The True Events That Inspired The Exorcist (1973)

Abby Brenker

4 hours ago

10 min read

Silhouetted man in a hat carrying a bag stands in a foggy black-and-white alley by a lamp post and a No Parking Anytime sign.

On December 26, 1973, William Friedkin’s The Exorcist opened in theaters. Based on William Peter Blatty’s 1971 novel, the film drew on a reported 1949 exorcism involving a 13-year-old boy. Its graphic imagery and disturbing portrayal of demonic possession provoked intense audience reactions, while stories about accidents and injuries during production helped establish its reputation as one of horror cinema’s most notorious films. The film stars Linda Blair as Regan MacNeil, a young girl whose increasingly disturbing behavior leads her mother to seek help from two priests. But the story’s origins lie in a case that reportedly began more than two decades before the film’s release. Lets talk about the history and the true events that inspired The Exorcist.

The Exorcist stars Linda Blair, Ellen Burstyn, Max von Sydow, and Jason Miller. It was directed by William Friedkin and written by William Peter Blatty, based on his novel of the same name from 2 years previous. The Exorcist follows the story of a young girl who is possessed by a demon and the journey of her mother and two priests to exorcise this demon.

Not only is the film inspired by allegedly true events, but the making of the film was incredibly difficult and led to injury and death. Many believe the film was cursed from the outset.

In 1949, priests performed an exorcism on a child called Ronald Doe. His real name is Ronald Hunkeler, sometimes referred to as Robbie Mannheim.

Ronald lived with his family in St. Louis, Missouri. When he was 13 years old, he was going through tough times emotionally after the loss of an aunt. According to the All That’s Interesting article, Ronald’s aunt Harriet was a spiritualist and had taught her nephew some of her practices, including using an Ouija board. In January 1949, Ronald started to have unexplainable experiences.

According to witness reports, he would hear scratching noises coming from different parts of the house, like the floors and walls. Water would drip from his walls, and his mattress would move. The floors of the family home were scratched due to the constant moving of heavy furniture on its own. There were also claims that a photo of Jesus on the wall would shake whenever the boy was around.

After consulting doctors and other medical professionals, the family turned to the help of the clergy, who pointed the family in the direction of The Jesuits. Father Albert E Hughes was granted permission by the church to perform an Exorcism on Ronald Doe.

The first attempt did not end the family's concerns, and further exorcisms followed. After this failed attempt, a cousin introduced the family to two Jesuit priests, wh, along with several assistants, attempted again. According to the clergy, they encountered a moving mattress and scratches forming on Ronald. The allegations from this group of people about their experiences with Ronald are quite vast. And it wasn’t isolated to just the two priests; according to their journals, in some cases, more than 14 people witnessed the exorcisms. And they conducted over 20 of them on the boy.

The witnesses claimed to see objects moving on their own. They also reported that the boy would appear to be quite normal during the day. It was only at night that he would descend into fits and tantrums. And that he would enter trance-like states and make feral, guttural noises. It is also claimed that they witnessed an X form on Ronald’s chest, which they assumed was a Roman numeral, the number ten. They interpreted this to mean he had 10 demons possessing him.

Another evening revealed a pitchfork-shaped scratch on his leg. It was also claimed that the boy would curse in Latin at the priests and witnesses. The exorcisms continued over a period of weeks, with priests reportedly attempting to expel the supposed demons on multiple occasions. The priests would continue to try and release the demons from Ronald every single night, over and over again.

It wasn’t until March 20 that his parents decided to take him to a hospital for treatment after he urinated all over his bed. After a month in the hospital, Ronald woke up experiencing seizures. The priests, in one final Hail Mary, attempted to expel Satan from his body. They called upon Saint Michael, and Ronald even admitted to experiencing a vision of the Saint casting out the devil.

Late in the evening, Ronald seemingly emerged from his trance and said, “They’re gone.” Allegedly, this was the end of his haunted behavior. Ronald died in 2020, just a month before his 86th birthday. He retired from NASA after working there for 40 years. Someone close to him told The Guardian that Ronald had to leave the house every Halloween because he thought someone would discover his identity and come looking for him. She also revealed that he had a “terrible life from worry.”

William Blatty, the author of the book, had access to the diaries that the two Jesuit priests kept during the ordeal. Blatty had heard about the case for the first time while he was a student at Georgetown University the following year in 1950. Both the novel and the film take place near Georgetown.

Blatty didn’t do anything with this story until he saw Rosemary’s Baby in 1968; the film had such an impact on him that he decided to try his hand at a similar story. However, Blatty took issue with the ending of Rosemary’s Baby, calling it “schlockey.” He thought he could write a better story with a stronger ending.

As you did in the day, he pitched the story to Bantam Books at a cocktail party and received a $25,000 advance. For the record, $25,000 in the late 1960s was worth over $200k in today’s money.

Woman in pink nightgown talks on a beige corded phone beside a sleeping girl in bed, with a lamp and framed photo nearby.

He took stimulants in order to be alert and write for over 16 hours per day. Initially, Blatty’s vision was for The Exorcist to take place mostly within a courtroom. But as he started to craft his narrative, he realized it would be better suited to take place on location with his characters in the heart of the action. The exorcism of Ronald Doe wasn’t the only inspiration for Blatty’s novel. He also called upon an archeologist that Blatty had met in Beirut, Gerald Lankester Harding, who had excavated the caves where the Dead Sea Scrolls were discovered. Blatty was inspired by his neighbor actor Shirley MacLaine as the Chris MacNeil character. He talks about how this book was his first time writing a female character with depth and dimension.

Blatty’s novel hit shelves in 1971. Two years later, the film adaptation was released. It was on the bestseller list for 54 weeks. When it was time to adapt the novel into a film, Blatty suggested director William Friedkin. A few years before, Friedkin’s film The French Connection made a splash in Hollywood. Linda Blair talks about how her audition required her to read terrible language; she was scared to tell her mother about the role.

Actor Ellen Burston was up against big-name stars but convinced Friedkin that she was destined to play the role. And Friedkin was looking for an unknown actor to play the role of Father Karras; the best-case scenario would be a priest who could act. They cast Jason Miller in the role, and Max von Sydow as Father Merrin. Von Sydow was known for his work in Ingmar Bergman films. Several of the clergy in the film were clergy in real life. It took 15 months to film The Exorcist.

Pale girl with dark, eerie eyes lies against a knitted blanket, wearing a lace dress, staring intensely in a dim close-up.

On Christmas Day, 1973 a small group of journalists gathered for a very exclusive preview screening of The Exorcist. After the film rolled out broadly, some movie theaters took to handing out barf bags to audiences. Of course, this ended up being an incredible marketing tactic, but there was some truth to the audience's reaction. Some folks were truly horrified by the film and its graphic nature. Linda Blair, who, of course, played the role of Regan, needed to hire bodyguards after the release of the film. She received death threats; many thought that the film actually glorified Satan, and some people were very offended by the graphic nature of a film that was so centered around religion.

Linda Blair was 14 during the filming of the movie. Of course, there are changes that Blatty made from the original story. The location and the characters are all a bit different than the story of Ronald Doe, which inspired the story.

The production of The Exorcist became was plagued with a series of accidents, injuries, and deaths that helped fuel rumors that the film was cursed. A fire damaged much of the set, delaying production, and several people connected to the film experienced injuries or personal tragedies. These incidents became part of the film’s mythology, particularly as stories about them circulated alongside reports of audiences fainting, becoming ill, or reacting intensely to screenings.

However, the incidents should be considered separately rather than treated as evidence of a supernatural cause. Film productions can involve dangerous equipment, demanding physical effects, and long working hours, and the fact that accidents occurred during the making of The Exorcist does not establish that they were connected. The curse stories nevertheless became closely associated with the film, adding another layer to its already unsettling reputation.

One strange incident was the breakout of a fire on set. The set that was used for the MacNeil home caught fire; the only room that wasn’t impacted by the fire was Regan’s room. The incident delayed production by six weeks. And investigators could not find any reason that the fire started. Producers brought in a priest to bless the set after this in the hopes of dispelling whatever evil was working against them and to ease morale. And while everyone was waiting on the set to be rebuilt, Linda Blair’s grandfather passed away which caused a further delay.

Another bizarre incident was the loss of a 10-foot-tall demonic statue meant to be used on location in Iraq. It was being shipped from Hong Kong and simply went missing. During production, a priest gave Jason Miller a religious medal at a nearby diner, an offer of protection. The priest expressed concern to Miller that the devil would be offended because the film is exposing his tricks.

Girl levitates over a bed in a dim bedroom as two adults watch, creating an eerie supernatural scene.

In the documentary Fear of God about the filming of The Exorcist, Actor Ellyn Bursyn says that 9 people were killed during production. This includes actor Jack McGowran who died shortly after filming his scenes, his character dies in the film. McGowran died from the flu, he was only 54 years old and he died at the Algonquin Hotel in NYC. Now if you’ve listened to us for a while, you may remember that we recorded our 100th episode of this podcast from the Algonquin Hotel. Another actor to pass away during production was Vasiliki Maliarosa, whose character also dies in the film.

The total also includes Bair’s grandfather, a night watchman, Max von Sydow’s brother, the man who refrigerators the set, and the AC’s new baby. Not to mention the severe injuries also endured. Actor Ellyn Burstyn’s real scream is used in the film during a tussle with Regan; the actor actually suffered a permanent spine injury while trying to throw Regan from the bed. Linda Blair also hurt her lower back during the stunts, an injury that has been with her ever since. In the documentary Fear of God, Blair recalls yelling "Please, make it stop. It hurts. It burns!" But because everyone thought she was acting, they didn’t stop the scene. This footage actually made it into the final cut of The Exorcist.

Someone on the crew is said to have lost their toe, and a set carpenter accidentally cut off his thumb. During the premiere of The Exorcist in Rome, lightning struck a 400-year-old cross that sat on top of a church near the theater. The demonic voice that we see coming out of Regan was voiced by Mercedes McCambridge, who went to extreme lengths to achieve the effect, including swallowing raw eggs, smoking cigarettes, and drinking. Drinking alcohol was a big deal for McCambridge, who was previously sober. But she wanted to alter her voice so much for the role, that she drank alcohol for it. Tragedy hit the MacCambridge family, which also accounts for the remaining death toll. But I won’t go into it here because it feels unkind to the family.

It seems the cast and crew are pretty split on the belief of the seat being haunted. But Linda Blair and Max von Sydow both reject the idea, mainly because they don’t believe in curses or the devil. The vibe on set was also strained for non-paranormal reasons. Director William Friedkin would fire guns or slap actors right before a take, which certainly pissed them off. Friedkin also kept the set incredibly cold an effort to see the breath of the actors on screen.

From a filmmaking perspective, a lot of the horror effects were done not only practically, but on a budget. A rubber dummy makes it look like Regan’s head turns 360 degrees, and tubes hidden along her chin spew pea soup. And its sound design remains a gold standard for horror. I even had a panic attack while watching The Exorcist at the Hollywood Chinese Theater for the TCM film festival a few years ago, because of the intensity of the sound design.

The Exorcist became the first horror film nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture, and its influence on the genre continues today. The film drew on a reported case of exorcism, but its impact came from how it translated that account into a story about a family confronting something it could not explain. Its graphic scenes and practical effects contributed to its reputation, but the portrayal of Regan is central to what makes the film so disturbing. Watching a child behave in increasingly frightening and unfamiliar ways challenges the audience’s expectations of childhood and innocence. The stories about accidents and injuries during production added to the film’s mythology, but more than fifty years after its release, The Exorcist remains a landmark of horror cinema in its own right.

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