It must. Blatty finished his seventh novel, The Ninth Configuration, in only four months. "When I write, I write," he declares. "From the time I've had enough coffee in the morning till the time I'm too tired at night. I'm compulsive." The just-published book, a slim mystery tale about a top-secret installation for military officers—who may or may not be insane—is a reworking of an earlier Blatty novel called Twinkle, Twinkle, Killer Kane! The author's note has a disclaimer, "It is the best that I can do." That's not been good enough for most critics, who greeted publication with thumbs down. On the strength of the Blatty name, however, the book will probably be a commercial success.
Even before it was published, the author—a former Hollywood screenwriter—was turning it into a movie for release next summer. Starring Stacy Keach and Jason Miller (the young priest from The Exorcist), the $4.6 million film was shot on location in Hungary because PepsiCo, a major backer, had some funds there. "We arrived on January 2 and it was freezing," Blatty recalls. "I began bumming cigarettes to keep warm, and before I knew it I was hooked again."
Actor Michael Moriarty was originally scheduled for the lead, but was replaced at his own request. He and Blatty remain close friends. While Moriarty was visiting the author's home in Washington, D.C. in 1977 he decided to convert to Catholicism, and Blatty acted as his "godfather."
As writer-director-producer, Blatty insisted on complete control of The Ninth Configuration "because the material is so special. It requires a single vision to execute it properly." He also wanted to avoid the hassles that provoked his current suit against Warner Brothers for what he calls their "creative accounting" of Exorcist receipts. Blatty is charging fraud. So far he has netted close to $17 million from the movie. ("I knew it was going to be a success," Blatty says now. "I couldn't wait to finish it and become famous.")
The youngest child of an immigrant Lebanese family, Blatty grew up poor in New York. "I'd come home from school," he remembers of their frequent evictions, "and all the furniture would be piled up in the street. It was pretty savage the way they did it—humiliating for a kid." He escaped with a scholarship to Georgetown University, but times were hard after graduation in 1950. "I sold vacuum cleaners and drove a beer truck. I burned out three clutches in one week and they had to fire me," he says, laughing. Eventually he drifted to Hollywood, wrote nine screenplays, survived two failed marriages and in 1971 hit the jackpot with The Exorcist.
He promptly bought a $600,000 retreat in Aspen, a beach house in Malibu and a home in L.A. "I thought I was going to live in all those places," he admits ruefully. He has since unloaded the Aspen house because "I couldn't stand the jet set," and the Malibu pad went to help finance the filming of Configuration. Now Blatty lives in a four-story home in Georgetown overlooking the Potomac with third wife Linda, 27, and their two children. They met in 1972 when she appeared as a tennis-playing extra in The Exorcist. (As Linda Tuero, she was once the world's top-ranked female player under 21.)
The Blattys lead a quiet life. "We mostly read, watch old movies and listen to Dolly Parton" is the way he describes their life-style. Linda has even learned to cope with her husband's moods when he's writing. "At first I took it personally," she says. "Then I realized it wasn't my fault. He's just not there."
With a gaze that encompasses wife, children and home, Blatty says he has achieved most of his goals. "For the first time in my life I feel like a tranquil person," he observes. "But I'm always looking over my shoulder—I'm afraid someone will take it away."
Saved by the Bell Reunion
The hookups, the meltdowns, the memoires
The case reveals what was really going on what they think of each other now!
