Academy Award-winning director William Friedkin donated the bulk of his personal film collection to the Archive in July 1992, with additional elements arriving in 1994 and 1996. Spanning Friedkin’s varied career as a director, writer, and producer, the collection is comprised of more than 120 items, including prints, trims, and outtakes from many of his films. Titles represented include “The French Connection” (1971), for which he won the Academy Award for Best Directing, “The Exorcist” (1973), for which he was nominated for a Best Directing Oscar, “To Live and Die in L.A.” (1985), and “Cruising” (1980), as well as an early documentary made for television, “The People vs. Paul Crump” (1962). The collection also includes videotaped auditions and rushes from more than 20 days of filming on “Jade” (1995).
The material at the Academy Film Archive is complemented by material in the William Friedkin papers at the Academy’s Margaret Herrick Library.