What Is Linda Blair's Net Worth?
Linda Blair is an American actress and producer who has a net worth of $2 million. She is best known for her Golden Globe-winning and Oscar-nominated role as Regan MacNeil in the 1973 horror film "The Exorcist." Linda hosted the Fox Family/ABC Family paranormal reality show "Scariest Places on Earth" from 2001 to 2006 and starred as Joni Witherspoon on the BBC series "L.A. 7" in 2000. With over 70 acting credits, her notable works include "Airport 1975" (1974), "Hell Night" (1981), "Repossessed" (1990), and "Scream" (1996). She also appeared in popular TV shows like "Hidden Faces" (1968–1969), "Fantasy Island" (1982), "Murder, She Wrote" (1985), and "Supernatural" (2006). Blair has additionally featured on game shows and reality series such as "Win, Lose or Draw" (1988), "Hollywood Squares" (2000–2003), "Pit Boss" (2010–2012), "Celebrity Ghost Stories" (2012), and "Hollywood Medium with Tyler Henry" (2017). She also worked as an associate producer on "Grotesque" (1988) and "Skins" (1994). In 1997, Blair played Rizzo in a Broadway revival of "Grease."
Early Life
Linda Denise Blair was born on January 22, 1959, in St. Louis, Missouri, to Elinore and James Blair. She has two older siblings, Debbie and Jim. Her father, a former Navy test pilot, became an executive recruiter when the family moved to Westport, Connecticut, after James secured a job in New York City. Elinore worked as a real estate agent in Westport. Linda started modeling at the age of 5, appearing in catalogs for J.C. Penney, Sears, and Macy's, and in over 70 commercials, including ones for Welch's. At age 6, she was offered a contract for print ads in "The New York Times." Linda is also a trained equestrian, having started riding horses at an early age.
Career
Linda's acting career began in 1968 when she was cast as Allyn Jaffe on the NBC soap opera "Hidden Faces." She made her film debut in 1970's "The Way We Live Now" and appeared in "The Sporting Club" in 1971. Blair's breakthrough came with her role as Regan MacNeil in "The Exorcist" (1973), alongside Ellen Burstyn. The film grossed over $441.3 million (more than $1.8 billion adjusted for inflation) and earned 10 Academy Award nominations, including Best Picture and Best Supporting Actress for Blair. She reprised her role in 1977's "Exorcist II: The Heretic."
In the following years, Blair appeared in a variety of films including "Airport 1975" (1974), "Roller Boogie" (1979), and "Wild Horse Hank" (1979). She also starred in several TV movies like "Born Innocent" (1974), "Sarah T. – Portrait of a Teenage Alcoholic" (1975), "Sweet Hostage" (1975), "Victory at Entebbe" (1976), and "Summer of Fear" (1978). Throughout the '80s, she guest-starred on series like "Fantasy Island" (1982), "The Love Boat" (1982), "Murder, She Wrote" (1985), and "Monsters" (1989), and appeared in films such as "Ruckus" (1980), "Chained Heat" (1983), and "Night Patrol" (1984).
In 1981, Blair starred in the slasher movie "Hell Night" and posed nude for "Playboy" magazine in 1983. She co-starred with Leslie Nielsen and Ned Beatty in the parody "Repossessed" (1990). Around that time, she also appeared in "Zapped Again!" (1990), "Dead Sleep" (1990), and "Fatal Bond" (1991).
Throughout the '90s and 2000s, Blair continued to act, appearing in TV movies like "Calendar Girl, Cop, Killer?: The Bambi Bembenek Story" (1992) and "Perry Mason: The Case of the Heartbroken Bride" (1992), and guest-starring in series including "MacGyver" (1990), "Married… with Children" (1992), "Renegade" (1996), "Psi Factor: Chronicles of the Paranormal" (1998), and "Supernatural" (2006). She reunited with director Wes Craven for the hit horror film "Scream" in 1996. More recently, she starred in films such as "Hitters Anonymous" (2005), "All Is Normal" (2006), and "Surge of Power: Revenge of the Sequel" (2016), and has served as a guest judge on "RuPaul's Drag Race" (2014) and "American Rescue Dog Show" (2018).
(Photo by Jerod Harris/WireImage)
Personal Life
When Blair was 15, she dated 25-year-old singer Rick Springfield. She also dated guitarist Neil Giraldo, Deep Purple bassist Glenn Hughes, Styx guitarist Tommy Shaw, and actor Wings Hauser. In 1982, she posed topless for "Oui" magazine, revealing in an interview that she found singer Rick James "very sexy." The two dated for two years, with James writing the song "Cold Blooded" about her. In his 2014 autobiography "Glow: The Autobiography of Rick James," he called Blair a "free spirit" and revealed that she had an abortion of his child.
In late 1977, Blair was arrested in Connecticut for conspiracy to sell and purchase cocaine. She pled guilty to conspiracy to possess cocaine and received three years of probation, during which she spoke to youth groups about the dangers of drugs. Blair revealed on "The Doctors" in 2014 that she had been diagnosed with an umbilical hernia.
Animal Rescue
In 2004, Blair founded the nonprofit organization the Linda Blair WorldHeart Foundation, which focuses on rescuing, rehabilitating, and rehoming abused, neglected, and abandoned animals. She became a vegan in the early 2000s after over a decade of being a vegetarian and co-wrote the book "Going Vegan!" with Sunny J. Harris in 2001.
Awards and Nominations
Blair received an Academy Award nomination for Best Actress in a Supporting Role and Golden Globe nominations for Best Supporting Actress – Motion Picture and Most Promising Newcomer – Female for "The Exorcist" in 1974. She won the Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actress – Motion Picture and earned two Bravo Otto nominations for Best Actress in 1974 and 1975. In 1991, she was given the Joe Bob Briggs Lifetime Achievement Award for Horror, and in 2007, she was inducted into the Phoenix International Horror & Sci-Fi Film Festival Hall of Fame. "Born Innocent" earned a TV Land Award nomination in 2006, and in 2021, "Landfill" garnered a Hollywood Blood Horror Festival award for Best Acting Ensemble and a Seattle Film Festival nomination for Best Ensemble in a Feature Film. Blair won the Best Actress award for her role in "Landfill" at the Hollywood Blood Horror Festival.
