William Peter Blatty

American novelist, screenwriter and producer-director, best known as author of "The Exorcist," 1971, which was made into a film in 1973 and earned an Oscar for the best adapted screenplay.

The fifth and youngest child of Catholic Lebanese immigrants, William Peter Blatty was six years old when his parents separated. He was raised by his mother, who peddled homemade quince jelly and intimidated landlords and collection agents. In the mid-1930s, the Blattys moved to Brooklyn, where William attended Brooklyn Prep, a Jesuit school for wealthy boys, on scholarship. He started writing short stories and essays and submitted some of his efforts for publication.

After graduating from high school, he received a scholarship to study at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C. During his junior year there, he read an account of an alleged exorcism of a 14-year-old boy by a Jesuit priest. The story struck him and he chose demonic possession as his topic for a senior oratorical contest. He received his B.A. degree in 1950. He couldn’t find a teaching position in Washington, so he worked at odd jobs before enlisting in the Air Force in 1951. He then went on to earn an M.A. degree in English literature at George Washington University, in 1954. He later earned his doctoral degree.

From 1955 to 1957, Blatty worked for the U.S. Information Agency, stationed in Beirut, Lebanon, editing a publication called "News Review." He supplemented his income by contributing humorous articles to the "Saturday Evening Post" and by collaborating on a book writing effort. He wrote "Which way to Mecca, Jack?" in 1960.

Blatty directed publicity for the University of Southern California in 1957-1958 and public relations for Loyola University in Los Angeles in 1959-1960. He proved to be an amusing conversationalist, and often appeared on Jack Paar’s "Tonight" show in the early 1960s.