Question: Gene Hackman won an Academy Award for best actor in a movie directed by who ?
Context: The French Connection is a 1971 American crime thriller film directed by William Friedkin and produced by Philip D'Antoni.  It stars Gene Hackman, Fernando Rey, and Roy Scheider.  The film was adapted and fictionalized by Ernest Tidyman from the 1969 non-fiction book by Robin Moore.  It tells the story of New York Police Department detectives Jimmy "Popeye" Doyle and Buddy "Cloudy" Russo, whose real-life counterparts were Narcotics Detectives Eddie Egan and Sonny Grosso.  Don Ellis scored the film. Russell Ira Crowe (born 7 April 1964) is an actor, film producer and musician.  Although a New Zealand citizen, he has lived most of his life in Australia.  He came to international attention for his role as the Roman General Maximus Decimus Meridius in the 2000 historical epic film "Gladiator", directed by Ridley Scott, for which Crowe won an Academy Award for Best Actor, a Broadcast Film Critics Association Award for Best Actor, an Empire Award for Best Actor and a London Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actor and 10 further nominations for best actor. Eugene Allen "Gene" Hackman (born January 30, 1930) is a retired American actor and novelist.  In a career spanning nearly five decades, Hackman was nominated for five Academy Awards, winning Best Actor in "The French Connection" and Best Supporting Actor in "Unforgiven".  He won three Golden Globes and two BAFTAs. Banning is a 1967 film directed by Ron Winston and starring Robert Wagner, Jill St. John, Gene Hackman, Guy Stockwell and James Farentino.  Quincy Jones and Bob Russell were nominated for an Academy Award for the song, "The Eyes of Love." Melanie Richards Griffith (born August 9, 1957) is an American actress.  Griffith began her career as an adolescent in nonspeaking film roles before making her credited debut opposite Gene Hackman in Arthur Penn's "Night Moves" (1975).  She rose to prominence for her role in Brian De Palma's "Body Double" (1984), which earned her a National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Supporting Actress.  Griffith's subsequent performance in "Something Wild" (1986) garnered critical acclaim before she was cast in 1988's "Working Girl", which earned her a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Actress and won her a Golden Globe. The Poseidon Adventure is a 1972 American disaster film directed by Ronald Neame, produced by Irwin Allen, and based on Paul Gallico's eponymous 1969 novel.  It features an ensemble cast, including five Academy Award winners: Gene Hackman, Ernest Borgnine, Jack Albertson, Shelley Winters, and Red Buttons.  Parts of the movie were filmed aboard the  .  The plot centers on the fictional SS "Poseidon", an aged luxury liner on her final voyage from New York City to Athens before being sent to the scrapyard.  On New Year's Eve, she is overturned by a Tsunami.  Passengers and crew are trapped inside, and a rebellious preacher attempts to lead a small group of survivors to safety. French Connection II is a 1975 crime drama film starring Gene Hackman and directed by John Frankenheimer.  It is a fictional sequel to the initially true story of the 1971 Academy Award winning picture "The French Connection".  The film expands on the central character of Det. Jimmy "Popeye" Doyle who travels to Marseille, France where he is attempting to track down French drug-dealer Alain Charnier, who escaped at the end of the first film.  Hackman won an Academy Award for Best Actor for the original "The French Connection" and he and Fernando Rey are the only returning cast members. Under Fire is a 1983 American political thriller film set during the last days of the Nicaraguan Revolution that ended the Somoza regime in 1979 Nicaragua.  It stars Nick Nolte, Gene Hackman and Joanna Cassidy.  The musical score by Jerry Goldsmith, which featured well-known jazz guitarist Pat Metheny, was nominated for an Academy Award.  The editing by Mark Conte and John Bloom was nominated for a BAFTA Award for Best Editing. The Film was shot in the Mexican states of Chiapas and Oaxaca. Detective Jimmy "Popeye" Doyle is a fictional character portrayed by actor Gene Hackman in the films "The French Connection" (1971) and its sequel, "French Connection II" (1975), and by Ed O'Neill in the 1986 television film "Popeye Doyle".  Hackman won the Academy Award for Best Actor for his performance in "The French Connection".  The character is based on a real-life New York City police detective, Eddie Egan, who also appeared in the film as Walt Simonson, Popeye's supervisor.  Popeye, as played by Hackman in "The French Connection", is ranked number 44 as a hero on the AFI's 100 Years...100 Heroes and Villains list. Scarecrow is a 1973 U.S. road movie directed by Jerry Schatzberg, and starring Gene Hackman and Al Pacino.  The story revolves around the relationship between two men who travel from California, aiming to start a business in Pittsburgh.
Answer: William Friedkin