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| Lankester Merrin | |
|---|---|
| The Exorcist character | |
 Max von Sydow as Father Lankester Merrin in the 1973 filmThe Exorcist. | |
| First appearance | The Exorcist |
| Created by | William Peter Blatty |
| Portrayed by |
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| Voiced by | Ian McDiarmid (BBC Radio adaptation) |
| In-universe information | |
| Full name | Lankester Merrin |
| Title | Father |
| Occupation | Exorcistpriest |
| Nationality | Irish |
| Location | Washington, D.C.,United States |
Father Lankester Merrin is afictionaltitlecharacter in the 1971 novelThe Exorcist and one of the main protagonists inits 1973 film adaptation. He figures prominently in several of its prequel and sequel films. In addition to his role as a priest, Merrin is an accomplishedarchaeologist.
Merrin, an elderly Irishpriest andpaleontologist on anarcheological dig inIraq, finds images of the demonPazuzu and subsequently experiences other unusual phenomena. He had previously faced the demon many years before during an exorcism inAfrica. The find sparks a premonition that he will battle the demon again in a distant land. Merrin does not appear again until much later in the novel, when he joins the protagonist, FatherDamien Karras, inWashington, D.C., to exorcise the demon from the body of a young girl (Regan MacNeil). Merrin, who has aheart disease for which he takesnitroglycerin, dies during the ritual, leaving the inexperienced Karras to complete the exorcism himself. Merrin is loosely based on the British archaeologistGerald Lankester Harding,[1] though in the film he is played byMax von Sydow with a noticeably Irish accent. This was later parodied byJames Woods in the filmScary Movie 2.
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Merrin's depiction in the 1973 filmThe Exorcist is faithful to the novel. The character of Merrin reappears in the sequelExorcist II: The Heretic (1977), in extended flashbacks detailing an exorcism he performed in Africa following the Second World War. He is portrayed in both films byMax von Sydow. The studio wantedMarlon Brando for the role of Father Merrin,[2] but directorWilliam Friedkin immediately vetoed this by stating it would become a "Brando movie".
The character was featured again in both prequel films,Exorcist: The Beginning andDominion: Prequel to the Exorcist. Both films revisit Merrin's experiences in Africa immediately prior to his first exorcism, but each presents a different version of the events and neither agrees with the events as presented inExorcist II. He is played in both films byStellan Skarsgård.
In the 2014 BBC Radio dramatisation, Merrin is voiced byIan McDiarmid.[citation needed]
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