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Exorciststeps

Coordinates:38°54′19.96″N77°4′12.59″W/ 38.9055444°N 77.0701639°W/38.9055444; -77.0701639
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Photo from the bottom of the Exorcist steps looking up
The Exorciststeps inGeorgetown,Washington, D.C.

38°54′19.96″N77°4′12.59″W/ 38.9055444°N 77.0701639°W/38.9055444; -77.0701639

The Exorciststepsare concrete stairs, continuing 36th Street,[1]descending from the corner of Prospect St and 36th St NW, down to a small parking lot, set back from the intersection ofM StreetNW, Canal Rd NW, and Whitehurst Freeway NW in theGeorgetownneighborhood ofWashington, D.C.,famous for being featured in the 1973 filmThe Exorcist.The steps were built in 1895 by George Killeen,[2]a prominent local Democratic figure, during construction of the adjacentCapital Traction Company Barnforcable cars,[1]serving as alightwelland publicright of way.There is a family legend of George Killeen that the wall's construction was a handshake agreement and that Killeen was never paid for its completion. Before theExorcistassociation, the stairs were informally called "Hitchcock steps"[3]for famed suspense and horror film directorAlfred Hitchcock.[4]

ForThe Exorcist,the steps were padded with half-inch-thick (13 mm) rubber to film the fall of the characterFather Damien Karras.Because the house from which Karras falls was set back slightly from the steps, the film crew constructed an eastward extension with a false front to the house in order to film the scene.[4][5][3]

In a ceremonialHalloweenweekend in 2015 that featured the film's directorWilliam Friedkinand screenwriterWilliam Peter Blatty(who also wrote thebook on which the film is based), theExorciststeps were recognized as a D.C. landmark and official tourist attraction byMayor of the District of ColumbiaMuriel Bowser,with a plaque unveiled at the base of the steps recognizing its importance to Washington, D.C. and film history.[6][7][8]

See also[edit]

Other staircases famous for their use in films:

References[edit]

  1. ^ab"Why Do the Exorcist Steps Exist in the First Place?".The Georgetown Metropolitan.October 30, 2015.RetrievedJune 19,2021.There's an interesting article in the Washington Post from December 1894 profiling the elderly famous author Mrs. E.D.E.N. Southworth who lived in a cottage perched next door on Prospect. Here it is after she passed away when it became a bit of a tourist trap:...The cottage was demolished in 1942. In 1950 a new townhouse was constructed in its place. That is the Exorcist house
  2. ^"George Killeen, Irish Immigrant".The Washington Herald.December 3, 1919. p. 3.
  3. ^ab"Exorcist Steps in Washington, DC".The Washington Post.Archived fromthe originalon October 5, 2014.RetrievedOctober 29,2014.
  4. ^abTruitt, Brian (October 7, 2013)."'Exorcist' creators haunt Georgetown thirty years later ".USA Today.Gannett.RetrievedJune 24,2014.
  5. ^The Fear of God: The Making of The Exorcisthttps://m.imdb.com/title/tt0237235/
  6. ^"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.RetrievedMarch 31,2019.
  7. ^Chadbourn, Margaret (October 30, 2015)."'The Exorcist' Steps Declared a Washington DC Tourist Site ".ABC News.RetrievedOctober 31,2015.
  8. ^Romano, Nick (October 31, 2015)."The Exorcist steps made an official Washington D.C. tourist attraction".Entertainment Weekly.Meredith Corporation.RetrievedOctober 31,2015.

External links[edit]

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