William Peter Blatty

Sian Cain “Exorcist author William Peter Blatty dies aged 89” https://www.theguardian.com/books/2017/jan/13/exorcist-author-william-peter-blatty-dies-aged-89
Matt Schudel “William Peter Blatty, author of ‘The Exorcist,’ dies at 89” https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/books/william-peter-blatty-author-of-the-exorcist-dies-at-89/2017/01/13/729974bc-d9a1-11e6-9a36-1d296534b31e_story.html
“Exorcist writer William Peter Blatty dies aged 89” http://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-38613928

現地時間１月12日、メリーランド州ベセスダ*1の病院で、小説『エクソシスト』で知られる作家のウィリアズム・ピーター・ブラッティ氏*2が多発性骨髄腫のため他界。享年89歳。
『エクソシスト』の縁起について、『ワシントン・ポスト』の記事から引用しておく；

William Peter Blatty was a senior at Georgetown University in 1949 when he heard the extraordinary story that, more than two decades later, would change his life ― and scare the devil out of everyone else.

One of the priests at the university told him about a case from nearby Prince George’s County in which a 14-year-old boy seemed to be possessed by a demon. After months of solemn rites of exorcism by Catholic priests, the demon appeared to be expelled.

Mr. Blatty went on to sell vacuum cleaners, drive a beer truck and serve in the Air Force before becoming a comic novelist and a screenwriter in Hollywood. Years later, out of work and out of ideas, he sat down at a typewriter and, as if possessed himself, wrote “The Exorcist.”

Changing the central character to a 12-year-old girl living in Georgetown, he produced a dark theological thriller that became an international blockbuster when it was published in 1971. The 1973 film version, for which Mr. Blatty won an Academy Award for his screenplay, revolutionized the genre of horror movies and, thanks to head-spinning special effects and the acting of young Linda Blair, became a pop-culture phenomenon.

ところで、ブラッティが自ら脚本を書いている映画版の方は観たことがあるけれど、原作小説の『エクソシスト』は読んでいないのだった（汗）。また、そもそもブレイク・エドワーズ*3と組んで、（例えば）『暗闇でドッキリ』などのコメディ映画の台本を書いていたということも今知った。

エクソシスト [DVD]

暗闇でドッキリ [DVD]

ところで、私と世代が近い人だと、この映画でexorcistとかexorcismとかexorcizeといった英単語を、臭ぇなとか言いながら憶えたという人は少なくないのでは？

*1:See eg. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bethesda,_Maryland https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E3%83%99%E3%82%BB%E3%82%B9%E3%83%80_(%E3%83%A1%E3%83%AA%E3%83%BC%E3%83%A9%E3%83%B3%E3%83%89%E5%B7%9E)

*2:See eg. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Peter_Blatty https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E3%82%A6%E3%82%A3%E3%83%AA%E3%82%A2%E3%83%A0%E3%83%BB%E3%83%94%E3%83%BC%E3%82%BF%E3%83%BC%E3%83%BB%E3%83%96%E3%83%A9%E3%83%83%E3%83%86%E3%82%A3 http://www.theninthconfiguration.com/

*3:See also http://d.hatena.ne.jp/sumita-m/20101217/1292579103 http://d.hatena.ne.jp/sumita-m/20160525/1464188478