Cast
Karen Black
Acting
Cast
Karen Black
Known for
Acting
Born
1939-07-01
From
Park Ridge, Illinois, USA
Died
2013-08-08
Also known as カレン・ブラック, Karen Blanche Ziegler, Карен Блэк
Biography
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.
The Player
as Karen Black
House of 1000 Corpses
as Mother Firefly
Easy Rider
as Karen
The Great Gatsby
as Myrtle Wilson
Airport 1975
as Nancy Pryor
Capricorn One
as Judy Drinkwater
Family Plot
as Fran
Easy Riders, Raging Bulls: How the Sex 'n' Drugs 'n' Rock 'n' Roll Generation Saved Hollywood
as Self
Five Easy Pieces
as Rayette Dipesto
Cisco Pike
as Sue
Going Clear: Scientology and the Prison of Belief
as Self (archive footage)
The Outfit
as Bett Harrow
The Independent
as Karen Black
Mr. Horn
as Ernestina Crawford
Burnt Offerings
as Marian Rolf
Electric Boogaloo: The Wild, Untold Story of Cannon Films
as Linda Magnusson (archive footage) (uncredited)
I Woke Up Early the Day I Died
as Whip Lady
Chanel Solitaire
as Emilienne d'Alençon
Judgement
as Tiffany Powers
Nashville
as Connie White
Wanderlust
as Herself
Come Back to the 5 & Dime, Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean
as Joanne
Invaders from Mars
as Linda Magnusson
Quiet Fire
as Kim Martino
The Children
as Sybil Lullmer
Children of the Corn IV: The Gathering
as June Rhodes
Dogtown
as Rose Van Horn
Cut and Run
as Karin
Night Angel
as Rita
Men
as Alex
Out of the Dark
as Ruth Wilson
Starstruck
as Bertha
Mythos Hollywood - Das Geheimnis des Erfolgs
as Self
Trilogy of Terror
as Julie / Millicent Larimore / Therese Larimore / Amelia
Killer Fish
as Kate
Repo Chick
as Aunt De La Chasse
Who Is Henry Jaglom?
as Self
Mirror Mirror
as Susan Gordon
The Day of the Locust
as Faye Greener
Fertile La Toyah Video Magazine #2: The Kinky Issue!
No Subtitles Necessary: Laszlo & Vilmos
as Self
Soulkeeper
as Martha la Magnifica
A Gunfight
as Jenny Simms
Trailer for a Remake of Gore Vidal's Caligula
as Agrippina
The Last Horror Film
as Karen Black (uncredited)
It's Alive III: Island of the Alive
as Ellen Jarvis
Stir
as Dr. Gabrielle Kessler
Jack Nicholson: The Joker Is Wild
as Self
Bad Manners
as Gladys Fitzpatrick
Savage Dawn
as Rachel
Homer and Eddie
as Belle
Ooga Booga
as Mrs. Allardyce
Miss Right
as Amy
Red Dirt
as Aunt Summer
Hollywood Dreams
as Luna
Evil Spirits
as Ella Purdy
The Squeeze
as Clarisse Saunders
In Praise of Older Women
as Maya
Altman on His Own Terms
as Self
Dark Blood
as Motel Woman
Hard Contract
as Ellen
Suffering Man's Charity
as Renee
Born to Win
as Parm
Invisible Dad
as Courtney Whitmer
Club Fed
as Sally Rich
Hostage
as Laura Lawrence
Final Judgement
as Mrs. Sorrel
You're a Big Boy Now
as Amy Partlett
Auntie Lee's Meat Pies
as Auntie Lee
Crimetime
as Millicent
The Invisible Kid
as Mom
The Little Mermaid
as Sea Witch
Fallen Arches
as Lucy Romano
Harold Buttleman: Daredevil Stuntman
as Mrs. Buttleman
Mascara
as Aunt Eloise
Drive, He Said
as Olive
Eternal Evil
as Janus
Teknolust
as Dirty Dick
Can She Bake a Cherry Pie?
as Zee
The Last Word
as Paula Herbert
The Legendary Life of Ernest Hemingway
as Martha Gelhorn
Wild in Blue
as Justine
Where the Ladies Go
as Helen
Separate Ways
as Valentine Colby
Haunting Fear
as Dr. Julia Harcourt
Curse of the Forty-Niner
as Aunt Nelly
Zapped Again!
as Homeroom Teacher
Twisted Justice
as Mrs. Granger
Whitepaddy
as Mrs. Leider
Crazy for Love
as Grace's Mom
Plotting 'Family Plot'
as Self
Gypsy 83
as Bambi LeBleau
Rubin & Ed
as Rula
Paris
as Chantelle
The Underground Comedy Movie
as Mother
The Pyx
as Elizabeth Lucy
Paradise Cove
as Ma
Charades
as Jude
Children of the Night
as Karen Thompson
The Double 0 Kid
as Mrs. Elliot
Stuck!
as The Neighbor Lady
Conceiving Ada
as Lady Byron / Mother Coer
The Roller Blade Seven
as Tarot
A Light in the Darkness
as Mrs. Melnick
Dinosaur Valley Girls
as Ro-Kell
America Brown
as Marianne Brown
One Long Night
as Barbara
The Donor
as Mrs. Springle
Light Speed
as High Priestess
Airports
Blood Money
as Barrett
She Loves Me Not
as Karla
Flight of the Spruce Goose
as Gloria
Overexposed
as Mrs. Trowbridge
Caged Fear
as Blanche
Contamination
as Mavis
BBStory: An American Film Renaissance
as Self
Gore Vidal: The United States of Amnesia
as Self (archive footage)
Rhinoceros
as Daisy
Firecracker
as Sandra / Eleanor
A Single Woman
as Storyteller
Watercolors
as Mrs. Martin
Double Duty
as Annabelle
Letters from the Big Man
as Sean's Colleague
Maria My Love
as Maria
Law and Disorder
as Gloria
Easy Rider: Shaking the Cage
as Self
Ralph S. Mouse
as Miss Kuchenbacker
Angel Blue
as Social Worker
Too Bad About Jack
Plan 10 from Outer Space
as Nehor
Return of the Roller Blade Seven
as Tarot
On the tracks of a filmmaker
as Karen Black
Deadly Dolls: Deepest Cuts
as (archive footage)
Dixie Lanes
as Zelma Putnam
Read You Like a Book
as Kate
Crime and Passion
as Susan Winters
Martin's Day
as Karen
Some Guy Who Kills People
as Ruth Boyd
Bottomless Pit
as Karen Black
Nothing Special
as May
Police Story: Confessions of a Lady Cop
as Investigator Evelyn Carter
The Wacky Adventures of Dr. Boris and Nurse Shirley
as Evelyn
Wamego: Ultimatum
as Self
Little Laura and Big John
as Laura
The Strange Possession of Mrs. Oliver
as Miriam Oliver / Sandy
Irene in Time
as Sheila Shivvers
Legend of The Roller Blade Seven
as Tarot
Portnoy's Complaint
as Mary Jane Reid a.k.a. Monkey
Mommy's Little Monster
as Mrs. Melnick
Best of Tromadance Film Festival: Volume 1
as ("Los Vampirios Moronious" short)
Bound and Gagged: A Love Story
as Carla
Malaika
as Jessica Martin
The Grass Is Singing
as Mary Turner
Hawk Warrior of the Wheelzone
as Tarot
The Trust
as Maria Vandermeer
Cries of Silence
as Rose Walsh
New York Crossing
as Mrs. Tender
The Prime Time
as Betty
Fatal Encounter
as Joan Caldwell
Because He's My Friend
as Anne
The Blue Tooth Virgin
as Zena
OowieWanna
as The Donna
Oliver Twisted
as Mrs. Mary Happ
Dead Girls Don't Tango
as Insp. Wilson
Dr. Rage
as Molly
George Sluizer - Filming beyond Bounderies
as Self
Bury the Evidence
as The Mother
Tuesday Never Comes
as Michelle
Every Minute Is Goodbye
Return to the 5 & Dime: An Interview with Ed Graczyk
as Self – Joanne (archive footage)
First Time Long Time
as Dr. Shneidel
Henry Jaglom Finds 'A Safe Place'
as Self
Karen Black: Actress at Work
as Self
WAMEGO: Making Movies Anywhere
as Self
The Voluptuous Horror of Karen Black: Teather Penumbra
Meet the Eye
Birth of Industry
as Sara
Vacationland
as Louise