Blair is a prominent activist for the animal rights movement. In 2004, she founded the Linda Blair WorldHeart Foundation, a nonprofit organization that serves to rehabilitate and adopt rescue animals.
Early life
Linda Denise Blair was born January 22, 1959, in St. Louis, Missouri,[4] to James Frederick and Elinore (née Leitch) Blair.[5] She has an older sister, Debbie, and an older brother, Jim.[6] When Blair was two years old, her father, a Navytest pilot-turned-executive recruiter, took a job in New York City, and the family relocated to Westport, Connecticut.[6][7] Her mother worked as a real-estate agent in Westport.[8] Linda worked as a child model at age five,[9] appearing in Sears, J.C. Penney and Macy's catalogues, and in over 70 commercials for Welch's grape jams and various other companies.[6][7] Blair secured a contract at age six for a series of print ads in The New York Times.[4] At the same age, she began riding horses, later becoming a trained equestrian.[10]
Career
Blair started acting with a regular role on the short-lived Hidden Faces (1968–69) daytime soap opera.[9] Her first theatrical film appearance was in The Way We Live Now (1970), followed by a bit part in the comedy The Sporting Club (1971).[10] In 1972, Blair was selected from a field of 600 applicants for her most notable role as Regan, the possessed daughter of a famous actress, in William Friedkin's The Exorcist (1973). The role earned her a Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actress, and an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress.[9] Film critic and historian Mark Clark notes that in her performance, "Blair matches [adult co-star] Ellen Burstyn note-for-note."[11] Despite the film's critical successes, Blair received media scrutiny for her role in the film, which was deemed by some as "blasphemous", and Blair has said the film had significant impact on her life and career.[9] After the film's premiere in December 1973, some reporters speculated about Blair's mental state, suggesting the filming process had resulted in her having a mental breakdown, which Blair denied,[4] and she later received anonymous death threats.[4] To combat the rumors and media speculation surrounding her, Warner Bros. sent the then-14-year-old Blair on an international press tour in hopes of demonstrating that she was "just a normal teenager".[4]
Blair starred opposite Kim Hunter in the controversial television film Born Innocent (1974),[12] in which she plays a runaway teenager who is sexually abused.[13] The film was criticized by the National Organization for Women, the New York Rape Coalition, and numerous gay and lesbian rights organizations for its depiction of female-on-female sexual abuse; the Lesbian Feminist Liberation dismissed the film, stating: "Men rape, women don't," and regarded the film as "propaganda against lesbians."[14] After filming Born Innocent, Blair also had a supporting part as a teenaged kidney-transplant patient in the disaster film Airport 1975 (1974), which was critically panned, but a success at the box office.[15] A steady series of job offers led Blair to relocate to Los Angeles in 1975, where she lived with her older sister, Debbie.[4] Between 1975 and 1978, she had lead roles in numerous television films: Sarah T. – Portrait of a Teenage Alcoholic (1975), as a teenager who becomes addicted to alcohol;[13]Sweet Hostage (1975) opposite Martin Sheen, in which she plays a kidnapping victim;[13] and Victory at Entebbe (1976), a dramatization of a real-life hostage situation starring Anthony Hopkins and Elizabeth Taylor.[16]
In 1977, Blair reprised her role as Regan in the Exorcist sequel, Exorcist II: The Heretic (1977), garnering a Saturn Award nomination for Best Actress of 1978.[2] The film was a critical and commercial failure, however, and at the time was the most expensive film ever made by Warner Bros. Studios.[17] After filming Exorcist II: The Heretic, Blair took a year off from acting and competed in national equestrian circuits under the pseudonym Martha McDonald.[6] In 1978, she made a return to acting in the Wes Craven-directed television horror film Stranger in Our House (retitled Summer of Fear), based on the novel by Lois Duncan,[18] and also with the lead role in the Canadian production Wild Horse Hank, in which she used her equestrian skills to play a college student saving wild horses from ranchers.[19]
Blair's career took a new turn in 1979 with her starring role in the musical drama Roller Boogie, which established her as a sex symbol.[20] The following year, she co-starred with Dirk Benedict in Ruckus, playing a young woman who helps a maligned Vietnam veteran evade antagonistic locals in a small town.[21] She also starred in a number of financially successful low-budget horror and exploitation films throughout much of the 1980s. She starred opposite Peter Barton and Vincent Van Patten in the slasher film Hell Night (1981), followed by roles in the women-in-prison filmChained Heat (1983), playing a teenager in a women's prison,[22] and the exploitation thriller Savage Streets (1984), in which she plays the lead of a female vigilante street gang who targets male rapists.[20] In a review of Savage Streets published by TV Guide, her performance was deemed "her best since The Exorcist (1973)... and that's not saying much."[23] Also in 1983, Blair posed nude in an issue of Playboy.[7] In 1985, Blair starred again in another women-in-prison feature titled Red Heat, playing a prisoner of war in West Germany.[24] This was followed by a lead in the direct-to-video film Night Force (1985), in which Blair portrayed a woman who travels to Mexico to save her friend from terrorists.[25]
Blair in 1999
The era of Blair's career between 1980 and 1985 was marked by some critical backlash, with Blair earning a total of five Razzie Award nominations and being awarded two Razzies for Worst Actress.[26] In the late 1980s, she worked in numerous low-budget horror films, including Grotesque (1988), opposite Tab Hunter,[27] and the Italian production Witchery (1988), opposite David Hasselhoff.[18] The following year, she starred in the romantic comedy Up Your Alley opposite Murray Langston,[28] and the Exorcist spoof Repossessed in 1990, co-starring Leslie Nielsen.[18] She also appeared in several Australian B-movies in the early 1990s, including Fatal Bond (1991) and Dead Sleep (1992).[29]
In 1996, Blair reunited with director Wes Craven for a cameo role as a reporter in Scream (1996),[18] In 1997 she starred in a Broadway revival of Grease, playing Rizzo.[18] Also in 1997, she appeared in a documentary for Channel 4 in the United Kingdom entitled Didn't You Used to be Satan?, which served as a biography of her life to that point and how the film The Exorcist had dominated her career and life.[30] Blair appeared in critic Mark Kermode's 1998 BBC documentary The Fear of God (which Kermode directed and hosted), included as a special feature on the DVD of The Exorcist.[31] In 1999, Blair appeared in an online parody of The Blair Witch Project titled The Blair Bitch Project.[32]
I'm proud of it ... but it has nothing to do with what I am as an adult. I think I have been extremely polite about answering questions about The Exorcist almost every single day of my life.
In 2006, she guest-starred on The CW television series Supernatural, playing the part of Detective Diana Ballard, as she aids Sam and Dean Winchester in the episode "The Usual Suspects", which aired November 9, 2006.[36] In 2008, she appeared at the 18th annual Malaga Fantasy and Horror Film Festival to accept a lifetime achievement award for her work in the horror genre. Blair appeared the following year in the documentaryConfessions of a Teenage Vigilante, discussing her role as Brenda in Savage Streets (1984). The documentary was included as a bonus feature on the 2009 DVD release of the film.
In 2010, she appeared as herself on the cable series Pit Boss and Jury Duty. She appeared in the 2011 Rick Springfield documentary Affair of the Heart,[37] and was a panelist in a 2011 episode of The Joy Behar Show. In late 2011, Blair appeared at the taped Governors Awards for the 84th Academy Awards ceremony, honoring makeup artist Dick Smith, who had created the iconic makeup for Blair in The Exorcist.[38] In 2013, Blair accepted a role in the comedy web series Whoa!, and has since appeared in the 2016 feature The Green Fairy, and the films Surge of Power: Revenge of the Sequel (2016) and the upcoming Landfill (post-production).
In 2022, Blair competed in season eight of The Masked Singer as "Scarecrow" which resembled a pumpkin-headed scarecrow. Before the first elimination on "Fright Night" could be announced, she interrupted Nick Cannon by declaring forfeit while claiming that her fellow contestants "Sir Bug a Boo" (who would be unmasked in the same episode to be Ray Parker Jr.) and "Snowstorm" (later unmasked in the following episode as Nikki Glaser) should face off. When unmasked, Blair did her praise for this show and stated that she wanted to talk about her animal charity called the Linda Blair WorldHeart Foundation Rescue and Wellness Center in light of the nation's animal crisis and to also annoy Ken Jeong as she claims that he annoys everyone on this show.
In October 2023, Blair reprised the role of Regan MacNeil during a cameo in The Exorcist: Believer. [39]
In a 1982 interview accompanying a topless pictorial in Oui, Blair revealed that she found Rick James "very sexy". James, who was shown the piece by a member of his retinue, returned the compliment through an intermediary.[40] They dated for two years, and James wrote his hit song "Cold Blooded" about her. Speaking on their relationship in his book Glow: The Autobiography of Rick James, he said: "Linda was incredible. A free spirit. A beautiful mind. A mind-blowing body. She liked getting high and getting down as much as I did. We posed topless for a photograph that showed up everywhere. We didn't care. We were doing our own thing our own way. It was a love affair that I hoped would last. It didn't." James revealed that he found out Blair had been pregnant by him, and had an abortion without his knowledge.[41]
On December 20, 1977, at 18 years old, she was arrested for drug possession and conspiracy to sell drugs.[42] She pleaded guilty to a reduced charge of conspiracy to possess cocaine, in exchange for three years' probation. She was also required to make at least twelve major public appearances to tell young people about the dangers of drug abuse.[43]
Blair supports animal welfare. She was a vegetarian for 13 years, before becoming a vegan in 2001. In that year, she co-authored the book Going Vegan!.[7] In 2004, she founded the Linda Blair WorldHeart Foundation, a nonprofit organization that serves to rehabilitate and adopt rescue animals.[44]
Jamie Lee Curtis is an American actress, producer, and children's author. Known for her performances in the horror and slasher genres, she is regarded as a scream queen, in addition to roles in comedies. Curtis has received multiple accolades, including an Academy Award, a BAFTA Award, and two Golden Globe Awards, as well as nominations for an Emmy Award and a Grammy Award.
Karen Blanche Black was an American actress, screenwriter, singer, and songwriter. She rose to prominence for her work in various studio and independent films in the 1970s, frequently portraying eccentric and offbeat characters, and established herself as a figure of New Hollywood. Her career spanned over 50 years and includes nearly 200 credits in both independent and mainstream films. Black received numerous accolades throughout her career, including two Golden Globe Awards, as well as an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress.
Kim Hunter was an American theatre, film, and television actress. She achieved prominence for portraying Stella Kowalski in the original production of Tennessee Williams' A Streetcar Named Desire, which she reprised for the 1951 film adaptation, and won both an Academy Award and a Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress.
Ellen Burstyn is an American actress. Known for her portrayals of complex women in dramas, she is the recipient of numerous accolades, including an Academy Award, a Tony Award, and two Primetime Emmy Awards, making her one of the few performers to achieve the "Triple Crown of Acting". She has also received a BAFTA Award and a Golden Globe Award.
A scream queen is an actress who is prominent and influential in horror films, either through a notable appearance or recurring roles. A scream king is the male equivalent. Notable female examples include Barbara Steele, Sandra Peabody, Linda Blair, Olivia Hussey, Marilyn Burns, Neve Campbell, Daria Nicolodi, Dee Wallace, Jamie Lee Curtis, Heather Langenkamp, Shawnee Smith, Sarah Michelle Gellar and Linnea Quigley.
Melanie Richards Griffith is an American actress. Born in Manhattan to future actress Tippi Hedren, she was raised mainly in Los Angeles, where she graduated from the Hollywood Professional School at age 16. In 1975, 17-year-old Griffith appeared opposite Gene Hackman in Arthur Penn's neo-noir film Night Moves. She later rose to prominence as an actor in films such as 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 the comedy Something Wild (1986) attracted 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.
Exorcist II: The Heretic is a 1977 American supernatural horror film directed by John Boorman and written by William Goodhart. It is the second installment in The Exorcist film series and the sequel to The Exorcist (1973), and stars Linda Blair, Richard Burton, Louise Fletcher, Max von Sydow, Kitty Winn, Paul Henreid, and James Earl Jones. It was the last film to feature veteran actor Paul Henreid. Set four years after the previous film, the film centers on the now 16-year-old Regan MacNeil, who is still recovering from her previous demonic possession.
Anne Lockhart is an American actress. She is best known for her role as Lieutenant Sheba in the television series Battlestar Galactica (1978–1979).
Kristen Noel Swanson is an American actress. She is best recognized for having played Buffy Summers in the 1992 film Buffy the Vampire Slayer and appeared in the 1996 film The Phantom.
The Exorcist is a 1973 American supernatural horror film directed by William Friedkin from a screenplay by William Peter Blatty, based on his 1971 novel. The film stars Ellen Burstyn, Max von Sydow, Jason Miller, and Linda Blair, and follows the demonic possession of a young girl and her mother's attempt to rescue her through an exorcism by two Catholic priests.
Sarah Catharine Paulson is an American actress. She is the recipient of numerous accolades, including a Primetime Emmy Award and a Golden Globe Award. In 2017, Time magazine named her one of the 100 most influential people in the world.
Nancy Allen is an American actress. She came to prominence for her performances in several films directed by Brian De Palma in the 1970s and early 1980s. Her accolades include a Golden Globe Award nomination and three Saturn Award nominations.
Regan Teresa MacNeil is a fictional character in the 1971 novel The Exorcist and one of the supporting characters in its 1973 film adaptation and the 1977 film Exorcist II: The Heretic, while being one of the main protagonists in the first season of the television series The Exorcist (2016–2017). She was portrayed by Linda Blair in both films and by Geena Davis in the television series. Blair reprised the role in the 2023 film, The Exorcist: Believer.
Brinke Stevens is an American actress. A native of San Diego, Stevens initially pursued a career as a marine biologist prior to becoming an actress, earning an undergraduate degree in biology from San Diego State University before studying marine biology at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography. Unable to find employment in the field of biology, Stevens began modeling in Los Angeles in 1980, and she worked as a film extra.
Hell Night is a 1981 American supernatural slasher film directed by Tom DeSimone, and starring Linda Blair, Vincent Van Patten, Kevin Brophy, and Peter Barton. The film depicts a night of fraternity hazing set in an old manor—the site of a familial mass murder—during which a deformed killer terrorizes and murders many of the college students. The plot blends elements of slasher films and Gothic haunted house films. Filmmaker Chuck Russell served as an executive producer, while his long-time collaborator Frank Darabont served as a production assistant.
Stranger in Our House is a 1978 American television horror film directed by Wes Craven and starring Linda Blair, Lee Purcell, Jeremy Slate, Jeff McCracken, and Jeff East. It is based on the 1976 novel Summer of Fear by Lois Duncan. The film premiered on NBC on October 31, 1978, and subsequently received theatrical releases in Europe under the title Summer of Fear.
Pazuzu is a fictional character who is the main antagonist in The Exorcist horror novels and film series, created by William Peter Blatty. Blatty derived the character from Assyrian and Babylonian mythology, where the mythic Pazuzu was considered the king of the demons of the wind, and the son of the god Hanbi. In The Exorcist, Pazuzu appears as a demon who possesses Regan MacNeil.
Eileen Dietz is an American actress who is best known for her appearances in many horror films such as the face of the demon in The Exorcist and for her portrayal of characters on the soap operas Guiding Light and General Hospital.
Emily Alyn Lind is an American actress. She began her career as a child actress, when she was known for her recurring role as young Amanda Clarke on the ABC series Revenge, and for her role as Ariel on the CBS medical drama Code Black. Lind has also starred in the Netflix original films The Babysitter and The Babysitter: Killer Queen as Melanie, the theatrical film Doctor Sleep as Snakebite Andi, and Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire as Melody. From 2021 to 2023, she starred as Audrey Hope in the HBO Max teen drama series Gossip Girl.
The Exorcist is an American horror media franchise that originated with William Peter Blatty's 1971 horror novel of the same name and most prominently featured in a 1973 film adaptation of the novel, and many subsequent prequels and sequels. All of these installments focus on fictional accounts of people possessed by Pazuzu, the main antagonist of the series, and the efforts of religious authorities to counter this possession.
1 2 3 "Cast > Linda Blair". Official website for ‘’The Exorcist’’. Warner Brothers. Archived from the original on August 15, 2000. Retrieved March 18, 2010. ...Blair was born in 1959. After beginning a career as a child model at the age of six, she moved into acting as a regular on the daytime drama 'Hidden Faces' (1968-69). Although many presume 'The Exorcist' was Blair's first film, she debuted in 1971's 'The Sporting Club.'
1 2 Mansour, David (2011). From Abba to Zoom: A Pop Culture Encyclopedia of the Late 20th Century. Andrews McMeel Publishing. p.4. ISBN978-0-740-79307-3.
1 2 Djuff, Ray; Morrison, Chris (2005). Waterton and Glacier in a Snap!: Fast Facts and Titillating Trivia. Rocky Mountain Books Ltd. pp.91–2. ISBN978-1-894-76556-5.
↑ Wilson, John (2005). The Official Razzie Movie Guide: Enjoying the Best of Hollywood's Worst. Grand Central Publishing. p.361. ISBN978-0-446-69334-9.
Lee, Jason (2017). "The Devil You Don't Know?: The rise and fall and rise of Linda Blair". In O'Connor, Jane; Mercer, John (eds.). Childhood and Celebrity. Taylor & Francis. ISBN978-1-317-51895-2.
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