Paul Bateson

Born

1940-08-24

Died

2012-09-15

Birthplace

Lansdale, Pennsylvania, USA

Biography

Paul Bateson (August 24, 1940 - September 15, 2012) was an American convicted murderer and former radiographer. He appeared as a radiologic technologist in a scene from the 1973 horror film The Exorcist, which was inspired when the film's director, William Friedkin, watched him perform a cerebral angiography the previous year. The scene, with a considerable amount of blood onscreen, was, for many viewers, the film's most disturbing scene; medical professionals have praised it for its realism.