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
Easy Rider (1969)
as Karen
The Player (1992)
as Karen Black
House of 1000 Corpses (2003)
as Mother Firefly
Airport 1975 (1974)
as Nancy Pryor
The Great Gatsby (1974)
as Myrtle Wilson
Capricorn One (1977)
as Judy Drinkwater
Nashville (1975)
as Connie White
Family Plot (1976)
as Fran
Five Easy Pieces (1970)
as Rayette Dipesto
It's Alive III: Island of the Alive (1987)
as Ellen Jarvis
Invaders from Mars (1986)
as Linda Magnusson
Burnt Offerings (1976)
as Marian Rolf
Night Angel (1990)
as Rita
Cisco Pike (1972)
as Sue
Going Clear: Scientology and the Prison of Belief (2015)
as Self (archive footage)
Wild in Blue (2014)
as Justine
The Outfit (1973)
as Bett Harrow
Born to Win (1971)
as Parm
Children of the Corn IV: The Gathering (1996)
as June Rhodes
Killer Fish (1979)
as Kate
Savage Dawn (1985)
as Rachel
Out of the Dark (1988)
as Ruth Wilson
The Independent (2000)
as Karen Black
The Day of the Locust (1975)
as Faye Greener
Electric Boogaloo: The Wild, Untold Story of Cannon Films (2014)
as Linda Magnusson (archive footage) (uncredited)
The Children (1990)
as Sybil Lullmer
Trilogy of Terror (1975)
as Julie / Millicent Larimore / Therese Larimore / Amelia
Cut and Run (1985)
as Karin
Repo Chick (2009)
as Aunt De La Chasse
Red Dirt (2000)
as Aunt Summer
Easy Riders, Raging Bulls: How the Sex 'n' Drugs 'n' Rock 'n' Roll Generation Saved Hollywood (2003)
as Self
Gypsy 83 (2001)
as Bambi LeBleau
Dark Blood (2012)
as Motel Woman
In Praise of Older Women (1978)
as Maya
Auntie Lee's Meat Pies (1992)
as Auntie Lee
Bad Manners (1984)
as Gladys Fitzpatrick
A Gunfight (1971)
as Jenny Simms
Ooga Booga (2013)
as Mrs. Allardyce
Eternal Evil (1985)
as Janus
Come Back to the 5 & Dime, Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean (1982)
as Joanne
Evil Spirits (1991)
as Ella Purdy
Zapped Again! (1990)
as Homeroom Teacher
Drive, He Said (1971)
as Olive
I Woke Up Early the Day I Died (1998)
as Whip Lady
The Last Horror Film (1982)
as Karen Black (uncredited)
Rubin & Ed (1992)
as Rula
Teknolust (2002)
as Dirty Dick
Mr. Horn (1979)
as Ernestina Crawford
The Double 0 Kid (1992)
as Mrs. Elliot
Blood Money (1991)
as Barrett
Dr. Rage (2005)
as Molly
Homer and Eddie (1989)
as Belle
Martin's Day (1985)
as Karen
Hostage (1987)
as Laura Lawrence
Separate Ways (1981)
as Valentine Colby
The Pyx (1973)
as Elizabeth Lucy
Rhinoceros (1974)
as Daisy
Hard Contract (1969)
as Ellen
Men (1997)
as Alex
Caged Fear (1991)
as Blanche
The Donor (2001)
as Mrs. Springle
Crazy for Love (2005)
as Grace's Mom
Mirror Mirror (1990)
as Susan Gordon
You're a Big Boy Now (1966)
as Amy Partlett
Mythos Hollywood - Das Geheimnis des Erfolgs (1998)
as Self
Fallen Arches (2000)
as Lucy Romano
Club Fed (1990)
as Sally Rich
Paris (2003)
as Chantelle
Double Duty (2009)
as Annabelle
Light Speed (1998)
as High Priestess
Conceiving Ada (1999)
as Lady Byron / Mother Coer
Stir (1997)
as Dr. Gabrielle Kessler
The Squeeze (1978)
as Clarisse Saunders
Chanel Solitaire (1981)
as Emilienne d'Alençon
Miss Right (1982)
as Amy
One Long Night (2007)
as Barbara
Jack Nicholson: The Joker Is Wild (2004)
as Self
Law and Disorder (1974)
as Gloria
Quiet Fire (1991)
as Kim Martino
Nothing Special (2010)
as May
Soulkeeper (2001)
as Martha la Magnifica
Judgement (1992)
as Tiffany Powers
Children of the Night (1991)
as Karen Thompson
Altman on His Own Terms (2000)
as Self
The Last Word (1979)
as Paula Herbert
Final Judgement (1992)
as Mrs. Sorrel
Haunting Fear (1990)
as Dr. Julia Harcourt
Angel Blue (1998)
as Social Worker
Dixie Lanes (1988)
as Zelma Putnam
Dogtown (1997)
as Rose Van Horn
A Single Woman (2008)
as Storyteller
The Roller Blade Seven (1991)
as Tarot
The Invisible Kid (1988)
as Mom
The Strange Possession of Mrs. Oliver (1977)
as Miriam Oliver / Sandy
America Brown (2005)
as Marianne Brown
Crimetime (1996)
as Millicent
Airports (2025)
Actor
Trailer for a Remake of Gore Vidal's Caligula (2005)
as Agrippina
Mascara (1999)
as Aunt Eloise
Ralph S. Mouse (1991)
as Miss Kuchenbacker
Police Story: Confessions of a Lady Cop (1980)
as Investigator Evelyn Carter
She Loves Me Not (2013)
as Karla
Wanderlust (2006)
as Herself
Invisible Dad (1998)
as Courtney Whitmer
The Little Mermaid (1987)
as Sea Witch
Twisted Justice (1990)
as Mrs. Granger
Fatal Encounter (1990)
as Joan Caldwell
Bound and Gagged: A Love Story (1993)
as Carla
The Legendary Life of Ernest Hemingway (1988)
as Martha Gelhorn
The Trust (1993)
as Maria Vandermeer
Dinosaur Valley Girls (1995)
as Ro-Kell
Some Guy Who Kills People (2011)
as Ruth Boyd
Overexposed (1990)
as Mrs. Trowbridge
Gore Vidal: The United States of Amnesia (2013)
as Self (archive footage)
Hollywood Dreams (2007)
as Luna
Where the Ladies Go (1980)
as Helen
No Subtitles Necessary: Laszlo & Vilmos (2009)
as Self
Suffering Man's Charity (2007)
as Renee
Maria My Love (2012)
as Maria
Return of the Roller Blade Seven (1993)
as Tarot
BBStory: An American Film Renaissance (2010)
as Self
Charades (1998)
as Jude
Harold Buttleman: Daredevil Stuntman (2003)
as Mrs. Buttleman
Whitepaddy (2006)
as Mrs. Leider
Crime and Passion (1976)
as Susan Winters
Letters from the Big Man (2011)
as Sean's Colleague
Can She Bake a Cherry Pie? (1983)
as Zee
Firecracker (2005)
as Sandra / Eleanor
Stuck! (2009)
as The Neighbor Lady
Irene in Time (2009)
as Sheila Shivvers
Read You Like a Book (2006)
as Kate
Curse of the Forty-Niner (2002)
as Aunt Nelly
Who Is Henry Jaglom? (1997)
as Self
Little Laura and Big John (1973)
as Laura
Paradise Cove (1999)
as Ma
Malaika (1998)
as Jessica Martin
Legend of The Roller Blade Seven (1993)
as Tarot
Portnoy's Complaint (1972)
as Mary Jane Reid a.k.a. Monkey
On the tracks of a filmmaker (1988)
as Karen Black
Plotting 'Family Plot' (2001)
as Self
The Underground Comedy Movie (1999)
as Mother
Too Bad About Jack (1994)
Actor
New York Crossing (1996)
as Mrs. Tender
Easy Rider: Shaking the Cage (1999)
as Self
First Time Long Time (2009)
as Dr. Shneidel
Bury the Evidence (1998)
as The Mother
Watercolors (2008)
as Mrs. Martin
Cries of Silence (1996)
as Rose Walsh
Contamination (2008)
as Mavis
The Wacky Adventures of Dr. Boris and Nurse Shirley (1995)
as Evelyn
George Sluizer - Filming beyond Bounderies (—)
as Self
The Grass Is Singing (1981)
as Mary Turner
Fertile La Toyah Video Magazine #2: The Kinky Issue! (1994)
Actor
Hawk Warrior of the Wheelzone (2012)
as Tarot
Flight of the Spruce Goose (1986)
as Gloria
Return to the 5 & Dime: An Interview with Ed Graczyk (2014)
as Self – Joanne (archive footage)
Dead Girls Don't Tango (1992)
as Insp. Wilson
Tuesday Never Comes (1992)
as Michelle
Karen Black: Actress at Work (1999)
as Self
A Light in the Darkness (2002)
as Mrs. Melnick
The Prime Time (1960)
as Betty
Wamego: Ultimatum (2009)
as Self
The Blue Tooth Virgin (2008)
as Zena
Best of Tromadance Film Festival: Volume 1 (2002)
as ("Los Vampirios Moronious" short)
Every Minute Is Goodbye (1996)
Actor
Because He's My Friend (1978)
as Anne
Bottomless Pit (2015)
as Karen Black
Deadly Dolls: Deepest Cuts (2018)
as (archive footage)
Plan 10 from Outer Space (1995)
as Nehor
Mommy's Little Monster (2012)
as Mrs. Melnick
Oliver Twisted (2000)
as Mrs. Mary Happ
OowieWanna (2012)
as The Donna
The Voluptuous Horror of Karen Black: Teather Penumbra (1994)
Actor
Starstruck (1995)
as Bertha
WAMEGO: Making Movies Anywhere (2004)
as Self
Henry Jaglom Finds 'A Safe Place' (2010)
as Self
Meet the Eye (2009)
Actor
Birth of Industry (2004)
as Sara
Vacationland (—)
as Louise