William Peter Blatty

Early Life and Education

William Peter Blatty was born on January 7, 1928, in New York City to Lebanese immigrants.

Blatty experienced growing up in a broken home when his parents separated while still a toddler. The effect of this made his mother, Mary, become his sole support as a child.

While growing up, Blatty lived in 28 different addresses because of nonpayment of rent. Blatty was a brilliant child. He started his education at Brooklyn Preparatory on a scholarship. At the school, he excelled as the class president and editor of the school magazine.

Still on a scholarship, Blatty studied English literature at Georgetown University before earning a master’s degree in English literature from George Washington University.

Early Career

Blatty started his career by getting enlisted to the US Air Force where he worked in their psychology department.

He also briefly worked in the United States Information Agency office in Beirut before Blatty started shifting focus to writing and acting.

Writing Career

As a writer, Blatty got his first big break as a ghostwriter for Abigail van Buren’s best seller in 1959. From there, he officially launched his writing career and wrote numerous books.

Blatty did not only write fictional novels but he also tried out screenwriting for movies as well.

The Exorcist

He served as a screenwriter for a while before he moved back to fiction. It was this time that Blatty wrote his first serious novel, The Exorcist, which was based on the 1949 case of demonic possession which he heard about while studying at Georgetown University.

The novel was a commercial hit and was later adapted into a film that won an Academy Award for its screenplay.

The Ninth Configuration

The success of the novel motivated him to rework on one of his older novels he wrote in 1966 titled, Twinkle, Twinkle, “Killer” Kane into a new novel called The Ninth Configuration, published in 1978.

Just like “The Exorcist,” the novel was also adapted into a movie.

Work on The Exorcist Sequels

At first, Blatty refused to be involved in the adaptation of the first sequel of The Exorcist. However, he was involved in the second and third adaptations of the sequel.

Blatty’s sequel to The Exorcist was titled Legion which was later adapted into a film The Exorcist III which he also directed and produced.

Later Life and Personal Life

Even after the production of the Exorcist sequels, Blatty remained active as a novelist through his lifetime.

Blatty was married four times and divorced three times. He had seven children altogether from his different marriages.

Death

Blatty sadly passed away in 2017 at the age of 89..