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Brown-eyed, brunette former child model Linda Blair debuted in the feature %22The Way We Live Now%22 (1969) and followed with %22The Sporting Club%22 (1970) before her breakthrough role as the sweet but possessed teenager in %22The Exorcist%22 (1973) brought her national recognition and ended her dream of veterinary school. Nominated for a Best Supporting Actress Academy Award for her head-turning performance, she segued into strong TV vehicles, starring first in the sensationally-promoted movie about juvenile delinquency, %22Born Innocent%22 (NBC, 1974), which included a graphic broom-handle rape of Blair that the network subsequently deleted. She then acted the title role in %22Sarah T.--Portrait of a Teenage Alcoholic%22 (NBC, 1975), played Kirk Douglas' daughter in %22Victory at Entebbe%22 (ABC, 1976) and revisited familiar terrain as the victim of witchcraft in Wes Craven's %22Stranger in Our House%22 (NBC, 1978). Blair returned to the big screen, working steadily and almost exclusively in exploitation films, low-budget fare and straight-to-video items, although %22Savage Streets%22 (1984), in which she headlined as an L.A. girl-turned vigilante after the brutal gratuitous rape of her mute younger sister, and the ambitious comedy %22Up Your Alley%22 (1989) were a definite cut above the worst of the lot (e.g., %22Roller Boogie%22 1979, %22Hell Night%22 1981, %22Chained Heat%22 1983, %22Savage Island%22 1985). She even got to spoof her best-known role in %22Repossessed%22 (1990), but most movies either wanted an obligatory demon possession (i.e., %22Witchery%22, %22A Woman Obsessed%22 both 1989) or a little 'T & A', showing her in sexy shower or tub scenes (i.e., %22Bedroom Eyes II%22 1989, %22Bail Out%22 1990). She surfaced as an obnoxious reporter in Craven's hit %22Scream%22 (1996) and made her Broadway debut, replacing Lucy Lawless in the role of Rizzo, in the never-ending revival of %22Grease%22 (1997).
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