Ron Faber, a stage performer who won an Obie Award and was most remembered for his tiny but significant part in the horror classic “The Exorcist,” died on March 26 at 90 from lung cancer.
After learning of his passing recently, friend and coworker David Patrick Kelly paid tribute to him on Facebook, calling him a “great artist and gentleman with a wonderful voice and laugh.”
For his performance in the off-Broadway production of “And They Put Handcuffs on Flowers,” Faber received an Obie Award in 1972. He was seen by director William Friedkin, who gave him the part of Chuck in the 1973 film “The Exorcist.”
Chris MacNeil (Ellen Burstyn) stars in the movie-within-a-movie called “Crash Course,” Chuck is its assistant director. His most memorable moment is his interaction with Burstyn’s character in the scene where he informs him of Burke Dennings’ (Jack MacGowran) passing.
In addition to his on-screen work, Faber provided some of the demon’s deeper, guttural vocalizations that Mercedes McCambridge added to her recordings, implying that Regan (Linda Blair) was home to more than one presence.
Friedkin wanted to give the demon many voices, with McCambridge playing the leading role. Faber acknowledged in a 2016 interview with ComingSoon that his never receiving recognition for his contribution made him angry.
The sound design team experimented with the voices, including Faber’s, to get the desired effect. The well-known asthmatic McCambridge was to blame for the demon’s wheezing.
Faber also appeared in the television series Kojak, The Edge of Night, Law and Order, and Third Watch. Hart, Raymond, Elise Manuel, and Anthony are his surviving children, together with his wife, Kathleen Moore Faber. Eric, his son, predeceased him.
