Linda Blair(I)
- Actress
- Producer
- Additional Crew
From the age of five, Linda Blair had to get used to the spotlight,
first as a child model and then as an actress, when out of 600
applicants she was picked for the role of Regan, the possessed child,
in The Exorcist (1973). Linda
quickly rose to international fame, won the Golden Globe, and seemed to
be set to take the Academy Award for that role, but when it leaked how
some parts of the role were not performed by her (the demonic voice was
dubbed by Mercedes McCambridge, and
eight seconds of a stunt dummy were used) that dream broke, and with
that disappointment probably came the first blow to what looked like
the beginning of an A-list career.
Over the next few years she had no trouble securing lead roles in a
number of pictures, including the highly successful television films
Born Innocent (1974) (the
#1 TV movie of that year) and
Sarah T. - Portrait of a Teenage Alcoholic (1975),
as well as the Exorcist sequel
Exorcist II: The Heretic (1977).
However, when she was peer pressured into buying cocaine at the age of
18, it led to an arrest and subsequent sentencing to three years
probation. The much-publicized drug bust caused Linda to be blacklisted
in Hollywood, and her career was soon reduced to B-movies and
occasional TV guest appearances only.
Although her career never returned to its former glory, Linda proved to
be a good sport about embracing the change, and out of the '80s emerged
lead roles in two cult classics: the women-in-prison film
Chained Heat (1983) and the femme
fatale vigilante action film
Savage Streets (1984). She
continued acting in numerous films throughout the '80s and '90s,
including the Exorcist spoof
Repossessed (1990). In 1997, she also
took to the Broadway stage and starred as "Rizzo" in the revival of
"Grease." She received widespread mainstream attention again in the
2000's with the theatrical re-release of the Exorcist, followed by a
hosting job on the hit Fox Family TV series
Scariest Places on Earth (2000),
which ran for six years and followed Linda as she visited notorious
"haunted" locations around the world.
Linda was born in St. Louis, Missouri, to Elinore, a real estate agent, and James, an executive headhunter. She has a brother, Jimmy, and a sister, Debbie. Linda has been a Hollywood icon for over 40 years, but it is her first
love of animals that has ultimately taken center stage in her life. She
now runs the Linda Blair WorldHeart Foundation, a non-profit 501C3 tax
deductible organization dedicated to rescuing and rehabilitating
abused, neglected, and abandoned animals from the harsh streets of the
Los Angeles area, as well as from the overcrowded and overwhelmed city
and county animal shelters. She works and lives on the 2-acre rescue
sanctuary full-time in California, which was featured on The Today Show
in a segment titled "From Devil to Angel." Of course, she also makes
frequent appearances at horror fan conventions to celebrate the legacy
of The Exorcist (1973) .
first as a child model and then as an actress, when out of 600
applicants she was picked for the role of Regan, the possessed child,
in The Exorcist (1973). Linda
quickly rose to international fame, won the Golden Globe, and seemed to
be set to take the Academy Award for that role, but when it leaked how
some parts of the role were not performed by her (the demonic voice was
dubbed by Mercedes McCambridge, and
eight seconds of a stunt dummy were used) that dream broke, and with
that disappointment probably came the first blow to what looked like
the beginning of an A-list career.
Over the next few years she had no trouble securing lead roles in a
number of pictures, including the highly successful television films
Born Innocent (1974) (the
#1 TV movie of that year) and
Sarah T. - Portrait of a Teenage Alcoholic (1975),
as well as the Exorcist sequel
Exorcist II: The Heretic (1977).
However, when she was peer pressured into buying cocaine at the age of
18, it led to an arrest and subsequent sentencing to three years
probation. The much-publicized drug bust caused Linda to be blacklisted
in Hollywood, and her career was soon reduced to B-movies and
occasional TV guest appearances only.
Although her career never returned to its former glory, Linda proved to
be a good sport about embracing the change, and out of the '80s emerged
lead roles in two cult classics: the women-in-prison film
Chained Heat (1983) and the femme
fatale vigilante action film
Savage Streets (1984). She
continued acting in numerous films throughout the '80s and '90s,
including the Exorcist spoof
Repossessed (1990). In 1997, she also
took to the Broadway stage and starred as "Rizzo" in the revival of
"Grease." She received widespread mainstream attention again in the
2000's with the theatrical re-release of the Exorcist, followed by a
hosting job on the hit Fox Family TV series
Scariest Places on Earth (2000),
which ran for six years and followed Linda as she visited notorious
"haunted" locations around the world.
Linda was born in St. Louis, Missouri, to Elinore, a real estate agent, and James, an executive headhunter. She has a brother, Jimmy, and a sister, Debbie. Linda has been a Hollywood icon for over 40 years, but it is her first
love of animals that has ultimately taken center stage in her life. She
now runs the Linda Blair WorldHeart Foundation, a non-profit 501C3 tax
deductible organization dedicated to rescuing and rehabilitating
abused, neglected, and abandoned animals from the harsh streets of the
Los Angeles area, as well as from the overcrowded and overwhelmed city
and county animal shelters. She works and lives on the 2-acre rescue
sanctuary full-time in California, which was featured on The Today Show
in a segment titled "From Devil to Angel." Of course, she also makes
frequent appearances at horror fan conventions to celebrate the legacy
of The Exorcist (1973) .