The French Connection (1971) is a gritty crime thriller directed by William Friedkin, adapted from the 1969 non-fiction book by Robin Moore. The characters of Detective Jimmy “Popeye” Doyle (played by Gene Hackman) and Detective Buddy “Cloudy” Russo (played by Roy Scheider) in The French Connection (1971) were inspired by real-life NYPD detectives Eddie Egan and Sonny Grosso, whose groundbreaking investigation disrupted a major heroin smuggling operation in the early 1960s.