Pamelyn Ferdin voiced Fern Arable, the little girl who raises Wilbur the pig, in the 1973 animated film "Charlotte's Web". Ferdin was considered for the role of Regan MacNeil, the demon-possessed girl in the 1973 William Friedkin film "The Exorcist", but casting directors decided she was too well-known and cast the then-less-familiar actress Linda Blair. She withdrew from acting in the mid-1980s, but did voice the character of Shelley Kelley in the Kids' WB series "Detention" in 1999. After leaving her job as a public relations director in the mid-1990s, Ferdin began working for the Center for Animal Care and Control in
Linda Blair Now" (1970), followed by a bit part in the comedy "The Sporting Club" (1971). In 1972, Blair was selected from a field of 600 applicants for her most notable role as Regan, the possessed daughter of a famous actress, in William Friedkin's "The Exorcist" (1973). The role earned her a Golden Globe and People's Choice Award for Best Supporting Actress as well as an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress. Film critic and historian Mark Clark notes that in her performance, "Blair matches [adult co-star] Ellen Burstyn note-for-note." Despite the film's critical successes, Blair received media scrutiny for her