Francis Ford Coppola Remembers William Friedkin: “Billy’s Work Represents True Milestones In Cinema”

Francis Ford Coppola and William Friedkin went back more than half a century, including their days in the Directors Company, the short-lived production entity they and Peter Bogdanovich launched in the early 1970s.

After Friedkin’s death today at 87, Coppola issued a statement paying tribute to The Exorcist and The French Connection director, which reads in part, “His lovable, irascible personality was cover for a beautiful, brilliant, deep-feeling giant of a man.” Read it in full below.

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“William Friedkin was my first friend among the filmmakers of my generation and I grieve for the loss of a much-loved companion,” five-time Oscar winner Coppola wrote. “His accomplishments in Cinema are extraordinary and unique. He is the only colleague I knew whose work actually saved a man’s life (The People vs. Paul Crump). Billy’s work represents true milestones in Cinema, a list which will never be forgotten; certainly The French Connection, The Exorcist and Sorcerer, but all of his films are alive with his genius. Pick any of them out of a hat and you’ll be dazzled. His lovable, irascible personality was cover for a beautiful, brilliant, deep-feeling giant of a man. It’s very hard to grasp that I will never enjoy his company again, but his work will at least stand in for him.”

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