Exorcist steps

The Exorcist steps are a set of stone steps in the Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, D.C. famous for being featured in the 1973 film The Exorcist. The steps are located at the corner of Prospect St and 36th St NW, leading down to M Street NW, and were built in 1895 during construction of the adjacent Car Barn.[1]

The Exorcist steps in Georgetown, Washington, D.C.

For The Exorcist, the steps were padded with half-inch-thick rubber to film the death of the character Father Damien Karras. Because the house from which Karras falls was set back slightly from the steps, the film crew constructed an extension with a false front to the house in order to film the scene.[2] The stuntman tumbled down the stairs twice. Georgetown University students charged people around $5 each to watch the stunt from the rooftops.

In a ceremony Halloween weekend 2015 that featured the film's director William Friedkin and screenwriter William Peter Blatty (who also wrote the book on which the film is based), the Exorcist steps were recognized as a D.C. landmark and official tourist attraction by Mayor of the District of Columbia Muriel Bowser, with a plaque unveiled at the base of the steps recognizing its importance to D.C. and film history.[3][4][5]

References
  1. "Why Do the Exorcist Steps Exist in the First Place?". The Georgetown Metropolitan. October 30, 2015. Retrieved February 18, 2016.
  2. Truitt, Brian (October 7, 2013). "'Exorcist' creators haunt Georgetown thirty years later". USA Today. Gannett. Retrieved June 24, 2014.
  3. "Ahead of Halloween, Mayor Bowser to Commemorate "Exorcist Steps"" (Press release). Washington D.C. Office of Cable Television, Film, Music and Entertainment. October 26, 2015. Retrieved March 31, 2019.
  4. Chadbourn, Margaret (October 30, 2015). "'The Exorcist' Steps Declared a Washington DC Tourist Site". ABC News. Retrieved October 31, 2015.
  5. Romano, Nick (October 31, 2015). "The Exorcist steps made an official Washington D.C. tourist attraction". Entertainment Weekly. Meredith Corporation. Retrieved October 31, 2015.
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