William Friedkin, the famed director of The Exorcist, has died. He was 87.

Variety reports that Friedkin died today in Los Angeles; his death was confirmed by Stephen Galloway, a friend of Friedkin’s wife Sherry Lansing who is Dean of Chapman University’s Dodge College of Film and Media Arts.

Friedkin was perhaps best known for 1973’s The Exorcist, but his 1971 film The French Connection was a critical hit before the horror sensation hit theaters. The French Connection earned five Academy Awards, Best Director and Best Picture among them. Friedkin beat out some impressive competition to win the Best Director category at the 1972 ceremony, defeating Stanley Kubrick (A Clockwork Orange), Peter Bogdanovich (The Last Picture Show) and Norman Jewison (Fiddler on the Roof).

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