WASHINGTON, January 14, 2017 \u2013 Screenwriter and novelist William Peter Blatty, who won widespread fame as the author of \u201cThe Exorcist\u201d (1971), died Thursday morning, January 12 at a hospital in Bethesda, Maryland, the Washington, D. C. suburb where he lived. He was 89.
William Friedkin, a longtime friend and colleague who directed iconic 1973 film adaptation of Blatty\u2019s novel, announced the author\u2019s death via Twitter.
According to the Guardian , \u201cBlatty\u2019s widow, Julie Alicia Blatty, told the Associated Press the cause of death was multiple myeloma, a form of blood cancer,\u201d which had only been diagnosed recently.
Early life and work
William Peter Blatty was born in New York City in 1928, the son of Lebanese parents who emigrated to America on a cattle boat. When his father abandoned the family three years after his birth, he was raised by his intensely Roman Catholic mother, an influence that was to permeate his life and his writing.
Blatty attended Brooklyn Preparatory, a Jesuit school, on scholarship, graduating as class valedictorian in 1946. Continuing his education with the Jesuits, he then attended Washington, D. C.\u2019s Jesuit college, Georgetown University, on scholarship, and upon graduation, headed across town to George Washington University where he was awarded a master\u2019s degree in English Literature.
He worked several odd jobs before joining the United States Air Force where he quickly rose to become head of the policy branch of the Air Force Psychological Warfare Division\u2014a military branch known more popularly today as \u201cpsy-ops.\u201d Blatty eventually wrote about his experiences in psy-ops in his early autobiographical effort, \u201cWhich Way to Mecca, Jack?\u201d
After leaving the Air Force, he worked for the U. S. Information Agency (USIA) for a time, working out of that agency\u2019s branch in Beirut, Lebanon, where his Lebanese background proved an asset. However, longing to be a writer and an active member of the entertainment community in almost any capacity, he eventually returned to the U. S., working for a time in public relations on America\u2019s left coast, first for the Jesuit Loyola University of Los Angeles and later at the University of Southern California.
He also continued to write. After the publication of \u201cWhich Way to Mecca, Jack\u201d (1960), he wrote and published a trio of comic novels, \u201cJohn Goldfarb, Please Come Home\u201d (1963), \u201cI, Billy Shakespeare\u201d (1965), and \u201cTwinkle, Twinkle, \u2018Killer\u2019 Kane\u201d (1966). All three proved critical successes but proved only modestly profitable in bookstores.
\u201cThe Exorcist\u201d and Hollywood success
Hoping to improve his luck and his literary and Hollywood profile, Blatty moved toward screenwriting. He scored success working with well-known director Black Edwards, contributing scripts for \u201cA Shot in the Dark\u201d (1964), \u201cWhat Did You Do in the War, Daddy?\u201d (1966), and \u201cDarling Lili\u201d (1970), a popular musical that starred Julie Andrews and Rock Hudson. He also worked independently, penning scripts for several other films including the 1969 classic, \u201cThe Great Bank Robbery.\u201d
But all these successes were eventually dwarfed by the recognition he received for his sensational 1971 religion-themed, supernatural horror novel, \u201cThe Exorcist.\u201d Intriguingly, the Washington, D. C. based story was based on an actual exorcism, that took place in the late 1940s. This rare, ancient and still controversial Catholic ritual was performed on the boy by a Jesuit priest in the hope of banishing the demonic spirit that seemed to possess him.
Blatty placed his novel firmly in the Georgetown neighborhood of D. C. and in contiguous Georgetown University, the Jesuit college he had earlier attended. He also traded in the real-life teenage boy of the original exorcism for a young teenage girl in his version of the tale, perhaps hoping to give his novel wider appeal.
Almost immediately upon publication, Blatty\u2019s gruesome supernatural horror story of demonic possession quickly proved a novelistic sensation. It soon became a fixture of the New York Times best seller list, remaining there for a remarkable 57 consecutive weeks, hitting the number 1 spot for a total of 17 times.
Hollywood couldn\u2019t resist this compellingly scary psychological and oddly spiritual tale. Blatty soon found himself adapting the novel into a script and working closely with director William Friedkin to create perhaps the most acclaimed and certainly the most original horror thriller of the late 20 th century.
The film version of \u201cThe Exorcist\u201d (1973) won Blatty a triple play: An Oscar for his screenplay and a pair of Golden Globes for Best Writing and Best Picture, the latter because Blatty had also produced the movie.
\u201cThe Exorcist\u201d and its sequels
Blatty continued to work as a Hollywood screenwriter after \u201cThe Exorcist.\u201d While he did achieve some successes, none of his film work scaled that movie\u2019s heights, although the 1980-81 film, \u201cThe Ninth Configuration,\u201d which Blatty adapted, produced and directed, was nominated for three Golden Globes in 1981.
Hollywood could not resist going back to the Exorcist well for sequels, but the first one\u2014\u201cExorcist II: The Heretic,\u201d a project with which Blatty was not involved\u2014was a notorious flop.
Blatty gave it a go once again with \u201cExorcist III,\u201d which he adapted, directed and produced based on his own sequel, which he initially entitled \u201cLegion.\u201d The 1990 film was better received than \u201cExorcist II.\u201d Yet it, too, was not quite the hoped for hit, which some Exorcist fans attributed to poor editing of the final cut.
But in 2016, \u201cExorcist III\u201d experienced a notable resurrection of sorts, according to writer Brad Miska who notes that Shout Factory released \u201cthe once considered lost Director\u2019s Cut\u201d of \u201cExorcist II, a version of the film horror fans have been clamoring for since its release in 1990.\u201d
\u201cWilliam Peter Blatty, who wrote the original \u2018The Exorcist\u2019 novel and screenplay, directed the third film in the franchise that had been completely retooled by Morgan Creek. While most of the original footage was lost, a VHS workprint has been discovered that carries a lot of the footage, including much of Blatty\u2019s vision for the film. Shout Factory\u2019s release boasts the original title, Legion , as well as a new assembly of the film that includes said shots from the discovered VHS. So while it\u2019s not 100% Blatty\u2019s original vision, it\u2019s allegedly close.
\u201cWhat\u2019s so interesting about juxtaposing the two cuts is knowing that Legion is Blatty\u2019s direct sequel to The Exorcist. Legion feels intimately connected to the 1973 classic, while the theatrical cut is an action-packed quasi-sequel that forces connections to William Friedkin\u2019s adaptation.\u201d
Final arrangements
Final arrangements have not yet been announced by the family. Blatty\u2019s widow, Julie Alicia Blatty suggests that in lieu of sending flowers, donations be sent to the LC Pastoral Services of the Legionaries of Christ or to Solidarity with the Persecuted Church, an organization that supports persecuted Catholics in the Middle East and other regions.<\/p>\n

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