Linda Blair | |
|---|---|
_(2).jpg) Blair in 2018 | |
| Born | Linda Denise Blair (1959-01-22)January 22, 1959 (age 66) |
| Occupations |
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| Years active | 1968–present |
| Organization | Linda Blair WorldHeart Foundation |
| Website | lindablair |
Linda Denise Blair (born January 22, 1959)[1][2] is an American actress and activist. Her portrayal ofRegan MacNeil in the horror filmThe Exorcist (1973) established her inpopular culture and as ascream queen, earning her aGolden Globe Award, as well as anAcademy Award nomination. She reprised the role in two sequels:Exorcist II: The Heretic (1977) andThe Exorcist: Believer (2023).
Blair has starred in several television films, includingBorn Innocent (1974),Sarah T. – Portrait of a Teenage Alcoholic (1975), andStranger in Our House (1978). She has also starred inexploitation films, includingHell Night (1981),Chained Heat (1983), andSavage Streets (1984). Her role in the musical filmRoller Boogie (1979) brought her a reputation as asex symbol. Blair was the host of theFox Family reality seriesScariest Places on Earth (2000–2006) and had regular appearances on theAnimal Planet seriesPit Boss (2010–2012).
Blair is an activist for theanimal rights movement. In 2004, she founded the Linda Blair WorldHeart Foundation, a nonprofit organization that serves to rehabilitate and adopt rescue animals.
Linda Denise Blair was born January 22, 1959, inSt. Louis,Missouri,[3] to James Frederick and Elinore (née Leitch) Blair.[4] She has an older sister, Debbie, and an older brother, Jim.[5] When Blair was two years old, her father, aNavytest pilot-turned-executive recruiter, took a job in New York City, and the family relocated toWestport, Connecticut.[5][6] Her mother worked as areal-estate agent in Westport.[7] Linda worked as achild model at age five,[8] appearing inSears,J.C. Penney andMacy's catalogues, and in over 70 commercials forWelch's grape jams and various other companies.[5][6] Blair secured a contract at age six for a series of print ads inThe New York Times.[3] At the same age, she began riding horses, later becoming a trainedequestrian.[9]
Blair started acting with a regular role on the short-livedHidden Faces (1968–69) daytime soap opera.[8] Her first theatrical film appearance was inThe Way We Live Now (1970), followed by abit part in the comedyThe Sporting Club (1971).[9] In 1972, Blair was selected from a field of 600 applicants for her most notable role as Regan, thepossessed daughter of a famous actress, inWilliam Friedkin'sThe Exorcist (1973). The role earned her a Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actress, and an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress.[8] Film critic and historian Mark Clark notes that in her performance, "Blair matches [adult co-star]Ellen Burstyn note-for-note."[10] 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.[8] 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 amental breakdown, which Blair denied,[3] and she later received anonymousdeath threats.[3] 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".[3]
Blair starred oppositeKim Hunter in the controversial television filmBorn Innocent (1974),[11] in which she plays a runaway teenager who is sexually abused.[12] The film was criticized by theNational Organization for Women, the New York Rape Coalition, and numerousgay and lesbian rights organizations for its depiction of female-on-female sexual abuse; theLesbian Feminist Liberation dismissed the film, stating: "Men rape, women don't," and regarded the film as "propaganda against lesbians."[13] After filmingBorn Innocent, Blair also had a supporting part as a teenaged kidney-transplant patient in the disaster filmAirport 1975 (1974), which was critically panned, but a success at the box office.[14] A steady series of job offers led Blair to relocate toLos Angeles in 1975, where she lived with her older sister, Debbie.[3] 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;[12]Sweet Hostage (1975) oppositeMartin Sheen, in which she plays a kidnapping victim;[12] andVictory at Entebbe (1976), a dramatization of a real-life hostage situation starringAnthony Hopkins andElizabeth Taylor.[15]
In 1977, Blair reprised her role as Regan in theExorcist sequel,Exorcist II: The Heretic (1977), garnering aSaturn 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.[16] After filmingExorcist II: The Heretic, Blair took a year off from acting and competed in national equestrian circuits under thepseudonym Martha McDonald.[5] In 1978, she made a return to acting in theWes Craven-directed television horror filmStranger in Our House (retitledSummer of Fear), based on the novel byLois Duncan,[17] and also with the lead role in the Canadian productionWild Horse Hank, in which she used her equestrian skills to play a college student saving wild horses from ranchers.[18]
Blair's career took a new turn in 1979 with her starring role in the musical dramaRoller Boogie, which established her as asex symbol.[19] The following year, she co-starred withDirk Benedict inRuckus, playing a young woman who helps a maligned Vietnam veteran evade antagonistic locals in a small town.[20] She also starred in a number of financially successful low-budget horror and exploitation films throughout much of the 1980s. She starred oppositePeter Barton andVincent Van Patten in the slasher filmHell Night (1981), followed by roles in thewomen-in-prison filmChained Heat (1983), playing a teenager in a women's prison,[21] and the exploitation thrillerSavage Streets (1984), in which she plays the lead of a female vigilante street gang who targets male rapists.[19] In a review ofSavage Streets published byTV Guide, her performance was deemed "her best sinceThe Exorcist (1973)... and that's not saying much."[22] Also in 1983, Blair posed nude in an issue ofPlayboy.[6] In 1985, Blair starred again in another women-in-prison feature titledRed Heat, playing aprisoner of war in West Germany.[23] This was followed by a lead in the direct-to-video filmNight Force (1985), in which Blair portrayed a woman who travels toMexico to save her friend from terrorists.[24]
The era of Blair's career between 1980 and 1985 was marked by some critical backlash, with Blair earning a total of fiveRazzie Award nominations and being awarded two Razzies forWorst Actress.[25] In the late 1980s, she worked in numerous low-budget horror films, includingGrotesque (1988), oppositeTab Hunter,[26] and the Italian productionWitchery (1988), oppositeDavid Hasselhoff.[17] The following year, she starred in the romantic comedyUp Your Alley oppositeMurray Langston,[27] and theExorcist spoofRepossessed in 1990, co-starringLeslie Nielsen.[17] She also appeared in several Australian B-movies in the early 1990s, includingFatal Bond (1991) andDead Sleep (1992).[28]
In 1996, Blair reunited with director Wes Craven for a cameo role as a reporter inScream (1996),[17] In 1997 she starred in a Broadway revival ofGrease, playing Rizzo.[17] Also in 1997, she appeared in a documentary forChannel 4 in theUnited Kingdom entitledDidn't You Used to be Satan?, which served as a biography of her life to that point and how the filmThe Exorcist had dominated her career and life.[29] Blair appeared in criticMark Kermode's 1998BBC documentaryThe Fear of God (which Kermode directed and hosted), included as a special feature on the DVD ofThe Exorcist.[30] In 1999, Blair appeared in an online parody ofThe Blair Witch Project titledThe Blair Bitch Project.[31]
In 2000, she was cast as a regular in theBBC television show,L.A. 7, and between 2001 and 2003, hostedFox Family'sScariest Places on Earth, a reality series profilingreportedly haunted locations throughout the world.[32] Blair devotes time to a nonprofit organization she established in 2004, the Linda Blair WorldHeart Foundation, which works to rescue and rehabilitate abused, neglected, and mistreated animals and provide them with neededpet care.[33] As an adult, she became ananimal rights activist andhumanitarian, working withPeople for the Ethical Treatment of Animals,Feed the Children,Variety, the Children's Charity, and other organizations,[2] as well as advocating for teenHIV/AIDS awareness.[9] Blair is on theSea Shepherd Conservation Society operation’s board of advisors.[34] In August 2005, the aftermath ofHurricane Katrina, Blair travelled toMississippi and saved 51 abandoned dogs.[35]
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 aboutThe Exorcist almost every single day of my life.
In 2006, she guest-starred onThe CW television seriesSupernatural, playing the part of Detective Diana Ballard, as she aidsSam andDean Winchester in the episode "The Usual Suspects", which aired November 9, 2006.[35] In 2008, she appeared at the 18th annual Malaga Fantasy and Horror Film Festival to accept a lifetime achievement award for her work in thehorror genre. Blair appeared the following year in thedocumentaryConfessions of a Teenage Vigilante, discussing her role as Brenda inSavage 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 seriesPit Boss andJury Duty. She appeared in the 2011Rick Springfield documentaryAffair of the Heart,[36] and was a panelist in a 2011 episode ofThe Joy Behar Show. In late 2011, Blair appeared at the tapedGovernors Awards for the84th Academy Awards ceremony, honoring makeup artistDick Smith, who had created the iconic makeup for Blair inThe Exorcist.[37] In 2013, Blair accepted a role in the comedy web seriesWhoa!, and has since appeared in the 2016 featureThe Green Fairy, and the filmsSurge of Power: Revenge of the Sequel (2016) and the upcomingLandfill (post-production).
In 2022, Blair competed inseason eight ofThe Masked Singer as "Scarecrow" which resembled a pumpkin-headed scarecrow. Before the first elimination on "Fright Night" could be announced, she interruptedNick Cannon by declaring forfeit while claiming that her fellow contestants "Sir Bug a Boo" (who would be unmasked in the same episode to beRay Parker Jr.) and "Snowstorm" (later unmasked in the following episode asNikki 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 annoyKen Jeong as she claims that he annoys everyone on this show.
In October 2023, Blair reprised the role of Regan MacNeil during a cameo inThe Exorcist: Believer.[38] In January 2025, Blair revealed that she was working on a memoir along with her intentions to restart her acting career.[39]
At age 15, Blair dated Australian singerRick Springfield, 25 years old at the time, whom she met during a concert at theWhisky a Go Go.[3][5] She also datedDeep Purple andTrapeze bassistGlenn Hughes, andNeil Giraldo, guitarist and future husband ofPat Benatar.[5] Between late 1979 and mid-1981, Blair datedStyx guitaristTommy Shaw. Blair also datedJim Dandy Mangrum of bandBlack Oak Arkansas. In the early 1990s, Blair was in a relationship with actorWings Hauser.[7]
In a 1982 interview accompanying a topless pictorial inOui, Blair revealed that she foundRick 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 bookGlow: 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 fordrug possession and conspiracy to sell drugs.[42] She pleaded guilty to a reduced charge of conspiracy to possesscocaine, 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 supportsanimal welfare. She was avegetarian for 13 years, before becoming avegan in 2001. In that year, she co-authored the bookGoing Vegan!.[6] In 2004, she founded the Linda Blair WorldHeart Foundation, a nonprofit organization that serves to rehabilitate and adopt rescue animals.[44]
She believes in the paranormal.[45]
In 2014, Blair revealed that she was treated for anumbilical hernia.[46] As of 2015[update], she lives inCoto de Caza, California.[47]
| Year | Title | Role | Notes | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1970 | The Way We Live Now | Sara Aldridge | [8] | |
| 1971 | The Sporting Club | Barby | [9] | |
| 1973 | The Exorcist | Regan MacNeil | [48] | |
| 1974 | Airport 1975 | Janice Abbott | [14] | |
| Born Innocent | Chris Parker | Television film | [49] | |
| 1975 | Sarah T. – Portrait of a Teenage Alcoholic | Sarah Travis | [49] | |
| Sweet Hostage | Doris Mae Withers | [12] | ||
| 1976 | Victory at Entebbe | Chana Vilnofsky | [15] | |
| 1977 | Exorcist II: The Heretic | Regan MacNeil | [16] | |
| 1978 | Stranger in Our House | Rachel Bryant | Television film; also known as:Summer of Fear | [17] |
| 1979 | Wild Horse Hank | Hank Bradford | [18] | |
| Roller Boogie | Terry Barkley | [19] | ||
| 1980 | Ruckus | Jenny Bellows | [20] | |
| 1981 | Hell Night | Marti Gaines | [50] | |
| 1983 | Chained Heat | Carol Henderson | [51] | |
| 1984 | Night Patrol | Officer Sue Perman | [19] | |
| Savage Streets | Brenda | [52] | ||
| Terror in the Aisles | Regan MacNeil | Archive footage | [53] | |
| 1985 | Red Heat | Christine Carlson | [23] | |
| Savage Island | Daly | [54] | ||
| 1987 | SFX Retaliator | Doris | Also known as:The Heroin Deal | [53] |
| Nightforce | Carla | [55] | ||
| 1988 | Moving Target | Sally Tyler | [53] | |
| Grotesque | Lisa | [26] | ||
| Silent Assassins | Sara | [53] | ||
| Bad Blood | Evie Barners | [56] | ||
| Witchery | Jane Brooks | [57] | ||
| 1989 | Up Your Alley | Vickie Adderly | [27] | |
| The Chilling | Mary Hampton | Also known as:Gamma 693 | [53] | |
| Aunt Millie's Will | Unknown | Short film | [53] | |
| W.B., Blue and the Bean | Annette Ridgeway | Also known as:Bailout | [53] | |
| Linda Blair’s How To Get Revenge | Herself | Direct to VHS film | [58] | |
| Bedroom Eyes II | Sophie Stevens | [59] | ||
| 1990 | Zapped Again! | Miss Mitchell | [60] | |
| Repossessed | Nancy Aglet | [61] | ||
| Dead Sleep | Maggie Healey | [28] | ||
| 1991 | Fatal Bond | Leonie Stevens | [62] | |
| 1992 | Calendar Girl, Cop, Killer?: The Bambi Bembenek Story | Jane Mder | Television film | [53] |
| Perry Mason: The Case of the Heartbroken Bride | Hannah Hawkes | [53] | ||
| 1993 | Phone | Unknown | Short film | [53] |
| 1994 | Skins | Maggie Joiner | [53] | |
| Double Blast | Claudia | Television film | [53] | |
| 1995 | Sorceress | Amelia Reynolds | [63] | |
| 1996 | Prey of the Jaguar | Cody Johnson | [64] | |
| Scream | Obnoxious Reporter | Uncredited | [17] | |
| 1997 | Marina | Marina | Short film | [53] |
| 2003 | Monster Makers | Shelly Stoker | Television film | [53] |
| 2005 | Diva Dog: Pit Bull on Wheels | Unknown | Short film | [53] |
| Hitters Anonymous | Brenda | [53] | ||
| 2006 | All Is Normal | Barbara | [53] | |
| The Powder Puff Principle | School Board President | Short film | [65] | |
| 2009 | IMPS* | Jamie | Filmed in 1983 | [66] |
| 2012 | An Affair of the Heart | Herself | Documentary | [36] |
| 2016 | Surge of Power: Revenge of the Sequel | Helen Harris | [67] | |
| 2021 | Landfill | Detective Karen Atwood | [68] | |
| 2023 | The Exorcist: Believer | Regan MacNeil | Cameo | [69] |
| Year | Title | Role | Notes | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1968–1969 | Hidden Faces | Allyn Jaffe | Unknown episodes | [70] |
| 1974 | What's My Line? | Herself | Mystery Guest | |
| 1982 | Fantasy Island | Sarah Jean Rollings | Episode:"King Arthur in Mr. Rourke's Court" | [71] |
| The Love Boat | Muffy | Episode: "Isaac Gets Physical" | [72] | |
| 1985 | Murder, She Wrote | Jane Pascal | Episode: "Murder Takes the Bus" | [72] |
| 1989 | Monsters | La Strega | Episode: "La Strega" | [72] |
| 1990 | MacGyver | Jenny Larson | Episode: "Jenny's Chance" | [72] |
| 1992 | Married... with Children | Ida Mae | Episode: "The Magnificent Seven" | [72] |
| 1994 | Robins Hood's | Carla Patelle | Episode: "Old Friends, Dead Ends" | |
| 1996 | Renegade | Teddy Rae Thompson | Episode: "Self Defense" | [73] |
| 1998 | Psi Factor: Chronicles of the Paranormal | Rebecca Royce | Episode: "All Hallow's Eve" | [72] |
| 1999 | Godzilla: The Series | Alexandra Springer | Voice role; Episode: "S.C.A.L.E." | [74] |
| 2000 | L.A. 7 | Joni Witherspoon | 9 episodes | [72] |
| Artistic Differences | TV special | [72] | ||
| 2000–2003 | Hollywood Squares | Herself | 10 episodes | [72] |
| 2001–2006 | Scariest Places on Earth | Herself / Host | 41 episodes | [72] |
| 2001 | Intimate Portrait | Herself | 1 episode | |
| 2002 | History's Mysteries | 2 episodes | ||
| 2006 | Supernatural | Detective Diana Ballard | Episode: "The Usual Suspects" | [72] |
| 2010–2012 | Pit Boss | Herself | 12 episodes | [72] |
| 2012 | Celebrity Ghost Stories | 1 episode | [72] | |
| 2013 | Battling Darkness | TV documentary | ||
| 2014 | RuPaul's Drag Race | Episode: "Scream Queens" | [72] | |
| 2018 | Eli Roth's History of Horror | 1 episode | ||
| American Rescue Dog Show | Guest judge | |||
| 2019 | E! True Hollywood Story | Episode: "Horror Movies: Cursed or Coincidence?" | ||
| 2020 | JJ Villard's Fairy Tales | Various | Voice roles; 2 episodes | |
| Cursed Films | Herself | Episode: "The Exorcist" | ||
| 2022 | The Masked Singer | Herself/Scarecrow | Season 8 contestant |
| Organization | Year[a] | Work(s) | Category | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Academy Awards | 1974 | The Exorcist | Best Supporting Actress | Nominated |
| Golden Globe Awards | 1974 | Best Supporting Actress – Motion Picture | Won | |
| New Star of the Year – Actress | Nominated | |||
| Golden Raspberry Awards | 1982 | Hell Night | Worst Actress | Nominated |
| 1984 | Chained Heat | Nominated | ||
| 1985 | Herself | Worst Career Achievement Award | Won | |
| 1986 | Night Patrol | Worst Actress | Won | |
| Savage Island | Won | |||
| Savage Streets | Won | |||
| Joe Bob Briggs LifeTime Achievement Awards | 1991 | Herself | Horror | Won |
Linda Denise Blair; Birth Place St Louis, Missouri, USA; Born January 22, 1959
...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 dramaHidden Faces (1968–69). Although many presumeThe Exorcist was Blair's first film, she debuted in 1971'sThe Sporting Club.
