Does anyone have any more information on how Mercedes McCambridge got the gig as the Demon voice? It's an extraordinary vocal performance. I'm just wondering how Friedkin and the producers ended up getting her to do the voice? Did they hear her speak and thought she'd make a great demon voice? If you listen to her regular speaking voice you can hear Pazuzu in there. Highly unlikely but maybe they auditioned people? Any info would be greatly appreciated.
shareSorry I don't know the answer...the following might contain some useful info, although I have not watched the videos -
http://dangerousminds.net/comments/voice_exorcist_mercedes_mccambridge
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McCambridge had a very distinctive voice which undoubtably contributed to her being cast as the voice of the demon. I saw her in an old episode of Gunsmoke not too long ago and it was quite unsettling hearing her talk knowing of her infamous voice work!
shareI just answered my own question when I stumbled across this documentary on captainhowdy.com
Friedkin states in this in this doco that Mercedes McCambridge came to his mind when he was thinking that the voice needed to be neutral in terms of male or female. He says it needed to have male and female qualities and that McCambridge came to mind when he had this thought.
Great documentary for those who haven't seen it....
http://captainhowdy.com/2007/07/the-fear-of-god-25-years-of-the-exorcist/
Thanks for posting the link and letting us in on the real story.
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