Linda Blair

Overview

Born
January 22, 1959 · St. Louis, Missouri, USA
Birth name
Linda Denise Blair
Height
5′ 2″ (1.57 m)

Biography

Family

Children
Parents
Relatives

Trademarks

Her iconic and controversial role as Regan McNeil in The Exorcist (1973)

Trivia

After Hurricane Katrina, she personally rescued and transported 51 displaced dogs that had been left to die.
Flew to Florida to attend funerals for members of the band Lynyrd Skynyrd, when an acquaintance convinced Linda to go with her to buy cocaine. Blair reportedly went because she was interested in buying pedigree puppies which the dealers were selling. Blair reportedly placed a hold on one of the puppies and returned home to Connecticut. She kept in touch with the dealers, supposedly to buy the puppy, but the Drug Enforcement Agency was tapping the phones. They arrested Blair, along with 30+ others, when the dealer successfully pressured her into buying cocaine along with the dog, and she was charged with conspiracy to buy the cocaine from Florida to sell in Connecticut. Police searched her purse, found amphetamines, and then charged her with possession. The possession charge was dropped, and the conspiracy charge was reduced. She was ordered to serve three years' probation, pay a $5,000 fine, and make at least twelve major public appearances to tell young people about the dangers of drug abuse.
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.
Went through her parents' divorce, two break-ups (one with rock star Rick Springfield), depression, and a drinking problem, all during the making of Exorcist II: The Heretic (1977) - which bombed at the box office. Later that same year, three of her friends from the band Lynyrd Skynyrd died in a plane crash, and she was arrested on drug charges shortly after the funeral. In a 2001 interview with Lifetime TV's "Intimate Portrait," Blair said, "I can reflect back and say that was one of the most difficult years anybody could ever have survived through. And I do give myself credit and I do try to embrace myself for making it through that time, because I know it just about killed me".
One of Linda's pet dogs was stolen from her, and ever since she has become involved with stopping animal/pet theft.

Quotes

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.
"I'm not doing this (film) as an art piece, I'm not doing it from my heart, as a statement of my beliefs or my philosophy. I'm working." Interview with The Los Angeles Times about Chained Heat (1983), 1983.
[on getting the role of "Reagan MacNeil" in The Exorcist (1973)] I wanted to be a princess. I wanted to be in Disney movies, I wanted to be in "Lassie," I wanted to be in "Flipper." I didn't want to be a monster.
Compassion and sharing: that's the true journey of the human spirit.
In 1997, when I got involved with animal rescue, the news media said that there was this particular breed of dog in America named a pit-bull, and if you came across a pit-bull, "It will attack! And you're going to die! Your child's going to die!" So it created a frenzy that everyone assumed was obviously truthful, because "the news is truthful." Well guess what? No, not always. Not only did, 30 years ago, the media give misinformation about who I was, but now they're doing it again, and it's very much - in my opinion - I call it irresponsible journalism.