William Peter Blatty
Writing
Biography
William Peter Blatty (January 7, 1928 – January 12, 2017) was an American writer, director and producer. He is best known for his 1971 novel The Exorcist and for his screenplay for the 1973 film adaptation. Blatty won an Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay for The Exorcist, and was nominated for Best Picture as its producer. The film also earned Blatty a Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture – Drama as producer. Born and raised in New York City, Blatty received his bachelor's degree in English from Georgetown University in 1950, and his master's degree in English literature from the George Washington University. Following completion of his master's degree in 1954, he joined the United States Air Force and served in the Psychological Warfare Division where he attained the rank of first lieutenant. After service in the air force, he worked for the United States Information Agency in Beirut. After the success of The Exorcist, Blatty reworked his 1966 novel Twinkle, Twinkle, "Killer" Kane! into a new novel titled The Ninth Configuration, published in 1978. He went on to adapt the novel into the 1980 film, which was also his directorial debut. At the 38th Golden Globe Awards, the film won Best Screenplay and was nominated for Best Picture. Blatty refused to have any involvement with the first sequel to The Exorcist; it was critically panned. He directed the second sequel, The Exorcist III (1990), which he adapted from his 1983 novel Legion. His second film as a director, The Exorcist III was his final directorial credit and final screenplay credit. Some of his later novels include Elsewhere (2009), Dimiter (2010) and Crazy (2010). Description above from the Wikipedia article William Peter Blatty, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.
Known For
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The Merv Griffin Show
When a mysterious entity possesses a young girl, her mother seeks the help of two Catholic priests to save her life.
The Exorcist
Tonight Starring Jack Paar is an American talk show hosted by Jack Paar under The Tonight Show franchise from 1957 to 1962. It originally aired during late-night. During most of its run it was broadcast from Studio 6B inside the RCA Building. The same studio would also host early episodes of The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson, and Late Night with Jimmy Fallon. Its theme song was an instrumental version of "Everything's Coming Up Roses", and the closing theme was "So Until I See You" by Al Lerner.
Tonight Starring Jack Paar
Follow the lives of two very different priests tackling one family’s case of terrifying demonic possession.
The Exorcist
On the fifteenth anniversary of the exorcism that claimed Father Damien Karras' life, Police Lieutenant Kinderman's world is once again shattered when a boy is found decapitated and savagely crucified.
The Exorcist III
Father Merrin takes a sabbatical from the Church to devote himself to history and archaeology as he struggles with his shattered faith.
Dominion: Prequel to The Exorcist
Bizarre nightmares plague Regan MacNeil four years after her possession and exorcism. Has the demon returned? And if so, can the combined faith and knowledge of a Vatican investigator and a research specialist free her from its grasp?
Exorcist II: The Heretic
Inspector Jacques Clouseau, smitten with the accused maid Maria Gambrelli, unwittingly turns a straightforward murder investigation into a comedic series of mishaps, testing the patience of his irritable boss Charles Dreyfus as casualties mount.
A Shot in the Dark
Years before Father Merrin helped save Regan MacNeil’s soul, he first encounters the demon Pazuzu in East Africa.
Exorcist: The Beginning
Zero Mostel plays an inspector on the trail of criminals who have captured a robot called Chatze(sp?) played by Felix Silas. The inspector has delusions that he is a great Samurai warrior and the movie flashes back and forth between present day and ancient times.
Mastermind
Army psychiatrist Colonel Kane is posted to a secluded gothic castle housing a military asylum. With a reserved calm, he indulges the inmates' delusions, allowing them free rein to express their fantasies.
The Ninth Configuration
During the Cold War, John Goldfarb crashes his spy plane in the Middle East and is taken prisoner by the local government. His captor, King Fawz, soon discovers that Goldfarb used to be a college football star. So he issues him an ultimatum: coach his country's football team, or Fawz will surrender him to the Russians. Goldfarb teams up with undercover reporter Jenny Ericson, and together they plot to escape their dangerous situation.
John Goldfarb, Please Come Home!
A small-town rookie detective takes on a case involving inconceivable darkness.
Untitled The Exorcist Film
A by-the-book Captain is ordered to capture a strategic village in Italy. The Italian soldiers are willing to surrender, if they can have a festival first. The lieutenant convinces the Captain this is the only way. Because of aerial reconnaissance, they must look like they are fighting. To sort this out an intelligence officer is sent in. Meanwhile the festival gets complicated with the Mayors daughter.
What Did You Do in the War, Daddy?
Pauline Kael (1919–2001) was undoubtedly one of the greatest names in film criticism. A Californian native, she wrote her first review in 1953 and joined ‘The New Yorker’ in 1968. Praised for her highly opinionated and feisty writing style and criticised for her subjective and sometimes ruthless reviews, Kael’s writing was refreshingly and intensely rooted in her experience of watching a film as a member of the audience. Loved and hated in equal measure – loved by other critics for whom she was immensely influential, and hated by filmmakers whose films she trashed - Kael destroyed films that have since become classics such as The Sound of Music and raved about others such as Bonnie and Clyde. She was also aware of the perennial difficulties for women working in the movies and in film criticism, and fiercely fought sexism, both in her reviews and in her media appearances.
What She Said: The Art of Pauline Kael
World War I. Lili Smith is a beloved British music hall singer, often providing inspiration for the British and French troops and general populace singing rallying patriotic songs. She is also half German and is an undercover German spy, using her feminine wiles to gather information from the high ranking and generally older military officers and diplomats she seduces.
Darling Lili
The madam of a floating bordello hires private eye Peter Gunn to prove a gangster killed a crime boss.
Gunn
A motley group of phony church leaders attempts to rob a bank controlled by brothers in 1880's Texas.
The Great Bank Robbery
Meek credit card company clerk Ernest Klenk is feeling the pressure of demanding coworkers, new computers, and an upcoming wedding. This stress leads to a big mistake -- the accidental approval of a credit card for mobster Foots Pulardos, who is planning to flee to Mexico with his girlfriend, Sugar Pye, to avoid criminal charges. When Klenk tries to fix his mix-up, he gets dangerously involved in Foots' scheme.
The Man from the Diners' Club
An investigation into the reports of houses in Hollywood that are supposedly haunted by the ghosts of dead movie stars.