Mercedes McCambridge: March 16, 1916—March 2, 2004 (Images via 20th Century Fox/Screen Gems/Columbia)

The Film Experience gets it right in calling Mercedes McCambridge “one of the most singular character actresses of the 1950s.” Her work in Johnny Guitar (1954) deserves a posthumous Oscar (let's start that as a thing, Nathaniel!) and she also shone in Giant (1956), among many other films and TV gigs.

Later on, she was just a hell of a lot of fun, but she also became an inextricable part of Linda Blair's performance in The Exorcist (1973) as the voice of that pesky demon, a job that has become the stuff of legend.

Check out The Film Experience's remembrance here. 

Keep reading to listen to an incredible interview with McCambridge, who re-creates her demon voice using—what else?—her chronic bronchitis ...