10 Actors Who Didn't Want To Be Credited For Movie Roles

No one could have predicted the success of The Exorcist (1973) - based on a novel written by a comedic scribe, directed by a man known for downbeat crime dramas and documentaries, starring an as yet unknown twelve year old girl and a Swedish actor famous for Ingmar Bergman art-house movies.

The aftermath is the stuff of cinema legend (earning praise from the Catholic church and inducing vomiting in the isles) so how did a very respected Hollywood actress who starred alongside Liz Taylor and Rock Hudson end up screaming obscenities in a film that would be banned for decades?

Mercedes McCambridge had a successful career as a Hollywood star throughout the 1940s and 1950s before director William Friedkin cast her as the demon's voice in The Exorcist. He stated in The Fear Of God: The Making Of The Exorcist that McCambridge had the vocal qualities he was looking for, androgynous and weighty.

Friedkin then had her tied to a chair and fed copious amounts of whiskey (McCambridge fell off the wagon after many years sober), cigarettes and raw eggs to produce the multi-layered vocal resonance of Pazuzu the demon.

As for the lack of credit, McCambridge initially declined the offer of a regular billing, believing that the movie, while paying her a salary, would not amount to much and what anonymity she had would add a greater impact to the performance of Linda Blair.

When the film became nothing short of a phenomenon after its release, McCambridge went on to sue Warner Brothers and eventually had her name attached to all subsequent re-releases of the film. The power of cash compells you...