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William Friedkin 
Born in Chicago in 1939, Friedkin started his career at age 16 in the mailroom at WGN-TV. Within two years, he was directing live TV, eventually working on more than 2,000 shows and documentaries. In the 1960s, an award-winning documentary Friedkin made for WGN attracted the attention of David L. Wolper, who hired him to direct documentaries for ABC. Friedkin’s feature-film debut came in 1967 with "Good Times," which starred the up-and-coming singing duo Sonny and Cher. His career took off in 1971 with his critically acclaimed hit "The French Connection," starring Gene Hackman. The centerpiece car chase in the film is considered one of the greatest action sequences ever. The film earned five Oscars®, including one for Friedkin as Best Director. He received his second Best Director Oscar® nomination for The Exorcist In 1986, Friedkin returned to TV, directing a Barbra Streisand special for HBO and creating an action series pilot called "C.A.T. Squad." He also directed episodes of the anthology series "The Twilight Zone" (1985) and "Tales from the Crypt" (1989). In 1997, Friedkin was nominated for a DGA award for his direction of the telefilm remake of "12 Angry Men," starring Jack Lemmon and George C. Scott. William Peter Blatty Born in New York City in 1928, Blatty attended Georgetown University and received an MA Degree in English Literature from George Washington University in Washington, DC. It was while attending Georgetown that he first heard about the true exorcism case that eventually led him to write The Exorcist After a stint as a Policy Branch Chief in the Air Force, Blatty moved to Los Angeles and became a publicity director at the University of Southern California. He soon began writing novels: "Which Way to Mecca, Jack?," "John Goldfarb, Please Come Home!" and "Twinkle, Twinkle, Killer Kane." Blatty also began writing screenplays, often collaborating with writer/director Blake Edwards (probably best known for "The Pink Panther" [1964]). "The Exorcist" was published in 1971 and spent 55 weeks on the New York Times Bestseller List. Blatty earned an Oscar® and Golden Globe® for the screenplay adaptation of his book. He made his directorial debut with "The Ninth Configuration," winning another Golden Globe® Award for his screenplay based on his novel "Twinkle, Twinkle, Killer Kane." Blatty also wrote and directed "The Exorcist III," based on his novel "Legion," starring George C. Scott as Lt. Kinderman. Dick Smith Born in Larchmont, NY, in 1922, Smith began his career at NBC in 1945. By 1950, he was head of the makeup department, overseeing all of NBC’s shows. Smith earned several Emmy® nominations, winning in 1967 for "Mark Twain Tonight!" His expertise became old-age makeup, using layers of latex called "stipple." Smith was responsible for turning Dustin Hoffman into a 100-year-old Indian in "Little Big Man," Marlon Brando into the aging don Corleone in "The Godfather," and making David Bowie a decomposing vampire in "The Hunger." His ground-breaking work in "The Exorcist" and "Altered States" set new standards for special effects makeup. Smith won the Oscar® for Best Makeup for "Amadeus," and was nominated again for realistically aging Jack Lemmon in "Dad." |