ACTOR
Linda Blair
- Known for
- Exorcist II: The Heretic (1977), Airport 1975 (1974), La casa 4 (Witchcraft) (1989)
24 archived facts 4 topics 1 source Last reviewed Oct 2026
Linda Blair is an actor best known for Exorcist II: The Heretic, Airport 1975 and La casa 4 (Witchcraft).
All facts (24)
- #001
After Hurricane Katrina, Linda Blair personally rescued and transported 51 displaced dogs that had been left to die.
- #002
When an acquaintance persuaded Linda Blair to do cocaine with him, she flew to Florida to attend the funerals of members of the band Lynyrd Skynyrd. Blair reportedly went because she was interested in buying the purebred puppies the dealers were selling. Blair was reported to have picked up one of the puppies and returned to her home in Connecticut. She was in contact with the dealers to supposedly buy the puppy, but the Drug Enforcement Administration was tapping the phones. When the dealer successfully pressured her into doing cocaine with him, they arrested Blair and more than 30 other people, and she was charged with conspiracy to buy cocaine from Florida to sell in Connecticut. Police searched her bag, found amphetamines and then charged her with possession. The possession charge was dropped and the conspiracy charge was reduced. She was sentenced to three years' probation, ordered to pay a $5,000 fine and to make at least twelve public appearances to tell young people about the dangers of drug addiction.
- #003
After the premiere of The Exorcist (1973), Linda Blair received death threats. Warner Brothers, the studio that released the film, hired police to live with the Blair family 24 hours a day, seven days a week, for 6 months. The actual culprit was never caught. After Linda's promotional work for the film was finished and the studio stopped paying for security, threats from fanatics and religious zealots continued even after the premiere of the film's sequel. Her family finally had to take matters into their own hands and hide her with friends in Vermont, Connecticut and New Jersey.
- #004
One of Linda Blair's pet dogs was stolen from her, and she has since worked to stop animal and pet theft.
- #005
Linda Blair did most of her own skating in Roller Boogie (1979), and as a result developed bursitis in her hip.
- #006
All the money Linda Blair saved over her lifetime went to charities and animal welfare.
- #007
During the production of Exorcist II: The Heretic (1977), which was a box-office hit, Linda Blair's parents divorced, she went through two breakups, and she struggled with depression and a drinking problem. Later that same year, three of her friends from the band Lynyrd Skynyrd died in a plane crash, and shortly after the funeral she was arrested on a drug charge. In a 2001 interview with Lifetime TV's "Intimate Portrait," Blair said: "Looking back, I can say it was one of the hardest years anyone could survive. And I trust myself and I try to embrace myself for getting through that time, because I know it nearly killed me."
- #008
Hoping to escape the "victim" typecasting that had followed her since she played the possessed girl in The Exorcist (1973), Linda Blair auditioned for the role of Emmeline in The Blue Lagoon (1980), but the part went to Brooke Shields.
- #009
By the time she was 12, Linda Blair had appeared in 75 commercials and hundreds of magazine catalogs.
- #010
Linda Blair was in talks to play Iris in Taxi Driver (1976), but the role went to Jodie Foster instead.
- #011
Linda Blair's terrifying transformation as Regan in The Exorcist (1973) ranked 9th on the American Film Institute's AFI's 100 Years...100 Heroes & Villains (2003) villains list.
- #012
Linda Blair dated Rick James. James's 1983 hit song "Cold Blooded" was said to be about his brief romance with Blair.
- #013
Linda Blair owns her own clothing line, called Linda Blair's Wild West Collection.
- #014
As a teenager, Linda Blair won the Presidential Sports Award.
- #015
Linda Blair is a friend of Tippi Hedren.
- #016
Through her work as an animal rights activist, Linda Blair has won numerous awards from organizations such as P. E. T. A., and she also lends her name to helping stop animal abuse worldwide.
- #017
Linda Blair runs the Linda Blair WorldHeart Foundation, a nonprofit, 501C3 tax-deductible organization dedicated to rescuing and rehabilitating abused, neglected and abandoned animals from the tough streets of the Los Angeles area as well as from overcrowded and overwhelmed city and county animal shelters.
- #018
Over the years, Linda Blair worked with Elizabeth Taylor, Martin Sheen, Anthony Hopkins, Kirk Douglas, Richard Burton and Leslie Nielsen.
- #019
Linda Blair's family moved to Westport, CT, when she was 2 years old.
- #020
Linda Blair was one of the celebrities who fought the FDA's 1990 Nutrition Labeling and Education Act, an agenda that included restricting American citizens' right to buy natural herbs and vitamin supplements on the grounds that such supplements are "unsafe" and need strict regulation like pharmaceutical drugs. Along with other celebrities such as Whoopi Goldberg and Randy Travis, Blair helped fight this legislation at the time, but the agenda is still being pushed today by both the FDA and the United Nations' Codex Alimentarius program.
- #021
Linda Blair wrote a book about veganism titled "Going Vegan!"
- #022
Linda Blair is the subject of Redd Kross's tribute song "Linda Blair."
- #023
As recounted on the April 16, 2014 episode of The Doctors (2008), Linda Blair underwent treatment for a hernia.
- #024
In 1977, Linda Blair was fined for cocaine possession.
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