Trivia: David Lynch has never explained how the disturbing "baby" was created for the film, even coyly suggesting at one point that it was something he found that had been "born nearby." A popular theory is that the baby is actually an animal fetus that had been hollowed out and made into a puppet, but this has never been confirmed.
Trivia: Director John Boorman initially didn't want to make the movie as he found the first film distasteful. However, when he saw the story treatment, his perspective changed and he viewed "Exorcist II" as a rebuttal to his perception of the original film's darkness and a tale about "goodness" winning. Boorman subsequently admitted that his views were wrong and that the movie didn't work, and that he shouldn't have made it since he "denied what the audience wanted."
Trivia: In this movie, Penny Irving plays Young Mr. Grace's new secretary, Miss Nicholson. In the TV series, she was called Miss Bakewell.
Trivia: Original titles for the film included "Free Popcorn" and "Closed for Remodeling."
Trivia: In the scene where the Lea family get into the funeral limousine by mistake, the three mourners who join them are played by Betty Hare, Winifred Braemar and Bertie Hare, who are the real life siblings of Doris Hare, who plays Mrs Lea.
Trivia: The movie's plot is a fictionalized version of ballerina Lesley Browne (who played Amelia in the film) and her real-life family. Her mother, ballerina Mirrow Brown, was close friends with fellow dancer Nora Kaye (Lesley Browne's godmother). The characters of Emma and DeeDee were based on them. Nora Kaye was married to Hollywood director/producer Herbert Ross, who directed the film. Famed dancer Gelsey Kirkland was originally cast to play Amelia, but when she dropped out, Lesley Browne was cast to play a fictionalized version of herself.
Trivia: Edward Asner plays Adam, the father of Tom (Lawrence Pressman). In real life, Asner is only ten years older than Pressman.
Trivia: This was Ron Howard's feature film directorial debut.