Linda Blair Caza, California. Linda Blair Linda Denise Blair (born January 22, 1959) is an American actress, film producer and animal rights activist. Blair is best known for her role as the possessed child, Regan, in the film "The Exorcist" (1973), for which she was nominated for an Academy Award and won a Golden Globe. She reprised her role in "" (1977), for which she was nominated for a Saturn Award. Blair would go on to star in numerous controversial dramatic television films, such as "Born Innocent" (1974) and "Sarah T. – Portrait of a Teenage Alcoholic" (1975) before establishing herself as
The Exorcist (film) her to be hospitalized and ultimately taken out of consideration. Denise Nickerson, who played Violet Beauregarde in "Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory," was considered, but the material troubled her parents too much, and they pulled her out of consideration. Anissa Jones, known for her role as Buffy in "Family Affair," auditioned for the role, but she too was rejected, for much the same reason as Ferdin. The part went instead to Blair, a relative unknown until the film's success. The question of whether or not such a young actress, even a talented one, could carry the film on her