WILLIAM PETER BLATTY

William Peter Blatty was a writer, director, and producer from the 1950s to the 2010s. He is best known for his 1971 novel The Exorcist, which was adapted into very successful film directed by William Friedkin and starring Ellen Burstyn, Max von Sydow and Linda Blair. Blatty won the Academy Award for the screenplay (he was also a producer). Some of his other works include: The Ninth Configuration and The Exorcist III (which he wrote and directed). He passed away in 2017 at the age of 89.