William Friedkin, who directed the classic movies The Exorcist and The French Connection, has died aged 87.

His wife, producer and former studio head Sherry Lansing, said he died in LA earlier today, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

The Oscar-winning director was seen as one of the most influential filmmakers of his generation and was part of the “New Hollywood” movement in cinema in the 1970s.

Friedkin was nominated for an Oscar for his 1973 supernatural horror film The Exorcist – one of the most iconic films in the history of cinema.

He had already won best director for his 1971 crime thriller The French Connection which was released two years earlier.

The Exorcist was based on William Peter Blatty’s best-selling novel about a 12-year-old girl possessed by the devil.

The harrowing scenes of the girl’s possession helped make it a box-office sensation.

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It wasn’t unusual to hear of viewers who were so scared they fled the cinema before it was over and some reported being unable to sleep for days afterward.

It received 10 Oscar nominations, including one for Friedkin as director, and won two, for Blatty’s script and for sound.

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