Linda Blair, American actress
Linda Denise Blair (born January 22, 1959) is an American actress and activist. She played the role of Regan MacNeil in the horror film The Exorcist (1973), for which she won a Golden Globe Award and received a nomination for an Academy Award. The film established her as a horror icon; she reprised the role in Exorcist II: The Heretic (1977), for which she was nominated for a Saturn Award.
Blair would go on to star in numerous television films, such as Born Innocent (1974), Sarah T. – Portrait of a Teenage Alcoholic (1975), and Stranger in Our House (1978), before establishing herself as a sex symbol in the musical film Roller Boogie (1979). The 1980s had her starring in numerous horror and exploitation films, including the slasher Hell Night (1981), the prison drama Chained Heat (1983), and the grindhouse cult thriller Savage Streets (1984).
Throughout the 1990s, Blair appeared in various independent films and B movies, as well as several television credits. She was the host of the Fox Family reality series Scariest Places on Earth (2001–2003) and had regular appearances on the Animal Planet 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. A vegan, Blair co-authored the book Going Vegan! in 2001.
1959Jan, 22
Linda Blair
Choose Another Date
Events on 1959
- 1Jan
Cuban Revolution
Fulgencio Batista, dictator of Cuba, is overthrown by Fidel Castro's forces during the Cuban Revolution. - 7Jan
Fidel Castro
The United States recognizes the new Cuban government of Fidel Castro. - 20Feb
John Diefenbaker
The Avro Arrow program to design and manufacture supersonic jet fighters in Canada is cancelled by the Diefenbaker government amid much political debate. - 8Apr
COBOL
A team of computer manufacturers, users, and university people led by Grace Hopper meets to discuss the creation of a new programming language that would be called COBOL. - 23Nov
Charles de Gaulle
French President Charles de Gaulle declares in a speech in Strasbourg his vision for "Europe, from the Atlantic to the Urals".