Linda Denise Blair (born January 22, 1959) is an American actress, activist and horror icon. She is famous for portraying Regan MacNeil in The Exorcist franchise.
She and the classic horror film are referenced numerous times in the Scream franchise. She is referenced specifically by name in Scream 4 (2011 film) by the character, Robbie Mercer (along with fellow scream queen, Jamie Lee Curtis).
She makes a brief cameo as the character of the Obnoxious Reporter in the original Scream (1996 film).
Scream films
As the obnoxious reporter, she asks Sidney Prescott how it feels to be brutally butchered, Dewey Riley shoves her away, saying she just wants an education.
Biography
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. She is an animal lover and has a non-profit rescue shelter for abused and neglected animals, to rehabilitate.
From the age of five, Linda Blair was a child model and then became an actress. Out of 600 applicants, she was picked for the role of Regan MacNeil, 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. However, when it became public that the demonic voice was dubbed by Mercedes McCambridge, and eight seconds of a stunt dummy were used, this contention was dropped. This led to disappointment that some considered a squander to a promising A-list career.
Over the next few years she secured 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 embraced her less prestigious roles. 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 2000s 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.
In 2023, she reprised the role of Regan MacNeil in The Exorcist: Believer in a cameo.
Trivia
- Quote: It was always very strange for me when I was young and would meet someone who geniunely seemed to be afraid of me. They couldn't separate me from the monster I became in a movie. You wouldn't believe how often people ask me to make my head spin around.
- She is only 5 feet.
- Received death threats after The Exorcist (1973) premiered.
- Warner Brothers, the studio which released the film, hired the police to live with the Blair family 24 hours a day, 7 days a week for 6 months. The original culprit was never caught.
- Once Linda's promotional job on the movie was done and the studio stopped paying for security, threats from fanatics and religious zealots continued, including after the release of the film's sequel. Her family ultimately had to take matters into their own hands and hide her out with friends in Vermont, Connecticut, and New Jersey.
- Ranked #36 in VH1's list of the "100 Greatest Kid Stars".
- She was the first choice for the role of Vasquez in Aliens (1986), but scheduling conflicts with Nightforce (1987) forced her to leave the movie.
