Mercedes McCambridge, who won an Oscar for her screen debut in 1949 and later provided the raspy voice of the demon-possessed girl in The Exorcist, has died. She was 85. McCambridge died from natural causes on March 2, the Rev. Joe Carroll, a friend and the founder of a San Diego charity for the homeless, said Tuesday. She had lived in the La Jolla area of San Diego since the 1980s.

McCambridge’s strong, radio-trained voice made her an ideal film portrayer of hard-driving women. She received the Academy Award as supporting actress in 1949’s All the King’s Men, playing a reporter who was the nemesis of the populist Southern governor, Willie Stark.

Broderick Crawford was named best actor for his role as Stark, a close replica of Louisiana’s Huey Long, and the drama was honored with a best picture Oscar.

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