Karen Black
Acting
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
Acting215
movieDeadly Dolls: Deepest Cuts
2018
(archive footage)
Bottomless Pit
2015
Karen Black
movieGoing Clear: Scientology and the Prison of Belief
2015
Self (archive footage)
Return to the 5 & Dime: An Interview with Ed Graczyk
2014
Self – Joanne (archive footage)
movieElectric Boogaloo: The Wild, Untold Story of Cannon Films
2014
Linda Magnusson (archive footage) (uncredited)
movieWild in Blue
2014
Justine
movieGore Vidal: The United States of Amnesia
2013
Self (archive footage)
movieOoga Booga
2013
Mrs. Allardyce
movieDark Blood
2012
Motel Woman
movieOowieWanna
2012
The Donna
movieLetters from the Big Man
2011
Sean's Colleague
movieSome Guy Who Kills People
2011
Ruth Boyd
movieDouble Duty
2009
Annabelle
movieStuck!
2009
The Neighbor Lady
movieRepo Chick
2009
Aunt De La Chasse
movieIrene in Time
2009
Sheila Shivvers
movieFirst Time Long Time
2009
Dr. Shneidel
movieA Single Woman
2008
Storyteller
movieWatercolors
2008
Mrs. Martin
movieOne Long Night
2007
Barbara
movieWanderlust
2006
Herself
movieWhitepaddy
2006
Mrs. Leider
movieAmerica Brown
2005
Marianne Brown
movieFirecracker
2005
Sandra / Eleanor
movieCrazy for Love
2005
Grace's Mom
movieDr. Rage
2005
Molly
movieParis
2003
Chantelle
movieHarold Buttleman: Daredevil Stuntman
2003
Mrs. Buttleman
movieHouse of 1000 Corpses
2003
Mother Firefly
tvRussians in the City of Angels
2003
Patricia Sommers
movieCurse of the Forty-Niner
2002
Aunt Nelly
movieA Light in the Darkness
2002
Mrs. Melnick
movieBest of Tromadance Film Festival: Volume 1
2002
("Los Vampirios Moronious" short)
movieTeknolust
2002
Dirty Dick
movieGypsy 83
2001
Bambi LeBleau
movieSoulkeeper
2001
Martha la Magnifica
tvLaw & Order: Criminal Intent
2001
Vera Morgan
movieThe Donor
2001
Mrs. Springle
movieThe Independent
2000
Karen Black
movieRed Dirt
2000
Aunt Summer
movieFallen Arches
2000
Lucy Romano
movieOliver Twisted
2000
Mrs. Mary Happ
movieMascara
1999
Aunt Eloise
movieConceiving Ada
1999
Lady Byron / Mother Coer
movieBury the Evidence
1998
The Mother
movieAngel Blue
1998
Social Worker
tvRude Awakening
1998
Crystal Garcia
movieInvisible Dad
1998
Courtney Whitmer
movieMalaika
1998
Jessica Martin
Light Speed
1998
High Priestess
movieMen
1997
Alex
tvThe Hunger
1997
Miss Gati / Landlady
movieStir
1997
Dr. Gabrielle Kessler
movieDogtown
1997
Rose Van Horn
movieNew York Crossing
1996
Mrs. Tender
tvProfiler
1996
Evie Long
movieCrimetime
1996
Millicent
movieCries of Silence
1996
Rose Walsh
movieStarstruck
1995
Bertha
tvParty of Five
1994
Doreen Jablonsky
movieThe Trust
1993
Maria Vandermeer
movieAuntie Lee's Meat Pies
1992
Auntie Lee
movieThe Double 0 Kid
1992
Mrs. Elliot
movieJudgement
1992
Tiffany Powers
movieFinal Judgement
1992
Mrs. Sorrel
movieTuesday Never Comes
1992
Michelle
movieThe Player
1992
Karen Black
movieDead Girls Don't Tango
1992
Insp. Wilson
movieQuiet Fire
1991
Kim Martino
movieEvil Spirits
1991
Ella Purdy
movieChildren of the Night
1991
Karen Thompson
movieCaged Fear
1991
Blanche
movieBlood Money
1991
Barrett
movieRalph S. Mouse
1991
Miss Kuchenbacker
movieMirror Mirror
1990
Susan Gordon
movieClub Fed
1990
Sally Rich
movieHaunting Fear
1990
Dr. Julia Harcourt
movieThe Children
1990
Sybil Lullmer
movieZapped Again!
1990
Homeroom Teacher
movieTwisted Justice
1990
Mrs. Granger
movieOverexposed
1990
Mrs. Trowbridge
movieFatal Encounter
1990
Joan Caldwell
movieOut of the Dark
1988
Ruth Wilson
movieDixie Lanes
1988
Zelma Putnam
movieThe Legendary Life of Ernest Hemingway
1988
Martha Gelhorn
movieOn the tracks of a filmmaker
1988
Karen Black
movieHostage
1987
Laura Lawrence
movieIt's Alive III: Island of the Alive
1987
Ellen Jarvis
movieThe Little Mermaid
1987
Sea Witch
tvWorlds Beyond
1986
Lee Jeffreys
movieInvaders from Mars
1986
Linda Magnusson
movieSavage Dawn
1985
Rachel
movieCut and Run
1985
Karin
movieBad Manners
1984
Gladys Fitzpatrick
tvMurder, She Wrote
1984
Dr. Sylvia Dunn
tvMiami Vice
1984
Helen Jackson
tvThe Hitchhiker
1983
Kay Mason
tvFaerie Tale Theatre
1982
Guest Interviewee / Sea Witch
movieThe Last Horror Film
1982
Karen Black (uncredited)
movieChanel Solitaire
1981
Emilienne d'Alençon
movieThe Grass Is Singing
1981
Mary Turner
movieSeparate Ways
1981
Valentine Colby
moviePolice Story: Confessions of a Lady Cop
1980
Investigator Evelyn Carter
tvPower
1980
Rose Vanda-Buchanan
movieThe Last Word
1979
Paula Herbert
movieMr. Horn
1979
Ernestina Crawford
tvMr. Horn
1979
Ernestina Crawford
movieThe Squeeze
1978
Clarisse Saunders
movieCapricorn One
1977
Judy Drinkwater
movieThe Strange Possession of Mrs. Oliver
1977
Miriam Oliver / Sandy
movieBurnt Offerings
1976
Marian Rolf
movieCrime and Passion
1976
Susan Winters
tvSaturday Night Live
1975
Self - Host
movieNashville
1975
Connie White
movieThe Day of the Locust
1975
Faye Greener
movieTrilogy of Terror
1975
Julie / Millicent Larimore / Therese Larimore / Amelia
movieAirport 1975
1974
Nancy Pryor
movieThe Great Gatsby
1974
Myrtle Wilson
movieRhinoceros
1974
Daisy
movieThe Outfit
1973
Bett Harrow
movieThe Pyx
1973
Elizabeth Lucy
tvPolice Story
1973
Office Evelyn Carter
tvGhost Story
1972
Barbara Sanders
moviePortnoy's Complaint
1972
Mary Jane Reid a.k.a. Monkey
movieA Gunfight
1971
Jenny Simms
movieFive Easy Pieces
1970
Rayette Dipesto
movieEasy Rider
1969
Karen
tvAdam-12
1968
Susan Decker
tvThe Name of the Game
1968
Monica Garrison
tvThe Carol Burnett Show
1967
Self - Guest / Various Characters
tvThe Invaders
1967
Claudia Stone
movieYou're a Big Boy Now
1966
Amy Partlett
tvThe F.B.I.
1965
Lorraine Chapman
tvThe Big Valley
1965
Carla
tvRun for Your Life
1965
Jennifer Palmer
Sound3
movieNashville
1975
Original Music Composer
movieThe Pyx
1973
Songs
Writing3
Editing1
movieFirecracker
2005
Editorial Consultant
Production1
movieCharades
1998
Producer