Father Lankester Merrin is a
fictional character
In fiction, a character (or speaker, in poetry) is a person or other being in a narrative (such as a novel, play, radio or television series, music, film, or video game). The character may be entirely fictional or based on a real-life perso ...
in the novel ''
The Exorcist
''The Exorcist'' is a 1973 American supernatural horror film directed by William Friedkin and written for the screen by William Peter Blatty, based on his 1971 novel of the same name. It stars Ellen Burstyn, Max von Sydow, Lee J. Cobb, Kitty ...
'' (1971), one of the two main protagonists in
the 1973 film adaptation, who also figures prominently in several of its prequel and sequel films.
In the novel
Merrin, an elderly
priest
A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in partic ...
and
paleontologist
Paleontology (), also spelled palaeontology or palæontology, is the scientific study of life that existed prior to, and sometimes including, the start of the Holocene epoch (roughly 11,700 years before present). It includes the study of fossi ...
on an
archeological dig in
Iraq
Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to the north, Iran to the east, the Persian Gulf and K ...
, finds images of the demon
Pazuzu
In ancient Mesopotamian religion, Pazuzu ( akk, , translit=pà.zu.zu; also called Fazuzu or Pazuza) was a personification of the southwestern wind, and held kingship over the lilu wind demons.
As an apotropaic entity, he was considered as bo ...
and subsequently experiences other unusual phenomena. He had previously faced the demon many years before during an exorcism in
Africa
Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...
. The find sparks a premonition that he will battle the demon again in a distant land. Merrin does not appear again until much later in the novel, when he joins the protagonist, Father
Damien Karras, in
Washington, D.C.
)
, image_skyline =
, image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...
, to exorcise the demon from the body of a young girl (
Regan MacNeil
Regan Teresa MacNeil (born April 7, 1959) is a fictional character from William Peter Blatty's horror novel and film adaptation ''The Exorcist'' as a supporting character and its first sequel, '' Exorcist II: The Heretic'', and the sequel televis ...
). Merrin, who has a
heart disease for which he takes
nitroglycerin, dies during the ritual, leaving the inexperienced Karras to complete the exorcism himself. Merrin is loosely based on the British archaeologist
Gerald Lankester Harding
Gerald Lankester Harding (8 December 1901 – 11 February 1979) was a British archaeologist who was the director of the Department of Antiquities of Jordan from 1936 to 1956. His tenure spanned the period in which the Dead Sea Scrolls were disco ...
.
In the films
Merrin's depiction in the 1973 film ''
The Exorcist
''The Exorcist'' is a 1973 American supernatural horror film directed by William Friedkin and written for the screen by William Peter Blatty, based on his 1971 novel of the same name. It stars Ellen Burstyn, Max von Sydow, Lee J. Cobb, Kitty ...
'' is faithful to the novel. The character of Merrin reappears in the sequel ''
Exorcist II: The Heretic'' (1977), in extended flashbacks detailing an exorcism he performed in Africa following the Second World War. He is portrayed in both films by
Max von Sydow
Max von Sydow ( , ; born Carl Adolf von Sydow; 10 April 1929 – 8 March 2020) was a Swedish-French actor. He had a 70-year career in European and American cinema, television, and theatre, appearing in more than 150 films and several television ...
. The studio wanted
Marlon Brando for the role of Father Merrin,
but director
William Friedkin
William "Billy" Friedkin (born August 29, 1935)Biskind, p. 200. is an American film and television director, producer and screenwriter closely identified with the " New Hollywood" movement of the 1970s. Beginning his career in documentaries in ...
immediately vetoed this by stating it would become a "Brando movie".
The character was featured again in both prequel films, ''
Exorcist: The Beginning'' and ''
Dominion: Prequel to the Exorcist''. Both films revisit Merrin's experiences in Africa immediately prior to his first exorcism, but each presents a different version of the events and neither agrees with the events as presented in ''Exorcist II''. He is played in both films by
Stellan Skarsgård
Stellan Skarsgård (, ; born 13 June 1951) is a Swedish actor. He is known for his collaborations with director Lars von Trier appearing in ''Breaking the Waves'' (1996), ''Dancer in the Dark'' (2000), '' Dogville'' (2007), ''Melancholia'' (201 ...
.
Other adaptations
In the 2014 BBC Radio dramatisation, Merrin is voiced by
Ian McDiarmid
Ian McDiarmid (; born 11 August 1944) is a Scottish actor and director of stage and screen, best known for portraying the Sith Lord Emperor Sheev Palpatine / Darth Sidious in the ''Star Wars'' multimedia franchise. Making his stage debut in '' ...
.
See also
*
Exorcism of Roland Doe
In the late 1940s, in the United States, priests of the Roman Catholic Church performed a series of exorcisms on an anonymous boy, documented under the pseudonym "Roland Doe" or "Robbie Mannheim". The 14-year-old boy was the alleged victim of dem ...
*
Raymond J. Bishop
*
William S. Bowdern
References
External links
Max von Sydow as Father Lankester Merrin in the 1973 film ''The Exorcist''at
IMDb
IMDb (an abbreviation of Internet Movie Database) is an online database of information related to films, television series, home videos, video games, and streaming content online – including cast, production crew and personal biographies, ...
Stellan Skarsgård as Father Lankester Merrin in the 2004 film ''Exorcist: The Beginning''at
IMDb
IMDb (an abbreviation of Internet Movie Database) is an online database of information related to films, television series, home videos, video games, and streaming content online – including cast, production crew and personal biographies, ...
Fictional characters from Washington, D.C.
Fictional Christians
Fictional Dutch people
Fictional exorcists
Fictional priests and priestesses
Characters in American novels of the 20th century
Literary characters introduced in 1971
Male horror film characters
The Exorcist characters
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