Father Merrin, played by Max Von Sydow was based on the real-life Jesuit paleontologist, geologist, and philosopher Fr. Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, to whom Sydow's character in old-age make-up bears a physical resemblance, and whose philosophical ideas are synopsized in Blatty's novel and its sequel. Fr. Teilhard was among the discoverers of the Peking Man fossils and his philosophical ideas, which were controversial within the Catholic Church and were even considered by some to be heretical, have been quoted approvingly by later Popes, including Pope Benedict XVI and Pope Francis. In film, Fr. Teilhard was also the inspiration for the character of Fr. Jean Telemond, played by Oskar Werner in the 1968 film "The Shoes of the Fisherman", adapted from Morris West's novel and starring Anthony Quinn.

Film

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