William Peter Blatty was an American writer and filmmaker. He wrote the novel The Exorcist (1971) and the subsequent screenplay version for which he won an Academy Award. Born and raised in New York City, Blatty received his bachelor's degree in English from the Georgetown University in 1950, and his master's degree in English literature from the George Washington University in 1954. He also wrote and directed the sequel "The Exorcist III". Some of his other notable works are the novels Elsewhere (2009), Dimiter (2010) and Crazy (2010).