Linda Blair
Linda Blair | |
---|---|
Born | Linda Denise Blair January 22, 1959 |
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. Known for her work in the horror genre, she first came to prominence with her portrayal of Regan MacNeil in the film The Exorcist (1973), for which she won a Golden Globe Award and received a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. The film established her as a scream queen and she reprised her role in two sequels: Exorcist II: The Heretic (1977) and The Exorcist: Believer (2023).
Blair has starred in several television films, such as Born Innocent (1974), Sarah T. – Portrait of a Teenage Alcoholic (1975) and Stranger in Our House (1978). Her role in the musical film Roller Boogie (1979) brought her a reputation as a sex symbol.[3] She has appeared in various exploitation and grindhouse films, such as Hell Night (1981), Chained Heat (1983) and Savage Streets (1984). Blair was the host of the Fox Family reality series Scariest Places on Earth (2000–2006) and made regular appearances on the Animal Planet reality series Pit Boss (2010–2012).
Blair is a prominent activist for the animal rights movement. In 2004, she founded the Linda Blair WorldHeart Foundation, a nonprofit organization that serves to rehabilitate and adopt rescue animals.
Early life
Linda Denise Blair was born January 22, 1959, in
Career
Blair started acting with a regular role on the short-lived
Blair starred opposite Kim Hunter in the controversial television film Born Innocent (1974),[12] in which she plays a runaway teenager who is sexually abused.[13] The film was criticized by the National Organization for Women, the New York Rape Coalition, and numerous gay and lesbian rights organizations for its depiction of female-on-female sexual abuse; the Lesbian Feminist Liberation dismissed the film, stating: "Men rape, women don't," and regarded the film as "propaganda against lesbians."[14] After filming Born Innocent, Blair also had a supporting part as a teenaged kidney-transplant patient in the disaster film Airport 1975 (1974), which was critically panned, but a success at the box office.[15] A steady series of job offers led Blair to relocate to Los Angeles in 1975, where she lived with her older sister, Debbie.[4] 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;[13] Sweet Hostage (1975) opposite Martin Sheen, in which she plays a kidnapping victim;[13] and Victory at Entebbe (1976), a dramatization of a real-life hostage situation starring Anthony Hopkins and Elizabeth Taylor.[16]
In 1977, Blair reprised her role as Regan in the Exorcist sequel, Exorcist II: The Heretic (1977), garnering a Saturn 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.[17] After filming Exorcist II: The Heretic, Blair took a year off from acting and competed in national equestrian circuits under the pseudonym Martha McDonald.[6] In 1978, she made a return to acting in the Wes Craven-directed television horror film Stranger in Our House (retitled Summer of Fear), based on the novel by Lois Duncan,[18] and also with the lead role in the Canadian production Wild Horse Hank, in which she used her equestrian skills to play a college student saving wild horses from ranchers.[19]
Blair's career took a new turn in 1979 with her starring role in the musical drama Roller Boogie, which established her as a sex symbol.[20] The following year, she co-starred with Dirk Benedict in Ruckus, playing a young woman who helps a maligned Vietnam veteran evade antagonistic locals in a small town.[21] She also starred in a number of financially successful low-budget horror and exploitation films throughout much of the 1980s. She starred opposite Peter Barton and Vincent Van Patten in the slasher film Hell Night (1981), followed by roles in the women-in-prison film Chained Heat (1983), playing a teenager in a women's prison,[22] and the exploitation thriller Savage Streets (1984), in which she plays the lead of a female vigilante street gang who targets male rapists.[20] In a review of Savage Streets published by TV Guide, her performance was deemed "her best since The Exorcist (1973)... and that's not saying much."[23] Also in 1983, Blair posed nude in an issue of Playboy.[7] In 1985, Blair starred again in another women-in-prison feature titled Red Heat, playing a prisoner of war in West Germany.[24] This was followed by a lead in the direct-to-video film Night Force (1985), in which Blair portrayed a woman who travels to Mexico to save her friend from terrorists.[25]
The era of Blair's career between 1980 and 1985 was marked by some critical backlash, with Blair earning a total of five Razzie Award nominations and being awarded two Razzies for Worst Actress.[26] In the late 1980s, she worked in numerous low-budget horror films, including Grotesque (1988), opposite Tab Hunter,[27] and the Italian production Witchery (1988), opposite David Hasselhoff.[18] The following year, she starred in the romantic comedy Up Your Alley opposite Murray Langston,[28] and the Exorcist spoof Repossessed in 1990, co-starring Leslie Nielsen.[18] She also appeared in several Australian B-movies in the early 1990s, including Fatal Bond (1991) and Dead Sleep (1992).[29]
In 1996, Blair reunited with director Wes Craven for a cameo role as a reporter in Scream (1996),[18] In 1997 she starred in a Broadway revival of Grease, playing Rizzo.[18] Also in 1997, she appeared in a documentary for Channel 4 in the United Kingdom entitled Didn't You Used to be Satan?, which served as a biography of her life to that point and how the film The Exorcist had dominated her career and life.[30] Blair appeared in critic Mark Kermode's 1998 BBC documentary The Fear of God (which Kermode directed and hosted), included as a special feature on the DVD of The Exorcist.[31] In 1999, Blair appeared in an online parody of The Blair Witch Project titled The Blair Bitch Project.[32]
In 2000, she was cast as a regular in the
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 about The Exorcist almost every single day of my life.
— Blair on her role in The Exorcist, 2006[36]
In 2006, she guest-starred on
In 2010, she appeared as herself on the cable series Pit Boss and
In 2022, Blair competed in
In October 2023, Blair reprised the role of Regan MacNeil during a cameo in The Exorcist: Believer. [39]
Personal life
At age 15, Blair dated Australian singer
In a 1982 interview accompanying a topless pictorial in Oui, Blair revealed that she found Rick 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 book Glow: 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 for
Blair supports animal welfare. She was a vegetarian for 13 years, before becoming a vegan in 2001. In that year, she co-authored the book Going Vegan!.[7] 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 an umbilical hernia.[46] As of 2015[update], she lives in Coto de Caza, California.[47]
Filmography
Film
Year | Title | Role | Notes | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|
1970 | The Way We Live Now | Sara Aldridge | [9] | |
1971 | The Sporting Club | Barby | [10] | |
1973 | The Exorcist | Regan MacNeil | [48] | |
1974 | Airport 1975 | Janice Abbott | [15] | |
Born Innocent | Chris Parker | Television film | [49] | |
1975 | Sarah T. – Portrait of a Teenage Alcoholic | Sarah Travis | [49] | |
Sweet Hostage | Doris Mae Withers | [13] | ||
1976 | Victory at Entebbe | Chana Vilnofsky | [16] | |
1977 | Exorcist II: The Heretic | Regan MacNeil | [17] | |
1978 | Stranger in Our House | Rachel Bryant | Television film; also known as: Summer of Fear | [18] |
1979 | Wild Horse Hank | Hank Bradford | [19] | |
Roller Boogie | Terry Barkley | [20] | ||
1980 | Ruckus | Jenny Bellows | [21] | |
1981 | Hell Night | Marti Gaines | [50] | |
1983 | Chained Heat | Carol Henderson | [51] | |
1984 | Night Patrol | Officer Sue Perman | [20] | |
Savage Streets | Brenda | [52] | ||
Terror in the Aisles | Regan MacNeil | Archive footage | [53] | |
1985 | Red Heat | Christine Carlson | [24] | |
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 | [27] | ||
Silent Assassins | Sara | [53] | ||
Bad Blood | Evie Barners | [56] | ||
Witchery | Jane Brooks | [57] | ||
1989 | Up Your Alley | Vickie Adderly | [28] | |
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 | [29] | ||
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 | [18] | |
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 | [37] |
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] |
Television
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] |
2000 | 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 |
"The Scarecrow" | 1 episode |
Awards and nominations
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 |
See also
References
- ^ "Linda Blair". Turner Classic Movies. Archived from the original on December 19, 2020.
Linda Denise Blair; Birth Place St Louis, Missouri, USA; Born January 22, 1959
- ^ a b c "Cast > Linda Blair". Official website for ‘’The Exorcist’’. Warner Brothers. Archived from the original on August 15, 2000. Retrieved March 18, 2010.
...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 drama 'Hidden Faces' (1968-69). Although many presume 'The Exorcist' was Blair's first film, she debuted in 1971's 'The Sporting Club.'
- ^ "'Exorcist' fans line up in Long Beach to meet actress Linda Blair – and help her help animals". Press Telegram. August 19, 2018. Retrieved May 18, 2021.
- ^ a b c d e f g "Linda Blair". Biography. October 28, 2003. A&E Network.
- ^ "The Exorcist". American Film Institute. Retrieved September 26, 2017.
- ^ a b c d e f Leach, Robin (July 11, 1977). "The Devil Can't Make Her". People. 8 (2).
- ^ a b c d Quinn, Karl (December 21, 2013). "Lunch with... Linda Blair". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved September 28, 2017.
- ^ a b Kaufman, Joanne. "Wings of Desire". People. 40 (22). Retrieved September 22, 2017.
- ^ a b c d e Lee 2017, p. 122.
- ^ a b c d Lea, Tony Clayton (January 6, 2001). "Linda Blair". The Irish Times. Retrieved September 28, 2017.
- ISBN 978-0-786-42682-9.
- ^ Levine 2007, pp. 71–4.
- ^ a b c d Lee 2017, p. 125.
- ^ Levine 2007, p. 90.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-740-79307-3.
- ^ a b Lee 2017, p. 126.
- ^ a b Lee 2017, p. 127.
- ^ a b c d e f g Lee 2017, p. 129.
- ^ ISBN 978-1-894-76556-5.
- ^ a b c d Lee 2017, p. 128.
- ^ a b Weldon 1996, p. 475.
- ^ Walters 2010, p. 113.
- ^ "Savage Streets Review". TV Guide. Retrieved September 22, 2017.
- ^ a b Walters 2010, p. 114.
- ISBN 978-0-345-40793-1.
- ISBN 978-0-446-69334-9.
- ^ a b Young 2000, p. 262.
- ^ ISBN 978-1-476-60925-6.
- ^ a b Young 2000, p. 144.
- ^ Lee 2017, p. 130.
- British Broadcasting Corporation(BBC).
- ^ Persaud, Babita (September 25, 1999). "Blair lets fans have their scary little dream Series". St. Petersburg Times. p. 1B.
- ^ Blair, Linda (April 13, 2001). "Are There Ghosts?" (Transcript). Larry King Live. CNN. Retrieved September 28, 2017.
- ^ "Linda Blair-WorldHeart Foundation". GuideStar. Retrieved September 26, 2017.
- ^ "Linda Blair: Charity Work & Causes". Look to the Stars. Retrieved December 3, 2020.
- ^ a b c Sacks, Ethan (November 9, 2006). "Possession is 9/10ths of Linda Blair's Career". New York Daily News. Retrieved September 20, 2017.
- ^ a b Webster, Andy (October 9, 2012). "For the Fans of an Idol, It's 1982". The New York Times. Retrieved September 28, 2017.
- ^ Kilday, Gregg (October 31, 2011). "The Academy Throws a Mini-Film Festival Tied to the Governors' Awards". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved September 26, 2017.
- ^ "Inside Linda Blair's Shocking 'Exorcist' Return: 'Nobody Had Any Idea What Was About to Happen' (Exclusive)".
- ^ "Despite a Frightening Collapse, Funkstar Rick James Won't Let Anyone Rein Him in – Vol. 18 No. 21". PEOPLE.com. November 22, 1982. Retrieved November 4, 2017.
- ^ "The 12 Most Rick James–y Moments in Rick James's New Memoir, Glow". Vulture. July 11, 2014. Retrieved December 13, 2017.
- ^ "Linda Blair and 31 Held in Drug Case". The New York Times. December 21, 1977.
- Lakeland Ledger. September 6, 1979.
- ^ "About us". Linda Blair WorldHeart Foundation. Retrieved January 20, 2024.
- ^ "Linda Blair". Fortean Times. Retrieved January 20, 2024.
- ^ "Linda Blair's Health Scare". The Doctors. April 15, 2014. Retrieved September 28, 2017.
- ^ "Bode Miller Selling Coto de Caza Home for $4.9 Million". Snow Industry News. October 21, 2015. Archived from the original on September 28, 2017. Retrieved September 28, 2017.
- ^ Young 2000, p. 199.
- ^ a b Levine 2007, p. 91.
- ^ Young 2000, p. 274.
- ^ Young 2000, p. 92.
- ^ Weldon 1996, p. 484.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q "Linda Blair Biography (1959–)". Film Reference. Retrieved September 28, 2017.
- ^ Young 2000, p. 541.
- ^ Weldon 1996, p. 395.
- ^ Weldon 1996, p. 35.
- ^ Weldon 1996, p. 624.
- ^ How to Get... Revenge, retrieved February 16, 2020
- ^ Weldon 1996, p. 44.
- ^ Young 2000, p. 709.
- ^ Young 2000, p. 518.
- ^ Weldon 1996, p. 200.
- ^ Weldon 1996, p. 520.
- ^ Young 2000, p. 497.
- ^ "The Powder Puff Principle (2006)". British Film Institute. Archived from the original on September 28, 2017. Retrieved September 28, 2017.
- ^ Latchem, John (February 6, 2009). "IMPS: Immoral Minority Picture Show". Home Media Magazine. Retrieved September 22, 2017.
- ^ Roth, Vincent J. (June 12, 2017). "Cinema's First Out Gay Superhero @ Florida Supercon July 29th" (PDF). Surge of Power. Archived from the original (PDF) on September 28, 2017. Retrieved September 28, 2017.
- ^ "Ghost story "LANDFILL," with Linda Blair, coming this month". Rue Morgue Site. October 9, 2023. Retrieved October 9, 2023.
- ^ "Is Linda Blair in The Exorcist: Believer? Director David Gordon Green Explains". NBC Insider Official Site. October 5, 2023. Retrieved October 6, 2023.
- ISBN 978-0-786-45452-5.
- ^ Topel, Fred (February 15, 2013). "Ahead of My Time: Linda Blair Revisits The Exorcist Movies". Crave. Retrieved September 28, 2017.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n "Linda Blair Credits". TV Guide. CBS Interactive. Retrieved September 28, 2017.
- ^ "Renegade Season 5 Episode 2: Self Defense". TV Guide. Retrieved September 28, 2017.
- ^ Metro, Jonny (January 20, 2015). "The Cult Credentials of Linda Blair". Wicked Horror. Retrieved September 28, 2017.
- ^ Year in which awards ceremony was held.
Works cited
- Lee, Jason (2017). "The Devil You Don't Know?: The rise and fall and rise of Linda Blair". In O'Connor, Jane; Mercer, John (eds.). Childhood and Celebrity. Taylor & Francis. ISBN 978-1-317-51895-2.
- Walters, Suzanna Danuta (2010). "The (R)evolution of Women-In-Prison Films". In McCaughey, Martha; King, Neal (eds.). Reel Knockouts: Violent Women in Film. University of Texas Press. pp. 104–123. ISBN 978-0-292-77837-5.
- Levine, Elana (2007). Wallowing in Sex: The New Sexual Culture of 1970s American Television. Duke University Press. ISBN 978-0-822-33919-9.
- Weldon, Michael (1996). The Psychotronic Video Guide to Film. Macmillan. ISBN 978-0-312-13149-4.
- Young, R.G., ed. (2000). The Encyclopedia of Fantastic Film: Ali Baba to Zombies. Hal Leonard Corporation. ISBN 978-1-557-83269-6.