Karen Black

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. Description above from the Wikipedia article Karen Black, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.

Known For: Acting

Born: Park Ridge, Illinois, USA, 1939-07-01

Died: 2013-08-08

No.	Year	Title	Role	Vote Average
1	1960	The Prime Time	Betty	42
2	1966	You're a Big Boy Now	Amy Partlett	61
3	1969	Hard Contract	Ellen	47
4	1969	Easy Rider	Karen	71
5	1970	Five Easy Pieces	Rayette Dipesto	71
6	1971	Drive, He Said	Olive	60
7	1971	A Gunfight	Jenny Simms	58
8	1971	Cisco Pike	Sue	57
9	1971	Born to Win	Parm	53
10	1972	Portnoy's Complaint	Mary Jane Reid a.k.a. Monkey	45
11	1973	Little Laura and Big John	Laura	40
12	1973	The Pyx	Elizabeth Lucy	51
13	1973	The Outfit	Bett Harrow	68
14	1974	Rhinoceros	Daisy	53
15	1974	The Great Gatsby	Myrtle Wilson	63
16	1974	Law and Disorder	Gloria	49
17	1974	Airport 1975	Nancy Pryor	57
18	1975	Trilogy of Terror	Julie / Millicent Larimore / Therese Larimore / Amelia	62
19	1975	The Day of the Locust	Faye Greener	64
20	1975	Nashville	Connie White	72
21	1976	Crime and Passion	Susan Winters	60
22	1976	Family Plot	Fran	67
23	1976	Burnt Offerings	Marian Rolf	65
24	1977	The Strange Possession of Mrs. Oliver	Miriam Oliver / Sandy	58
25	1977	Capricorn One	Judy Drinkwater	68
26	1978	Because He's My Friend	Anne	0
27	1978	In Praise of Older Women	Maya	52
28	1978	The Squeeze	Clarisse Saunders	52
29	1979	Mr. Horn	Ernestina Crawford	60
30	1979	The Last Word	Paula Herbert	40
31	1979	Killer Fish	Kate	46
32	1980	Power	Rose Vanda-Buchanan	20
33	1980	Where the Ladies Go	Helen	0
34	1980	Police Story: Confessions of a Lady Cop	Investigator Evelyn Carter	10
35	1981	Separate Ways	Valentine Colby	45
36	1981	The Grass Is Singing	Mary Turner	42
37	1981	Chanel Solitaire	Emilienne d'Alençon	47
38	1982	Miss Right	Amy	30
39	1982	The Last Horror Film	Karen Black (uncredited)	53
40	1982	Come Back to the 5 & Dime, Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean	Joanne	60
41	1983	Can She Bake a Cherry Pie?	Zee	57
42	1984	Bad Manners	Gladys Fitzpatrick	57
43	1985	Eternal Evil	Janus	44
44	1985	Martin's Day	Karen	62
45	1985	Cut and Run	Karin	54
46	1985	Savage Dawn	Rachel	42
47	1986	Flight of the Spruce Goose	Gloria	0
48	1986	Invaders from Mars	Linda Magnusson	56
49	1987	The Little Mermaid	Sea Witch	63
50	1987	It's Alive III: Island of the Alive	Ellen Jarvis	54
51	1987	Hostage	Laura Lawrence	70
52	1988	The Legendary Life of Ernest Hemingway	Martha Gelhorn	0
53	1988	On the tracks of a filmmaker	Karen Black	0
54	1988	The Invisible Kid	Mom	49
55	1988	Dixie Lanes	Zelma Putnam	34
56	1988	Out of the Dark	Ruth Wilson	53
57	1989	Homer and Eddie	Belle	55
58	1990	Evil Spirits	Ella Purdy	36
59	1990	Overexposed	Mrs. Trowbridge	28
60	1990	Fatal Encounter	Joan Caldwell	0
61	1990	Twisted Justice	Mrs. Granger	44
62	1990	Zapped Again!	Homeroom Teacher	41
63	1990	The Children	Sybil Lullmer	38
64	1990	Night Angel	Rita	42
65	1990	Haunting Fear	Dr. Julia Harcourt	46
66	1990	Club Fed	Sally Rich	37
67	1990	Mirror Mirror	Susan Gordon	51
68	1991	Ralph S. Mouse	Miss Kuchenbacker	60
69	1991	Blood Money	Barrett	58
70	1991	Caged Fear	Blanche	38
71	1991	Children of the Night	Karen Thompson	42
72	1991	The Roller Blade Seven	Tarot	28
73	1991	Quiet Fire	Kim Martino	47
74	1992	Dead Girls Don't Tango	Insp. Wilson	10
75	1992	The Player	Karen Black	72
76	1992	Rubin & Ed	Rula	64
77	1992	Tuesday Never Comes	Michelle	20
78	1992	Final Judgement	Mrs. Sorrel	37
79	1992	Judgement	Tiffany Powers	32
80	1992	The Double 0 Kid	Mrs. Elliot	48
81	1992	Auntie Lee's Meat Pies	Auntie Lee	48
82	1993	Return of the Roller Blade Seven	Tarot	47
83	1993	The Trust	Maria Vandermeer	0
84	1993	Legend of The Roller Blade Seven	Tarot	37
85	1993	Bound and Gagged: A Love Story	Carla	62
86	1994	Too Bad About Jack		0
87	1994	Fertile La Toyah Video Magazine #2: The Kinky Issue!		0
88	1994	The Voluptuous Horror Of Karen Black: Teather Penumbra		0
89	1995	Dinosaur Valley Girls	Ro-Kell	45
90	1995	Starstruck	Bertha	20
91	1995	Plan 10 from Outer Space	Nehor	59
92	1995	The Wacky Adventures of Dr. Boris and Nurse Shirley	Evelyn	0
93	1996	Cries of Silence	Rose Walsh	75
94	1996	Crimetime	Millicent	40
95	1996	Dogtown	Rose Van Horn	43
96	1996	Children of the Corn IV: The Gathering	June Rhodes	44
97	1996	New York Crossing	Mrs. Tender	10
98	1997	Stir	Dr. Gabrielle Kessler	35
99	1997	Who Is Henry Jaglom?	Self	66
100	1997	Menage a Trois	Miss Gati	0
101	1997	Men	Alex	43
102	1998	Malaika	Jessica Martin	0
103	1998	Light Speed	High Priestess	20
104	1998	Mythos Hollywood - Das Geheimnis des Erfolgs	Self	30
105	1998	Invisible Dad	Courtney Whitmer	34
106	1998	I Woke Up Early the Day I Died	Whip Lady	51
107	1998	Angel Blue	Social Worker	48
108	1998	Bury the Evidence	The Mother	0
109	1998	Charades	Jude	35
110	1999	Paradise Cove	Ma	60
111	1999	Conceiving Ada	Lady Byron / Mother Coer	45
112	1999	Mascara	Aunt Eloise	32
113	1999	The Underground Comedy Movie	Mother	25
114	1999	Easy Rider: Shaking the Cage	Self	70
115	2000	Oliver Twisted	Mrs. Mary Happ	30
116	2000	Altman on His Own Terms	Self	0
117	2000	Fallen Arches	Lucy Romano	0
118	2000	Red Dirt	Aunt Summer	58
119	2000	The Independent	Karen Black	56
120	2001	Plotting 'Family Plot'	Self	62
121	2001	The Donor	Mrs. Springle	27
122	2001	Soulkeeper	Martha la Magnifica	50
123	2001	Gypsy 83	Bambi LeBleau	66
124	2002	A Light in the Darkness	Mrs. Melnick	20
125	2002	Teknolust	Dirty Dick	43
126	2002	Best of Tromadance Film Festival: Volume 1	("Los Vampirios Moronious" short)	0
127	2002	Curse of the Forty-Niner	Aunt Nelly	42
128	2003	Easy Riders, Raging Bulls: How the Sex 'n' Drugs 'n' Rock 'n' Roll Generation Saved Hollywood	Self	71
129	2003	House of 1000 Corpses	Mother Firefly	62
130	2003	Harold Buttleman: Daredevil Stuntman	Mrs. Buttleman	50
131	2003	Paris	Chantelle	20
132	2004	WAMEGO: Making Movies Anywhere	Self	0
133	2004	Jack Nicholson: The Joker Is Wild	Self	0
134	2005	Dr. Rage	Molly	22
135	2005	My Suicidal Sweetheart	Grace's Mom	58
136	2005	Trailer for a Remake of Gore Vidal's Caligula	Agrippina	61
137	2005	Firecracker	Sandra / Eleanor	61
138	2005	America Brown	Marianne Brown	57
139	2006	Whitepaddy	Mrs. Leider	50
140	2006	Wanderlust	Herself	50
141	2006	Read You Like a Book	Kate	39
142	2007	Suffering Man's Charity	Renee	48
143	2007	One Long Night	Barbara	37
144	2007	Hollywood Dreams	Luna	26
145	2008	Contamination	Mavis	20
146	2008	Watercolors	Mrs. Martin	57
147	2008	A Single Woman	Storyteller	70
148	2009	No Subtitles Necessary: Laszlo & Vilmos	Self	59
149	2009	Wamego: Ultimatum	Self	0
150	2009	Irene in Time	Sheila Shivvers	12
151	2009	Repo Chick	Aunt De La Chasse	32
152	2009	Stuck!	The Neighbor Lady	28
153	2009	Double Duty	Annabelle	70
154	2010	Nothing Special	May	50
155	2010	BBStory: An American Film Renaissance	Self	0
156	2010	Henry Jaglom Finds 'A Safe Place'	Self	0
157	2011	Some Guy Who Kills People	Ruth Boyd	60
158	2011	Letters from the Big Man	Sean's Colleague	72
159	2012	Mommy's Little Monster	Mrs. Melnick	35
160	2012	Hawk Warrior of the Wheelzone	Tarot	0
161	2012	OowieWanna	The Donna	98
162	2012	Maria My Love	Maria	20
163	2012	Dark Blood	Motel Woman	58
164	2013	Ooga Booga	Mrs. Allardyce	34
165	2013	She Loves Me Not	Karla	43
166	2013	Gore Vidal: The United States of Amnesia	Self (archive footage)	78
167	2014	Wild in Blue	Justine	42
168	2015	Going Clear: Scientology and the Prison of Belief	Self (archive footage)	76
169	2015	Bottomless Pit	Karen Black	0
170	2018	Deadly Dolls: Deepest Cuts	(archive footage)	50

No.	Year	Title	Role	Vote Average
1	1961	The Mike Douglas Show	Self	54
2	1962	The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson	Self	75
3	1965	Run for Your Life	Jennifer Palmer	72
4	1965	The Big Valley	Carla	61
5	1965	The F.B.I.	Lorraine Chapman	55
6	1967	The Invaders	Claudia Stone	68
7	1967	Judd for the Defense		75
8	1967	The Carol Burnett Show	Self - Guest / Various Characters	77
9	1967	Mannix		67
10	1968	The Name of the Game	Monica Garrison	68
11	1968	Adam-12	Susan Decker	70
12	1972	Ghost Story	Barbara Sanders	71
13	1973	Police Story		69
14	1975	Saturday Night Live	Self - Host	70
15	1982	Faerie Tale Theatre	Guest Interviewee	81
16	1982	Faerie Tale Theatre	Sea Witch	81
17	1983	The Hitchhiker	Kay Mason	61
18	1984	Miami Vice		75
19	1984	E/R		52
20	1984	Murder, She Wrote	Dr. Sylvia Dunn	75
21	1993	Moon Over Miami		70
22	1993	Tales of the City	Self	80
23	1996	E! True Hollywood Story		81
24	1997	The Hunger	Miss Gati / Landlady	58
25	2001	Law & Order: Criminal Intent	Vera Morgan	76
26	2007	Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job!	Jennifer	74
27		Science Fiction Film Awards	Herself	0

Karen Black

Film

Television