Wednesday, April 24, 2013

Another Uptown Luminary

This is pretty cool.  Uptowner John Holden had a chance to meet director William Friedkin last week and found out he's just an Uptown guy at heart:
"I went to hear a lecture [on April 16th] at the Harold Washington Library by legendary Oscar-winning director William Friedkin of The Exorcist and French Connection fame.  I knew he was a Chicago guy, but just learned he grew up poor in Uptown.

He was very generous in talking to attendees afterward and he told me he first lived at 4826 N. Sheridan [UU Note: above Asha Foods, at Gunnison] and then moved to Foster and Sheridan.  He is a graduate of the Stewart School, and he seemed deeply saddened when I told him it was closing after this year.

I started reading his book and it is loaded with a lot of great stories from his youth, including the time he was pinched for shoplifting at the Goldblatt's store on Broadway [UU Note: Broadway & Racine].  I said there should be an honorary street name for him in Uptown and he said he would come back for the occasion if there ever was one.

Friedkin's wife is Sherry Lansing, who was probably the most powerful woman in the history of Hollywood history."
So how 'bout it, Aldermen?  Can we honor Mr. Friedkin with a street -- another way to reinforce the perception that Uptown is Chicago's Entertainment District?

1 comment:

  1. My sardonic disposition suggests the street should be Broadway/Racine. :)

    Thanks for posting this, UU. Very interesting.

    ReplyDelete