Karen Black
Acting
🎂 1939-07-01
Karen Blanche Black (née Ziegler) 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.
Cast credits(198)
Vera Morgan
2001
Dr. Sylvia Dunn
1984
Self
1962
Self - Host
1975
Self
1961
1984
Susan Decker
1968
1967
Carla
1965
Lorraine Chapman
1965
Monica Garrison
1968
Jennifer Palmer
1965
Self - Guest / Various Characters
1967
Jennifer
2007
Claudia Stone
1967
Kay Mason
1983
Guest Interviewee
1982
Sea Witch
1982
Miss Gati / Landlady
1997
1973
1967
Barbara Sanders
1972
Mother Firefly
2003
Karen
1969
Karen Black
1992
Myrtle Wilson
1974
1984
Judy Drinkwater
1977
Self
1993
Mrs. Melnick
2002
Self (archive footage)
2013
Nancy Pryor
1974
June Rhodes
1996
Kate
1979
Fran
1976
Evelyn
1995
Gloria
1974
1993
Jenny Simms
1971
Blanche
1991
Connie White
1975
Laura
1973
Self (archive footage)
2015
Martha la Magnifica
2001
Ellen Jarvis
1987
Rayette Dipesto
1970
Maya
1978
The Mother
1998
Emilienne d'Alençon
1981
Whip Lady
1998
Mrs. Granger
1990
Faye Greener
1975
Gladys Fitzpatrick
1984
Mrs. Allardyce
2013
Tarot
1991
Herself
2006
Investigator Evelyn Carter
1980
Dirty Dick
2002
Rose Van Horn
1997
Agrippina
2005
Paula Herbert
1979
Karen Black
2000
Self
2004
Karen Thompson
1991
Molly
2005
Patricia Sommers
2003
Helen
1980
Alex
1997
Linda Magnusson
1986
Renee
2007
Miriam Oliver / Sandy
1977
Tarot
1993
Aunt Eloise
1999
Karin
1985
Rachel
1985
Kim Martino
1991
Mary Turner
1981
Mrs. Tender
1996
Sea Witch
1987
Joan Caldwell
1990
Rita
1990
Rose Vanda-Buchanan
1980
Sue
1971
Lady Byron / Mother Coer
1999
Tarot
1993
Ro-Kell
1995
Jessica Martin
1998
Zee
1983
Marian Rolf
1976
Belle
1989
Dr. Gabrielle Kessler
1997
Mavis
2008
Self
2000
Bett Harrow
1973
Betty
1960
Annabelle
2009
Justine
2014
Auntie Lee
1992
1994
Mrs. Sorrel
1992
Mrs. Leider
2006
Self
1998
Self
2003
Self
1997
Self
1999
Maria Vandermeer
1993
Karen Black (uncredited)
1982
Mrs. Martin
2008
("Los Vampirios Moronious" short)
2002
Susan Gordon
1990
Ruth Boyd
2011
Ruth Wilson
1988
Sally Rich
1990
Miss Kuchenbacker
1991
Martha Gelhorn
1988
Rose Walsh
1996
Millicent
1996
Luna
2007
Homeroom Teacher
1990
Karen
1985
High Priestess
1998
Aunt Summer
2000
Maria
2012
Sean's Colleague
2011
Ellen
1969
Aunt Nelly
2002
Parm
1971
Mom
1988
Bambi LeBleau
2001
Julie / Millicent Larimore / Therese Larimore / Amelia
1975
Self
2009
May
2010
Janus
1985
Courtney Whitmer
1998
Amy
1982
Storyteller
2008
Elizabeth Lucy
1973
Joanne
1982
Grace's Mom
2005
1996
Sheila Shivvers
2009
Daisy
1974
Ella Purdy
1991
Ernestina Crawford
1979
Dr. Julia Harcourt
1990
Laura Lawrence
1987
Karen Black
1988
Self
2009
Amy Partlett
1966
Sybil Lullmer
1990
The Neighbor Lady
2009
Susan Winters
1976
Carla
1993
Barrett
1991
Rula
1992
Olive
1971
Mother
1999
Gloria
1986
Valentine Colby
1981
Jude
1998
Self
2001
Herself
Ma
1999
Mrs. Buttleman
2003
Clarisse Saunders
1978
Mary Jane Reid a.k.a. Monkey
1972
Mrs. Trowbridge
1990
The Donna
2012
Barbara
2007
Karen Black
2015
Mrs. Elliot
1992
Aunt De La Chasse
2009
Bertha
1995
Mrs. Springle
2001
Insp. Wilson
1992
Kate
2006
Nehor
1995
Mrs. Mary Happ
2000
Social Worker
1998
Michelle
1992
Sandra / Eleanor
2005
Zelma Putnam
1988
Self
2004
Karla
2013
Self
2010
Chantelle
2003
1994
Marianne Brown
2005
1994
Motel Woman
2012
Mrs. Melnick
2012
Anne
1978
Self
2010
Tiffany Powers
1992
(archive footage)
2018
Lucy Romano
2000
Tarot
2012
