Karen Black
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Karen Blanche Black (née Ziegler; July 1, 1939 – August 8, 2013) was an American actress, screenwriter, singer, and songwriter. She rose to prominence for her work in various studio and independent films in the 1970s, frequently portraying eccentric and offbeat characters, and established herself as a figure of New Hollywood. Her career spanned over 50 years and includes nearly 200 credits in both independent and mainstream films. Black received numerous accolades throughout her career, including two Golden Globe Awards, as well as an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress. A native of suburban Chicago, Black studied theater at Northwestern University before dropping out and relocating to New York City. She performed on Broadway in 1965 before making her major film debut in Francis Ford Coppola's You're a Big Boy Now (1966). Black relocated to California and was cast as an acid-tripping prostitute in Dennis Hopper's road film Easy Rider (1969). That led to a lead in the drama Five Easy Pieces (1970), in which she played a hopeless beautician, for which she was nominated for an Academy Award and won a Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actress. Black made her first major commercial picture with the disaster film Airport 1975 (1974), and her subsequent appearance as Myrtle Wilson in The Great Gatsby (1974) won her a second Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actress. Black starred as a glamorous country singer in Robert Altman's ensemble musical drama Nashville (1975), also writing and performing two songs for the soundtrack, which won a Grammy Award for Best Score Soundtrack. Her portrayal of an aspiring actress in John Schlesinger's drama The Day of the Locust (also 1975) earned her a third Golden Globe nomination, this time for Best Actress. She subsequently took on four roles in Dan Curtis' anthology horror film Trilogy of Terror (1975), followed by Curtis's supernatural horror feature, Burnt Offerings (1976). The same year, she starred as a con artist in Alfred Hitchcock's final film, Family Plot. In 1982, Black starred as a trans woman in the Robert Altman-directed Broadway debut of Come Back to the Five and Dime, Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean, a role she also reprised in Altman's subsequent film adaptation. She next starred in the comedy Can She Bake a Cherry Pie? (1983), followed by Tobe Hooper's remake of Invaders from Mars (1986). For much of the late 1980s and 1990s, Black starred in a variety of arthouse, independent, and horror films, as well as writing her own screenplays. She had a leading role as a villainous mother in Rob Zombie's House of 1000 Corpses (2003), which cemented her status as a cult horror icon. She continued to star in low-profile films throughout the early 2000s, as well as working as a playwright before her death from ampullary cancer in 2013.
Known for
Credits
House of 1000 Corpses (2003)
as Mother Firefly
Easy Rider (1969)
as Karen
The Player (1992)
as Karen Black
The Great Gatsby (1974)
as Myrtle Wilson
Capricorn One (1977)
as Judy Drinkwater
Nashville (1975)
as Connie White
The Outfit (1973)
as Bett Harrow
Chanel Solitaire (1981)
as Emilienne d'Alençon
Five Easy Pieces (1970)
as Rayette Dipesto
Airport 1975 (1974)
as Nancy Pryor
Family Plot (1976)
as Fran
Invaders from Mars (1986)
as Linda Magnusson
Children of the Corn IV: The Gathering (1996)
as June Rhodes
Electric Boogaloo: The Wild, Untold Story of Cannon Films (2014)
as Linda Magnusson (archive footage) (uncredited)
Eternal Evil (1985)
as Janus
Night Angel (1990)
as Rita
Burnt Offerings (1976)
as Marian Rolf
Killer Fish (1979)
as Kate
Easy Riders, Raging Bulls: How the Sex 'n' Drugs 'n' Rock 'n' Roll Generation Saved Hollywood (2003)
as Self
Trilogy of Terror (1975)
as Julie / Millicent Larimore / Therese Larimore / Amelia
The Day of the Locust (1975)
as Faye Greener
Going Clear: Scientology and the Prison of Belief (2015)
as Self (archive footage)
In Praise of Older Women (1978)
as Maya
Trailer for a Remake of Gore Vidal's Caligula (2005)
as Agrippina
Cut and Run (1985)
as Karin
Out of the Dark (1988)
as Ruth Wilson
Some Guy Who Kills People (2011)
as Ruth Boyd
Teknolust (2002)
as Dirty Dick
One Long Night (2007)
as Barbara
A Gunfight (1971)
as Jenny Simms
Come Back to the 5 & Dime, Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean (1982)
as Joanne
Dogtown (1997)
as Rose Van Horn
Light Speed (1998)
as High Priestess
Wild in Blue (2014)
as Justine
Savage Dawn (1985)
as Rachel
Zapped Again! (1990)
as Homeroom Teacher
The Children (1990)
as Sybil Lullmer
Cisco Pike (1972)
as Sue
Gore Vidal: The United States of Amnesia (2013)
as Self (archive footage)
The Last Horror Film (1982)
as Karen Black (uncredited)
Mythos Hollywood - Das Geheimnis des Erfolgs (1998)
as Self
I Woke Up Early the Day I Died (1998)
as Whip Lady
Born to Win (1971)
as Parm
Whitepaddy (2006)
as Mrs. Leider
Jack Nicholson: The Joker Is Wild (2004)
as Self
Mirror Mirror (1990)
as Susan Gordon
Mascara (1999)
as Aunt Eloise
Crazy for Love (2005)
as Grace's Mom
Final Judgement (1992)
as Mrs. Sorrel
Who Is Henry Jaglom? (1997)
as Self
You're a Big Boy Now (1966)
as Amy Partlett
Curse of the Forty-Niner (2002)
as Aunt Nelly
Judgement (1992)
as Tiffany Powers
Evil Spirits (1991)
as Ella Purdy
She Loves Me Not (2013)
as Karla
The Roller Blade Seven (1991)
as Tarot
The Double 0 Kid (1992)
as Mrs. Elliot
The Pyx (1973)
as Elizabeth Lucy
Red Dirt (2000)
as Aunt Summer
Airports (2025)
Actor
The Independent (2000)
as Karen Black
Homer and Eddie (1989)
as Belle
Quiet Fire (1991)
as Kim Martino
Caged Fear (1991)
as Blanche
It's Alive III: Island of the Alive (1987)
as Ellen Jarvis
Paris (2003)
as Chantelle
The Last Word (1979)
as Paula Herbert
Rhinoceros (1974)
as Daisy
Ooga Booga (2013)
as Mrs. Allardyce
Can She Bake a Cherry Pie? (1983)
as Zee
Auntie Lee's Meat Pies (1992)
as Auntie Lee
The Legendary Life of Ernest Hemingway (1988)
as Martha Gelhorn
Haunting Fear (1990)
as Dr. Julia Harcourt
Wamego: Ultimatum (2009)
as Self
Drive, He Said (1971)
as Olive
Invisible Dad (1998)
as Courtney Whitmer
Hard Contract (1969)
as Ellen
The Squeeze (1978)
as Clarisse Saunders
Repo Chick (2009)
as Aunt De La Chasse
Conceiving Ada (1999)
as Lady Byron / Mother Coer
Martin's Day (1985)
as Karen
Altman on His Own Terms (2000)
as Self
Tuesday Never Comes (1992)
as Michelle
Twisted Justice (1990)
as Mrs. Granger
Dark Blood (2012)
as Motel Woman
Hollywood Dreams (2007)
as Luna
Separate Ways (1981)
as Valentine Colby
The Underground Comedy Movie (1999)
as Mother
Crimetime (1996)
as Millicent
Men (1997)
as Alex
Law and Disorder (1974)
as Gloria
Legend of The Roller Blade Seven (1993)
as Tarot
Bottomless Pit (2015)
as Karen Black
Gypsy 83 (2001)
as Bambi LeBleau
Stir (1997)
as Dr. Gabrielle Kessler
Bad Manners (1984)
as Gladys Fitzpatrick
BBStory: An American Film Renaissance (2010)
as Self
Fertile La Toyah Video Magazine #2: The Kinky Issue! (1994)
Actor
No Subtitles Necessary: Laszlo & Vilmos (2009)
as Self
Blood Money (1991)
as Barrett
Return to the 5 & Dime: An Interview with Ed Graczyk (2014)
as Self – Joanne (archive footage)
The Little Mermaid (1987)
as Sea Witch
Miss Right (1982)
as Amy
Ralph S. Mouse (1991)
as Miss Kuchenbacker
Soulkeeper (2001)
as Martha la Magnifica
Suffering Man's Charity (2007)
as Renee
Wanderlust (2006)
as Herself
Irene in Time (2009)
as Sheila Shivvers
The Invisible Kid (1988)
as Mom
America Brown (2005)
as Marianne Brown
The Strange Possession of Mrs. Oliver (1977)
as Miriam Oliver / Sandy
Children of the Night (1991)
as Karen Thompson
Hostage (1987)
as Laura Lawrence
Portnoy's Complaint (1972)
as Mary Jane Reid a.k.a. Monkey
Police Story: Confessions of a Lady Cop (1980)
as Investigator Evelyn Carter
The Grass Is Singing (1981)
as Mary Turner
Where the Ladies Go (1980)
as Helen
Bound and Gagged: A Love Story (1993)
as Carla
Maria My Love (2012)
as Maria
Fallen Arches (2000)
as Lucy Romano
Charades (1998)
as Jude
A Single Woman (2008)
as Storyteller
Cries of Silence (1996)
as Rose Walsh
Dr. Rage (2005)
as Molly
Karen Black: Actress at Work (1999)
as Self
Watercolors (2008)
as Mrs. Martin
Crime and Passion (1976)
as Susan Winters
Birth of Industry (2004)
as Sara
Contamination (2008)
as Mavis
Easy Rider: Shaking the Cage (1999)
as Self
Harold Buttleman: Daredevil Stuntman (2003)
as Mrs. Buttleman
George Sluizer - Filming beyond Bounderies (—)
as Self
The Trust (1993)
as Maria Vandermeer
Angel Blue (1998)
as Social Worker
Plotting 'Family Plot' (2001)
as Self
Nothing Special (2010)
as May
Club Fed (1990)
as Sally Rich
Firecracker (2005)
as Sandra / Eleanor
The Donor (2001)
as Mrs. Springle
Plan 10 from Outer Space (1995)
as Nehor
Malaika (1998)
as Jessica Martin
Overexposed (1990)
as Mrs. Trowbridge
Paradise Cove (1999)
as Ma
Dixie Lanes (1988)
as Zelma Putnam
Dinosaur Valley Girls (1995)
as Ro-Kell
Starstruck (1995)
as Bertha
Read You Like a Book (2006)
as Kate
Return of the Roller Blade Seven (1993)
as Tarot
Best of Tromadance Film Festival: Volume 1 (2002)
as ("Los Vampirios Moronious" short)
Rubin & Ed (1992)
as Rula
Dead Girls Don't Tango (1992)
as Insp. Wilson
Letters from the Big Man (2011)
as Sean's Colleague
Double Duty (2009)
as Annabelle
Deadly Dolls: Deepest Cuts (2018)
as (archive footage)
Little Laura and Big John (1973)
as Laura
On the tracks of a filmmaker (1988)
as Karen Black
Fatal Encounter (1990)
as Joan Caldwell
Stuck! (2009)
as The Neighbor Lady
First Time Long Time (2009)
as Dr. Shneidel
Henry Jaglom Finds 'A Safe Place' (2010)
as Self
The Wacky Adventures of Dr. Boris and Nurse Shirley (1995)
as Evelyn
Flight of the Spruce Goose (1986)
as Gloria
Bury the Evidence (1998)
as The Mother
Every Minute Is Goodbye (1996)
Actor
Because He's My Friend (1978)
as Anne
Too Bad About Jack (1994)
Actor
Mommy's Little Monster (2012)
as Mrs. Melnick
The Blue Tooth Virgin (2008)
as Zena
Meet the Eye (2009)
Actor
A Light in the Darkness (2002)
as Mrs. Melnick
The Prime Time (1960)
as Betty
New York Crossing (1996)
as Mrs. Tender
OowieWanna (2012)
as The Donna
WAMEGO: Making Movies Anywhere (2004)
as Self
Hawk Warrior of the Wheelzone (2012)
as Tarot
Oliver Twisted (2000)
as Mrs. Mary Happ
The Voluptuous Horror of Karen Black: Teather Penumbra (1994)
Actor
Vacationland (—)
as Louise