"He passed away this morning," Stephen Galloway, a former Hollywood Reporter employee, told AFP after speaking to the filmmaker's wife. William Friedkin "worked until a few weeks ago," he said, "but his health was declining."
An explorer of the human soul on the border between good and evil, William Friedkin is a figure of the new Hollywood generation who has freed himself from classic codes, alongside Francis Ford Coppola and Martin Scorsese.
Eminent cinephile, especially connoisseur of French cinema, but also great lover of painting and music, he has experimented with all the genres of the seventh art, without always meeting success in cinemas.
Personalities of the big screen praised Monday the influence of his work.
"Cinema has lost a real expert and I have lost a loved one, loyal, a true friend," director Guillermo del Toro said on social networks, hailing the work of "one of the gods of cinema".
William Friedkin is "one of the most impactful filmmakers of all time," said Eli Roth, actor and director of horror films, assuring on Instagram that the filmmaker had "changed the course of (his) life."
American producer Jason Blum, who is preparing a sequel to "The Exorcist", said he was "personally indebted" to Mr. Friedkin.
"More than other filmmakers, he has changed both the way directors approach horror films, and the perception of these films in general culture," he said in a statement, hailing "all the work he leaves behind."
"Very sad to learn of the death of William Friedkin, a deeply talented filmmaker," said bestselling novelist Stephen King, saying: "The Exorcist is great, but for me the real classic is Sorcerer," another film of the master.
William Friedkin is survived by a wife, former producer Sherry Lansing, and two sons.
© 2023 AFP