Exorcist writer William Peter Blatty dies aged 89
Courtesy
of http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-38613928
The Exorcist - Original Theatrical
Trailer (1973)
US author and filmmaker William Peter Blatty, best known for writing The Exorcist, has died at the age of 89.
William
Friedkin, who directed the film adaptation of Blatty's novel, broke the news of
his death on Twitter.
"William
Peter Blatty, dear friend and brother who created The Exorcist passed away
yesterday," he wrote.
The
Exorcist was published as a novel in 1971, with the hugely successful big
screen adaptation - also written by Blatty - following two years later.
Despite
a troubled production and a muted launch, the film went on to become one of the
highest grossing in history and is considered by critics to be a classic horror
movie.
Blatty's
widow, Julie Alicia Blatty, told the Associated Press that the writer died on
Thursday at a hospital in Bethesda, Maryland.
The
cause of death was multiple myeloma, a form of blood cancer, she said.
Horror
writer Stephen King tweeted: "RIP
William Peter Blatty, who wrote the great horror novel of our time. So long,
Old Bill."
The
Exorcist won Blatty an Oscar for best adapted screenplay and he went on to
write and direct the second sequel The Exorcist III.
Blatty
also wrote novels such as Elsewhere, Dimiter, The Ninth Configuration and
Demons Five, Exorcist Nothing: A Fable.
His
film credits include A Shot in the Dark, The Great Bank Robbery and Promise Her
Anything.
