The Exorcist: The shocking rumor about Linda Blair that terrified audiences for years when horror movie director William Friedkin died at age 87
The Exorcist: The shocking rumor about Linda Blair that terrified audiences for years when horror movie director William Friedkin died at age 87
Famed Hollywood director William “Billy” Friedkin passed away Monday morning at the age of 87.
The much-admired filmmaker rose to fame in the early 1970s with Oscar-winning blockbusters such as The French Connection.
But it was in Australia that shocking rumors first circulated about his satanic 1973 blockbuster, The Exorcist, starring a then-unknown Linda Blair.
Blair, 64, first came to Down Under at the age of 15 to promote the horror classic, after it was revealed that she had been murdered during the making.
There were other stories that the young star had survived the film but had become psychologically damaged after expressing the demonic possession.
The Exorcist star Linda Blair – pictured – first shared untrue and shocking rumors about making the sensational 1973 blockbuster in 2013
Blair, 64, first came to Down Under at the age of 15 to promote the horror classic after word got around that she had been killed in the making. Pictured: Blair in a gruesome scene from The Exorcist
Hollywood is mourning the passing of Exorcist director William Friedkin, who died of pneumonia on Monday in US time. Pictured: William Friedkin receiving the 1972 Best Director Oscar for his police thriller The French Connection – the film also won Best Picture
In the film, Blair plays a young girl named Regan whose body is overtaken by the devil.
Fans, who flocked to the sensational movie, were horrified by scenes where Blair’s character was involved in terrible violence and profanity.
In a gruesome moment, Regan is shown masturbating with a crucifix.
Other scenes show the character’s spinning head and vomiting over a priest, attempting to expel the demon from Regan’s body.
During a 2013 trip to Australia, Linda Blair admitted to the Daily telegram that the film’s producers deliberately spread rumors about her and the film to stir up controversy.
“There was all this negativity about what I had been through, so I started this world press tour,” she explained.
“I went to England and Australia and all over the world to talk about the film and show that I was fine.”
Blair was later nominated for an Oscar and a Golden Globe.
The Exorcist became a huge worldwide success, earning $482 million.
Pictured: Linda Blair and Ellen Burstyn in a scene from The Exorcist. There were rumors that the young star was psychologically damaged
Pictured: Gene Hackman as brutal cop Popeye Doyle in a scene from The French Connection
Meanwhile, Friedkin’s wife, former studio boss Sherry Lansing, 79, shared the news of his death from pneumonia on Monday, US time.
Friedkin began his career making non-fiction films and TV in the 1960s, then won an Oscar for Best Director for the fast-moving cop thriller The French Connection in 1971, starring Gene Hackman.
He followed up the success of The Exorcist with the cult favorite Sorcerer in 1977.
His other films include Cruising (1980) with Al Pacino and To Live and Die in LA (1985) starring a young William Petersen, who later rose to fame on TV’s CSI.