Lorraine Warren, whose supernatural exploits inspired 'Conjuring' movies, dead at 92
Without Lorraine Warren we’d never have Annabelle or the Amityville Horror to haunt our nightmares.
The paranormal investigator and proclaimed psychic, whose real-life work alongside husband Ed inspired some of Hollywood’s scariest films, including The Amityville Horror, The Conjuring, Annabelle and The Nun, has died at the age of 92, according to her son-in-law, Tony Spera. In a Friday post on the Facebook page for the Warrens’ New England Society of Psychic Research, Spera wrote:
It is with deep sadness that I must announce that Lorraine Warren has passed away. She died peacefully in her sleep at home last night.The family requests that you respect their privacy at this time. Lorraine touched many lives and was loved by so many. She was a remarkable, loving, compassionate and giving soul. To quote Will Rogers, she never met a person she didn’t like.
She was an avid animal lover and contributed to many animal charities and rescues.
She was wonderful and giving to her entire family.
May God Bless her.
Lorraine, a self-described “trance medium,” and Ed, who died in 2006, founded NESPR to investigate supernatural phenomena. Their exploits included an investigation of the Amityville Horror house on Long Island, which was dramatized in James Wan’s 2013 film The Conjuring, with Vera Farmiga playing Lorraine opposite Patrick Wilson’s Ed. The film co-starred a creepy doll named Annabelle, which was spun off into its own franchise. Farmiga and Wilson returned for The Conjuring 2, which focused on another of the Warrens’ notable cases, the Enfield Poltergeist. That film led to another spinoff in what has become known as the Conjuring Cinematic Universe, The Nun, which was released last year.
In a 2014 interview with Yahoo Entertainment, Lorraine explained how filmmakers changed the doll’s look for the film. In reality, the purportedly possessed Annabelle was a Raggedy Ann doll, which still resides in the Warrens’ Connecticut museum behind a pane of safety glass.
“It would be quite careless on my part to get rid of it. As explained in The Conjuring, getting rid of the doll would only get rid of the vessel, not the evil that resides within the doll,” Warren explained, adding that she had a Catholic priest perform a prayer to keep the evil spirit inside. “The evil can’t penetrate the holy prayers that bind it. Think of it as similar to an electric dog fence — keeping the dog within set boundaries,” she said.
“We allow no one to touch or handle the doll. Because by touching it, a person’s aura may mingle with the aura of that evil force within the doll, and cause great harm to the person,” she explained, saying she felt it was her duty to protect the world from such bad spirits.
Farmiga, who is slated to continue to star as Lorraine in The Conjuring 3 in 2020, tweeted a heartfelt tribute.
My dear friend Lorraine Warren has passed. From a deep feeling of sorrow, a deep feeling of gratitude emerges. I was so blessed to have known her and am honored to portray her. She lived her life in grace and cheerfulness. She wore a helmet of salvation, she dawned her sword... pic.twitter.com/Kn2E6ZO9fL
— Vera Farmiga (@VeraFarmiga) April 19, 2019
Wilson also posted a sweet message:
The heavens will surely burn a little brighter tonight. We lost a friend and and inspiration. I will miss the stories, the laughter, and the guidance. Rest In Peace, Sweet Lorraine. Tell Ed I said hello. ???@VeraFarmiga? pic.twitter.com/Ewx4CsOU7B
— patrick wilson (@patrickwilson73) April 19, 2019
Lorraine’s death comes as the latest film set in Conjuring Universe is set to debut. The Curse of La Llorona, about a child-snatching ghost, opens in theaters this weekend.
Read more from Yahoo Entertainment:
‘Annabelle’: How filmmakers made real-life doll freakier for the movies
‘The Nun’ director shares terrifying on-set paranormal experience
‘The Conjuring 2’ cast on why they needed an exorcist on set this time
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