At age 80, William Friedkin is one of America's greatest living directors.

In the early 1970s, his career hit its apex with a one-two punch of the French connection

and the exorcist.

Though horror classic The Exorcist was the bigger hit and lingered longer in the collective

consciousness, crime thriller The French Connection won greater critical acclaim, netting

Oscars for Friedkin and star Jean Hackman.

In 1972, a high school dropout named Al Copeland opened a fried chicken restaurant in Baton

Rouge, Louisiana, naming his joint after the hard-boiled New York detective character

portrayed by Hackman in the film.

If it seemed like an odd inspiration, it was fitting for Copeland, an eccentric New

Orleans original who talked as big as he lived.

Over the years, brawling in bar fights with political officials, decorating his mansion

with a Christmas lights display so ornate it would become a local landmark, bribing the

judge in his divorce proceedings, and publicly feuding with fellow Louisiana and rice.

But he also built his fast-service restaurant business into a sensation, winning the loyalty

of locals with a spicy chicken seasoning and authentic biscuits and sides, netting 500

locations in its first decade of operation.

Copeland died in 2008, but his cage and fried chicken legacy continues to thrive.

Now, with 2000 restaurants across America and far-flung loucals like Kuwait and Vietnam,

this Bayou original has ascended to the number two position worldwide in the competitive

chicken sector, behind Yum Bran Goliath KFC.

This week on Doe Boys, Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen.

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