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William Fruet
William Fruet
Born	January 1, 1933 (age 91); Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada
Occupation(s)	Film director, screenwriter, playwright
Years active	1963–present

William Fruet (born January 1, 1933)^[1] is a Canadian film and television director, playwright and screenwriter. He made his directorial debut with the drama Wedding in White (1972), based on a play he had also written. The film won Best Picture at the Canadian Film Awards in 1973.

His later career included several horror films, including Death Weekend (1972), Cries in the Night (1980), and Killer Party (1986), as well as television series, including Goosebumps and Poltergeist: The Legacy. Other writing credits include the influential Canadian film Goin' Down the Road, which he co-wrote with Donald Shebib.^[2]

Early life and education

Fruet was born in Lethbridge, Alberta, and graduated from the National Theatre School of Canada in 1952. He worked for the CBC as an actor and photographer. He appeared Drylanders (1963), the National Film Board’s first English-language feature film. Between 1962 and 1963, Fruet studied directing at the UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television, and worked as an industrial filmmaker.^[1]^[3]

Career

Fruet began his filmmaking career in Canada after meeting fellow UCLA alumnus Donald Shebib at the CBC.^[3] He wrote the screenplay for Shebib's Goin' Down the Road (1970),^[4] which was a critical and commercial success and is considered a landmark Canadian film. This film has been designated and preserved as a "masterwork" by the Audio-Visual Preservation Trust of Canada.^[5] His other screenwriting credits include Rip-Off (directed by Shebib) and Slipstream.

His directorial debut was the 1972 film Wedding in White. Based on Fruet's play of the same name, the film stars Carol Kane as a teenager in rural Ontario during World War II, who is forced to marry her rapist after he impregnates her. The play and film was based on a real woman Fruet met in his youth, who had been forced to marry an older man by her parents in the same circumstances.^[6] The film received critical acclaim, and won Best Motion Picture at the 24th Canadian Film Awards.^[1]

Fruet's subsequent film directing credits include Death Weekend, Spasms, Search and Destroy, Killer Party, Cries in the Night and Bedroom Eyes. Several of his films have become cult classics among fans of the horror film genre.

His television credits include episodes of The Ray Bradbury Theatre, My Secret Identity, Diamonds, Alfred Hitchcock Presents, Friday the 13th, War of the Worlds, Counterstrike, The Outer Limits, Goosebumps, Poltergeist: The Legacy, The Zack Files, Da Vinci's Inquest, Chasing Rainbows, Code Name: Eternity and Zoe Busiek: Wild Card.^[7] He co-created the television series Code Name: Eternity.

Filmography

Directing

Year	Title	Notes
1972	Wedding in White	Canadian Film Award - Best Picture
1976	Death Weekend	Also known as: The House by the Lake
1979	Search and Destroy
1979	One of Our Own
1980	Cries in the Night	Also known as: Funeral Home
1982	Trapped	Also known as: Baker County, U.S.A
1983	Spasms
1984	Bedroom Eyes
1986	Killer Party
1986	Brothers by Choice	Television film
1987	Blue Monkey
1987–1990	Friday's Curse	Series; 10 episodes
1988	Chasing Rainbows	Miniseries
1988	Alfred Hitchcock Presents	Episode: "If Looks Could Kill"
1988–1990	War of the Worlds	Series; 8 episodes
1990	My Secret Identity	Episode: "David's Dream"
1990–93	Top Cops	Series; 4 episodes
1990–93	Counterstrike	Series; 4 episodes
1995	Mysterious Island	Series; 4 episodes
1995	The Outer Limits	Episode: "Birthright"
1995–96	Lonesome Dove: The Outlaw Years	Series; 2 episodes
1995–98	Goosebumps	Series; 27 episodes
1998	Animorphs	Series; 2 episodes
1998–2003	Da Vinci's Inquest	Series; 2 episodes
1997–99	Poltergeist: The Legacy	Series; 6 episodes
2000	Code Name: Eternity	Series; 4 episodes
2000	The Royal Diaries: Isabel - Jewel of Castilla	Television film
2000	Dear America: A Line in the Sand	Short film
2000–02	The Zack Files	Series; 10 episodes
2001–02	Tracker	Series; 3 episodes
2006	Imaginary Playmate	Television film
2008	The Egg Factory
2011	Matty Hanson and the Invisibility Ray

References

^ ^a ^b ^c "William Fruet". Northern Stars. Retrieved January 23, 2017.
^ "William Fruet". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved January 22, 2017.
^ ^a ^b "Canadian Film Encyclopedia - William Fruet". cfe.tiff.net. Retrieved 2024-10-01.
^ Mendik, Xavier (2021). "An Interview with William Fruet". Shocking Canadian Cinema of the 70s. Bloomsbury. pp. 189–201. ISBN 9781350136311.
^ "Audio-Visual Preservation Trust of Canada". Avtrust.ca. Archived from the original on 2011-09-30. Retrieved 2011-10-22.
^ "Wedding in White and its novice director". The Globe and Mail, May 27, 1972.
^ "William Fruet". The British Film Institute. Archived from the original on February 2, 2017. Retrieved January 22, 2017.