Linda blair children

Linda Blair

American actress and animal rights activist (born )

For the Canadian Olympic speed skater, see Linda Johnson-Blair.

Linda Blair

Blair in

Born

Linda Denise Blair


() January 22, (age&#;65)

St.

Louis, Missouri, U.S.

Occupations
Years&#;active–present
OrganizationLinda Blair WorldHeart Foundation
Website

Linda Denise Blair (born January 22, )[1][2] is an American actress and activist.

Her portrayal of Regan MacNeil in the horror film The Exorcist () established her in popular culture and as a scream queen, earning her a Golden Globe Award, as well as an Academy Award nomination. She reprised the role in two sequels: Exorcist II: The Heretic () and The Exorcist: Believer ().

Blair has starred in several television films, including Born Innocent (), Sarah T. – Portrait of a Teenage Alcoholic (), and Stranger in Our House (). She has also starred in exploitation films, including Hell Night (), Chained Heat (), and Savage Streets ().

Her role in the musical film Roller Boogie () brought her a reputation as a sex symbol. Blair was the host of the Fox Family reality series Scariest Places on Earth (–) and had regular appearances on the Animal Planet series Pit Boss (–).

Blair is an activist for the animal rights movement. In , 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, , in St. 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, a Navytest pilot-turned-executive recruiter, took a job in New York City, and the family relocated to Westport, Connecticut.[5][6] Her mother worked as a real-estate agent in Westport.[7] Linda worked as a child model at age five, appearing in Sears, J.C.

Penney and Macy's catalogues, and in over 70 commercials for Welch's grape jams and various other companies.[5][6] Blair secured a contract at age six for a series of print ads in The New York Times.[3] At the same age, she began riding horses, later becoming a trained equestrian.[9]

Career

Blair started acting with a regular role on the short-lived Hidden Faces (–69) daytime soap opera.

Her first theatrical film appearance was in The Way We Live Now (), followed by a bit part in the comedy The Sporting Club ().[9] In , Blair was selected from a field of applicants for her most notable role as Regan, the possessed daughter of a famous actress, in William Friedkin's The Exorcist ().

The role earned her a Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actress, and an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress. 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.

After the film's premiere in December , some reporters speculated about Blair's mental state, suggesting the filming process had resulted in her having a mental breakdown, which Blair denied,[3] and she later received anonymous death threats.[3] To combat the rumors and media speculation surrounding her, Warner Bros.

sent the thenyear-old Blair on an international press tour in hopes of demonstrating that she was "just a normal teenager".[3]

Blair starred opposite Kim Hunter in the controversial television film Born Innocent (), in which she plays a runaway teenager who is sexually abused. 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." After filming Born Innocent, Blair also had a supporting part as a teenaged kidney-transplant patient in the disaster film Airport (), which was critically panned, but a success at the box office.[14] A steady series of job offers led Blair to relocate to Los Angeles in , where she lived with her older sister, Debbie.[3] Between and , she had lead roles in numerous television films: Sarah T.

– Portrait of a Teenage Alcoholic (), as a teenager who becomes addicted to alcohol;Sweet Hostage () opposite Martin Sheen, in which she plays a kidnapping victim; and Victory at Entebbe (), a dramatization of a real-life hostage situation starring Anthony Hopkins and Elizabeth Taylor.

In , Blair reprised her role as Regan in the Exorcist sequel, Exorcist II: The Heretic (), garnering a Saturn Award nomination for Best Actress of [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. After filming Exorcist II: The Heretic, Blair took a year off from acting and competed in national equestrian circuits under the pseudonym Martha McDonald.[5] In , 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, 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.[18]

Blair's career took a new turn in with her starring role in the musical drama Roller Boogie, which established her as a sex symbol.

  • Linda blair family
  • Actress linda blair biography
  • Linda blair personal life

    • 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. She also starred in a number of financially successful low-budget horror and exploitation films throughout much of the s. She starred opposite Peter Barton and Vincent Van Patten in the slasher film Hell Night (), followed by roles in the women-in-prison filmChained Heat (), playing a teenager in a women's prison, and the exploitation thriller Savage Streets (), in which she plays the lead of a female vigilante street gang who targets male rapists.

    In a review of Savage Streets published by TV Guide, her performance was deemed "her best since The Exorcist () and that's not saying much."[22] Also in , Blair posed nude in an issue of Playboy.[6] In , Blair starred again in another women-in-prison feature titled Red Heat, playing a prisoner of war in West Germany.

    This was followed by a lead in the direct-to-video film Night Force (), in which Blair portrayed a woman who travels to Mexico to save her friend from terrorists.[24]

    The era of Blair's career between and was marked by some critical backlash, with Blair earning a total of five Razzie Award nominations and being awarded two Razzies for Worst Actress.[25] In the late s, she worked in numerous low-budget horror films, including Grotesque (), opposite Tab Hunter, and the Italian production Witchery (), opposite David Hasselhoff.

    The following year, she starred in the romantic comedy Up Your Alley opposite Murray Langston,[27] and the Exorcist spoof Repossessed in , co-starring Leslie Nielsen.

    Linda blair biography therapy At age 15, Blair dated Australian singer Rick Springfield , 25 years old at the time, whom she met during a concert at the Whisky a Go Go. Archived from the original on February 24, In , Linda Blair faced another challenge when she was arrested for possession and distribution of cocaine. In the s, Linda Blair continued her acting career, although with limited success.

    She also appeared in several Australian B-movies in the early s, including Fatal Bond () and Dead Sleep ().

    In , Blair reunited with director Wes Craven for a cameo role as a reporter in Scream (), In she starred in a Broadway revival of Grease, playing Rizzo. Also in , 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.

    Blair appeared in critic Mark Kermode's BBC documentary The Fear of God (which Kermode directed and hosted), included as a special feature on the DVD of The Exorcist.[30] In , Blair appeared in an online parody of The Blair Witch Project titled The Blair Bitch Project.[31]

    In , she was cast as a regular in the BBC television show, L.A.

    7, and between and , hosted Fox Family's Scariest Places on Earth, a reality series profiling reportedly haunted locations throughout the world.[32] Blair devotes time to a nonprofit organization she established in , the Linda Blair WorldHeart Foundation, which works to rescue and rehabilitate abused, neglected, and mistreated animals and provide them with needed pet care.[33] As an adult, she became an animal rights activist and humanitarian, working with People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, Feed the Children, Variety, the Children's Charity, and other organizations,[2] as well as advocating for teen HIV/AIDS awareness.[9] Blair is on the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society operation’s board of advisors.[34] In August , the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, Blair travelled to Mississippi 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 about The Exorcist almost every single day of my life.

    — Blair on her role in The Exorcist, [35]

    In , she guest-starred on The CW television series Supernatural, playing the part of Detective Diana Ballard, as she aids Sam and Dean Winchester in the episode "The Usual Suspects", which aired November 9, [35] In , she appeared at the 18th annual Malaga Fantasy and Horror Film Festival to accept a lifetime achievement award for her work in the horror genre.

    Blair appeared the following year in the documentaryConfessions of a Teenage Vigilante, discussing her role as Brenda in Savage Streets (). The documentary was included as a bonus feature on the DVD release of the film.

    In , she appeared as herself on the cable series Pit Boss and Jury Duty. She appeared in the Rick Springfield documentary Affair of the Heart,[36] and was a panelist in a episode of The Joy Behar Show.

    In late , Blair appeared at the taped Governors Awards for the 84th Academy Awards ceremony, honoring makeup artist Dick Smith, who had created the iconic makeup for Blair in The Exorcist.[37] In , Blair accepted a role in the comedy web series Whoa!, and has since appeared in the feature The Green Fairy, and the films Surge of Power: Revenge of the Sequel () and the upcoming Landfill (post-production).

    In , Blair competed in season eight of The Masked Singer as "Scarecrow" which resembled a pumpkin-headed scarecrow. Before the first elimination on "Fright Night" could be announced, she interrupted Nick Cannon by declaring forfeit while claiming that her fellow contestants "Sir Bug a Boo" (who would be unmasked in the same episode to be Ray Parker Jr.) and "Snowstorm" (later unmasked in the following episode as Nikki 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 annoy Ken Jeong as she claims that he annoys everyone on this show.

    In October , Blair reprised the role of Regan MacNeil during a cameo in The Exorcist: Believer.[38]

    Personal life

    At age 15, Blair dated Australian singer Rick Springfield, 25 years old at the time, whom she met during a concert at the Whisky a Go Go.[3][5] She also dated Deep Purple and Trapeze bassist Glenn Hughes, and Neil Giraldo, guitarist and future husband of Pat Benatar.[5] Between late and mid, Blair dated Styx guitarist Tommy Shaw.

    Blair also dated Jim Dandy Mangrum of band Black Oak Arkansas. In the early s, Blair was in a relationship with actor Wings Hauser.[7]

    In a 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.[39] 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.[40]

    On December 20, , at 18 years old, she was arrested for drug possession and conspiracy to sell drugs.[41] She pleaded guilty to a reduced charge of conspiracy to possess cocaine, 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.[42]

    Blair supports animal welfare. She was a vegetarian for 13 years, before becoming a vegan in In that year, she co-authored the book Going Vegan!.[6] In , she founded the Linda Blair WorldHeart Foundation, a nonprofit organization that serves to rehabilitate and adopt rescue animals.[43]

    She believes in the paranormal.[44]

    In , Blair revealed that she was treated for an umbilical hernia.[45] As of [update], she lives in Coto de Caza, California.[46]

    Filmography

    Film

    Television

    Awards and nominations

    See also

    References

    1. ^"Linda Blair".

      Turner Classic Movies. Archived from the original on December 19,

    2. ^ abc"Cast". The Exorcist. Warner Brothers. Archived from the original on February 24, Retrieved March 18,
    3. ^ abcdefg"Linda Blair".

      Biography. October 28, A&E Network.

    4. ^"The Exorcist". American Film Institute. Retrieved September 26,
    5. ^ abcdefLeach, Robin (July 11, ).

      "The Devil Can't Make Her". People. 8 (2).

    6. ^ abcdQuinn, Karl (December 21, ). "Lunch with Linda Blair". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved September 28,
    7. ^ abKaufman, Joanne.

      "Wings of Desire". People. 40 (22). Retrieved September 22,

    8. ^ abcdLea, Tony Clayton (January 6, ). "Linda Blair". The Irish Times. Retrieved September 28,
    9. ^Clark, Mark ().

      Smirk, Sneer and Scream: Great Acting in Horror Cinema. McFarland. p.&#; ISBN&#;.

    10. ^ abMansour, David (). From Abba to Zoom: A Pop Culture Encyclopedia of the Late 20th Century.

      Linda blair family: 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. Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Actress. June 12, The documentary was included as a bonus feature on the DVD release of the film.

      Andrews McMeel Publishing. p.&#;4. ISBN&#;.

    11. ^ abDjuff, Ray; Morrison, Chris (). Waterton and Glacier in a Snap!: Fast Facts and Titillating Trivia.

      Linda blair biography wikipedia francais Film Reference. Louis American child actresses American child models American female equestrians American film actresses American people convicted of drug offenses American television actresses Best Supporting Actress Golden Globe film winners Keepers of animal sanctuaries Living people People from Westport, Connecticut 20th-century American sportswomen. Toggle the table of contents. Les Rues de l'enfer.

      Rocky Mountain Books Ltd. pp.&#;91–2. ISBN&#;.

    12. ^"Savage Streets Review". TV Guide. Retrieved September 22,
    13. ^Martin, Mick; Porter, Marsha (). Video Movie Guide (Revised&#;ed.).

      Linda blair biography exorcist We didn't care. Godzilla: The Series. Paul Terry. She works and lives on the 2-acre rescue sanctuary full-time in California, which was featured on The Today Show in a segment titled "From Devil to Angel.

      Ballantine Books. p.&#; ISBN&#;.

    14. ^Wilson, John (). The Official Razzie Movie Guide: Enjoying the Best of Hollywood's Worst. Grand Central Publishing. p.&#; ISBN&#;.
    15. ^ abLangman, Larry (). The Media in the Movies: A Catalog of American Journalism Films, –.

      McFarland. p.&#; ISBN&#;.

    16. ^Kermode, Mark (director) (). The Fear of God: 25 Years of 'The Exorcist'. British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC).
    17. ^Persaud, Babita (September 25, ). "Blair lets fans have their scary little dream Series". St. Petersburg Times.

      p.&#;1B.

    18. ^Blair, Linda (April 13, ). "Are There Ghosts?"(Transcript). Larry King Live. CNN. Retrieved September 28,
    19. ^"Linda Blair-WorldHeart Foundation". GuideStar. Retrieved September 26,
    20. ^"Linda Blair: Charity Work & Causes".

      Look to the Stars. Retrieved December 3,

    21. ^ abcSacks, Ethan (November 9, ). "Possession is 9/10ths of Linda Blair's Career". New York Daily News. Retrieved September 20,
    22. ^ abWebster, Andy (October 9, ).

      "For the Fans of an Idol, It's ". The New York Times. Retrieved September 28,

    23. ^Kilday, Gregg (October 31, ). "The Academy Throws a Mini-Film Festival Tied to the Governors' Awards". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved September 26,
    24. ^"Inside Linda Blair's Shocking 'Exorcist' Return: 'Nobody Had Any Idea What Was About to Happen' (Exclusive)".
    25. ^"Despite a Frightening Collapse, Funkstar Rick James Won't Let Anyone Rein Him in – Vol.

      18 No. 21". . November 22, Retrieved November 4,

    26. ^"The 12 Most Rick James–y Moments in Rick James's New Memoir, Glow". Vulture. July 11, Retrieved December 13,
    27. ^"Linda Blair and 31 Held in Drug Case". The New York Times. December 21,
    28. ^"Actress Linda Blair Gets Probation in Drug Case".

      Lakeland Ledger. September 6,

    29. ^"About us". Linda Blair WorldHeart Foundation. Retrieved January 20,
    30. ^"Linda Blair".

    31. Linda blair net worth
    32. Linda blair family
    33. How old is linda blair
    34. Linda blair 80s

      35. Fortean Times. Retrieved January 20,

    35. ^"Linda Blair's Health Scare". The Doctors. April 15, Retrieved September 28,
    36. ^"Bode Miller Selling Coto de Caza Home for $ Million". Snow Industry News. October 21, Archived from the original on September 28, Retrieved September 28,
    37. ^ abcdefghijklmnopq"Linda Blair Biography (–)".

      Film Reference. Retrieved September 28,

    38. ^How to Get Revenge, retrieved February 16,
    39. ^"The Powder Puff Principle ()". British Film Institute. Archived from the original on September 28, Retrieved September 28,
    40. ^Latchem, John (February 6, ).

      "IMPS: Immoral Minority Picture Show". Home Media Magazine. Retrieved September 22,

    41. ^Roth, Vincent J. (June 12, ). "Cinema's First Out Gay Superhero Florida Supercon July 29th"(PDF). Surge of Power. Archived from the original(PDF) on September 28, Retrieved September 28,
    42. ^"Ghost story "Landfill," with Linda Blair, coming this month".

      Rue Morgue Site. October 9, Retrieved October 9,

    43. ^"Is Linda Blair in The Exorcist: Believer? Director David Gordon Green Explains". NBC Insider Official Site. October 5, Retrieved October 6,
    44. ^Erickson, Hal (). Encyclopedia of Television Law Shows: Factual and Fictional Series About Judges, Lawyers and the Courtroom, –.

      McFarland. p.&#; ISBN&#;.

    45. ^Topel, Fred (February 15, ). "Ahead of My Time: Linda Blair Revisits The Exorcist Movies". Crave. Retrieved September 28,
    46. ^ abcdefghijklmn"Linda Blair Credits".

      TV Guide. CBS Interactive. Retrieved September 28,

    47. ^"Renegade Season 5 Episode 2: Self Defense". TV Guide. Retrieved September 28,
    48. ^Metro, Jonny (January 20, ). "The Cult Credentials of Linda Blair". Wicked Horror. Retrieved September 28,
    1. ^Year in which awards ceremony was held.

    Works cited

    • Lee, Jason ().

      "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&#;.

    • Walters, Suzanna Danuta (). "The (R)evolution of Women-In-Prison Films". In McCaughey, Martha; King, Neal (eds.). Reel Knockouts: Violent Women in Film.

      Linda blair biography movies Godzilla: The Series. American Film Institute. Retrieved September 26, Fortean Times.

      University of Texas Press. pp.&#;– ISBN&#;.

    • Levine, Elana (). Wallowing in Sex: The New Sexual Culture of s American Television. Duke University Press. ISBN&#;.
    • Weldon, Michael (). The Psychotronic Video Guide to Film. Macmillan. ISBN&#;.
    • Young, R.G., ed.

      (). The Encyclopedia of Fantastic Film: Ali Baba to Zombies. Hal Leonard Corporation. ISBN&#;.

    External links