, ranging from kids' shows to live broadcasts.

This was a valuable training ground for Friedkin, who learned to deliver effectively and, most importantly, within the budget and schedule.

His directorial efforts on TV drew the attention of documentary producers.  In 1962 he made The People vs. Paul Crump, about an inmate on death row.

But his big break came in 1971 with The French Connection, a gritty low-budget crime drama that catapulted Gene Hackman to superstardom.

The film was based on two tough New York City cops who uncovered an international heroin-trafficking gang.

Friedkin shot the film in an inducted documentary style much like the new wave cinema in Europe. 

In addition to shooting on a handheld camera, there was almost no background score.  The dialogue was minimal, and the film was shot on locations.  Friedkin was determined to dismantle all the clichés of films based on cops at that time.

The film had one of the earliest realistic portrayals of cops on the streets.

It wasn't simply the flawless good versus meritless evil.

The "good," represented by Detective Jimmy "Popeye" Doyle, was rough and uncouth and often violated the very laws he was on duty to maintain.  The "bad," represented by the drug baron played by Spanish actor Fernando Rey, was the opposite of Doyle: debonair, soft-spoken, enjoying fine dining and looking professorial.

The cat-and-mouse game between the cops and the drug barons was punctuated by a nail biting pursuit on foot and an exhilarating car chase which many consider the best of its kind.

The chase involves Hackman's Doyle speeding through the streets, relentlessly honking as he dodges everything from trash cans to a baby carriage.

The chase was shot without permission from the authorities.  Friedkin later admitted that his reckless adventurism could have endangered lives.

It was this guerrilla style of filmmaking that gave the film its realism, as if it were just happening and being captured it on film by happenstance.

The French Connection was a hit.  It cost $2 million and made over $50 million.

The French Connection also earned other plaudits.

It ranks among the top 100 movies of the American Film Institute.  It won five Oscars, including best picture, best director, and best actor for Hackman.

Friedkin's next was The Exorcist (1973), about a teenage girl who seems possessed by a mysterious demonic entity.

Friedkin made a conscious attempt avoid the typical horror route. 

The film unfolds like a touching human drama.  The girl's predicament is treated as a medical situation.  The girl's mother seeks the assistance of two Catholic priests only when the scientific and psychiatric route has been exhausted.  There are many key "horror" elements as thr film unfolds, but none seems contrived.

Friedkin often adopted unconventional methods to extract realistic performances from his actors. 

He struck a real priest who appeared in The Exorcist in order that he would be reduced to tears for the performance.  He also discharged firearms (with blanks) to provoke startled reactions from actors while filming. 

When originally released in the U.K., a number of town councils imposed a complete ban on the showing of the film. 

It became the highest-grossing Warner Bros. film of all time when adjusted for inflation and the first horror film to earn an Academy Award nomination for best picture.

The film was nominated for ten Oscars, though it won only two: Best Screenplay and Best Sound.

Noted film critic Mark Kermode calls The Exorcist the best film ever made.

After spectacular successes, Friedkin suffered two high-profile flops.

The adventure film Sorcerer (1977), a remake of Clouzot's 1953 classic The Wages of Fear, about men driving truckloads of nitroglycerin through a jungle, was a failure.

Cruising (1980), starring Al Pacino as an undercover cop on the hunt for a serial killer targeting the gay community, was universally panned.

Both films were over budget and behind schedule in addition to being commercial failures.  History has been kinder to them, but the flops scuppered Friedkin's reputation with Hollywood studio executives.

During the '80s Friedkin, suffered further setbacks.

He made Deal of the Century (1983), a satire about an arms dealer starring Chevy Chase.  The film was a critical and commercial failure.

He also made To Live and Die in L.A. (1985), about a Secret Service agent's relentless pursuit of a counterfeiting operation.  The film wasn't well received by critics and failed at the box office.  Decades later, the film received the appreciation it deserved from both critics and audiences.  The film featured a memorable backward-on-the-freeway car chase.

Friedkin also made music videos for artists such as Barbara Streisand and Laura Branigan.

He made the Joe Eszterhas–penned erotic thriller Jade (1995), which flopped rather badly.

The 1995 sports drama called Blue Chips didn't do very well with fans and critics.

But in 1997, Friedkin had a revival.  His television remake of Twelve Angry Men, starring Jack Lemmon and George C. Scott, earned him plaudits.

He also adapted Tracy Letts's stage plays Bug (2006) and Killer Joe (2011).  Both films received great acclaim from critics and viewers.  They marked a return to form for the auteur.

Friedkin published his memoir, The Friedkin Connection, in 2013.  He also received the honorary Golden Lion lifetime achievement award at the Venice Film Festival that same year.

Friedkin also directed operas such as Richard Strauss's Salome, Jacques Offenbach's The Tales of Hoffmann, and Il Tabarro.

Friedkin's last movie, The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial, with a script by novelist Herman Wouk, is scheduled to premiere at the Venice Film Festival this summer.

Friedkin was a great raconteur, often regaling audiences about his cinematic journey and his experiences dealing with Hollywood studios.  He also reflected with frankness on his failures as a filmmaker.

He lambasted modern blockbusters for being over-reliant on superheroes, special effects, and spectacle instead of story, plot, and character.

His passing leaves a void.  Filmmaker Guillermo del Toro summarized Friedkin's legacy perfectly.

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. William Friedkin has left us. We were blessed to have him.

Image: New York Film Academy via YouTube, CC BY 3.0 (cropped).