Karen Black
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.
Known For
Connie White
Nashville
Alex
Men
Jessica Martin
Malaika
Mother Firefly
House of 1000 Corpses
Karen Black
The Player
Whip Lady
I Woke Up Early the Day I Died
Laura
Little Laura and Big John
Myrtle Wilson
The Great Gatsby
Faye Greener
The Day of the Locust
Parm
Born to Win
Ruth Wilson
Out of the Dark
Ro-Kell
Dinosaur Valley Girls
Fran
Family Plot
Mom
The Invisible Kid
Karin
Inferno in diretta
Linda Magnusson
Invaders from Mars
June Rhodes
Children of the Corn IV: The Gathering
Bambi LeBleau
Gypsy 83
Rayette Dipesto
Five Easy Pieces
Bett Harrow
The Outfit
Nancy Pryor
Airport 1975
Barbara
One Long Night
Marian Rolf
Burnt Offerings
Ella Purdy
Evil Spirits
Nehor
Plan 10 from Outer Space
Kate
Killer Fish
Rula
Rubin & Ed
Auntie Lee
Auntie Lee's Meat Pies
Dr. Julia Harcourt
Haunting Fear
Rita
Night Angel
Amy Partlett
You're a Big Boy Now
Karen Thompson
Children of the Night
Courtney Whitmer
Invisible Dad
Martha la Magnifica
Soulkeeper
Julie / Millicent Larimore / Therese Larimore / Amelia
Trilogy of Terror
Mrs. Tender
Un angelo a New York
Sandra / Eleanor
Firecracker
Self
Easy Riders, Raging Bulls: How the Sex 'n' Drugs 'n' Rock 'n' Roll Generation Saved Hollywood
Belle
Homer and Eddie
Ellen
Hard Contract
Ellen Jarvis
It's Alive III: Island of the Alive
Joanne
Come Back to the 5 & Dime, Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean
The Neighbor Lady
Stuck!
The Mother
Bury the Evidence
Ruth Boyd
Some Guy Who Kills People
Jenny Simms
A Gunfight
Renee
Suffering Man's Charity
Susan Gordon
Mirror Mirror
Herself
Wanderlust
Valentine Colby
Separate Ways
Sue
Cisco Pike
Elizabeth Lucy
The Pyx
Olive
Drive, He Said
Rachel
Savage Dawn
Aunt Summer
Red Dirt
Lady Byron / Mother Coer
Conceiving Ada
Janus
Eternal Evil
Tarot
The Roller Blade Seven
Maria
Maria My Love
Mrs. Melnick
Mommy's Little Monster
Marianne Brown
America Brown
Aunt Eloise
Mascara
Millicent
Crimetime
Self
No Subtitles Necessary: Laszlo & Vilmos
Sheila Shivvers
Irene in Time
Rose Van Horn
Dogtown
Mary Jane Reid a.k.a. Monkey
Portnoy's Complaint
Carla
Bound and Gagged: A Love Story
Mary Turner
The Grass Is Singing
Maya
In Praise of Older Women
Susan Winters
Ace Up My Sleeve
Gloria
Law and Disorder
Zee
Can She Bake a Cherry Pie?
Karen
Easy Rider
High Priestess
Light Speed
Karen
Martin's Day
Self
Mythos Hollywood - Das Geheimnis des Erfolgs
Mrs. Allardyce
Ooga Booga
Jude
Charades
Mrs. Trowbridge
Overexposed
Barrett
Blood Money
Kim Martino
Quiet Fire
Sally Rich
Club Fed
Clarisse Saunders
The Squeeze
May
Nothing Special
Karla
She Loves Me Not
Tiffany Powers
Judgement
Laura Lawrence
Hostage
Daisy
Rhinoceros
Betty
The Prime Time
The Voluptuous Horror of Karen Black: Teather Penumbra
Molly
Dr. Rage
Blanche
Caged Fear
Amy
Miss Right
Tarot
Return of the Roller Blade Seven
Miriam Oliver / Sandy
The Strange Possession of Mrs. Oliver
Helen
Where the Ladies Go
Gladys Fitzpatrick
Bad Manners
Agrippina
Trailer for a Remake of Gore Vidal's Caligula
Martha Gelhorn
The Legendary Life of Ernest Hemingway
Luna
Hollywood Dreams
Homeroom Teacher
Zapped Again!
Self (archive footage)
Going Clear: Scientology and the Prison of Belief
Self
Wamego: Ultimatum
Mavis
Contamination
Justine
Wild in Blue
Mrs. Granger
Twisted Justice
Mother
The Underground Comedy Movie
Tarot
Hawk Warrior of the Wheelzone
Aunt Nelly
Curse of the Forty-Niner
Lucy Romano
Fallen Arches
Zelma Putnam
Dixie Lanes
Rose Vanda-Buchanan
Power
Investigator Evelyn Carter
Police Story: Confessions of a Lady Cop
Sean's Colleague
Letters from the Big Man
Karen Black
Bottomless Pit
Social Worker
Angel Blue
The Donna
OowieWanna
Karen Black
On the tracks of a filmmaker
Self
BBStory: An American Film Renaissance
Chantelle
Paris
Rose Walsh
Cries of Silence
Judy Drinkwater
Capricorn One
Mrs. Elliot
The Double 0 Kid
Emilienne d'Alençon
Chanel Solitaire
Paula Herbert
The Last Word
Self
Plotting 'Family Plot'
Sybil Lullmer
The Children
Ernestina Crawford
Mr. Horn
Karen Black
The Independent
Mrs. Sorrel
Final Judgement
Dr. Gabrielle Kessler
Stir
Bertha
Starstruck
Gloria
Flight of the Spruce Goose
Self
Easy Rider: Shaking the Cage
Aunt De La Chasse
Repo Chick
Annabelle
Double Duty
Tarot
Legend of The Roller Blade Seven
Dirty Dick
Teknolust
("Los Vampirios Moronious" short)
Best of Tromadance Film Festival: Volume 1
Ma
Paradise Cove
Sea Witch
The Little Mermaid
Too Bad About Jack
Mrs. Mary Happ
Oliver Twisted
Michelle
Tuesday Never Comes
Storyteller
A Single Woman
Mrs. Melnick
A Light in the Darkness
Insp. Wilson
Dead Girls Don't Tango
Joan Caldwell
Fatal Encounter
(archive footage)
Deadly Dolls: Deepest Cuts
Mrs. Buttleman
Harold Buttleman: Daredevil Stuntman
Self
Henry Jaglom Finds 'A Safe Place'
Mrs. Springle
The Donor
Kate
Read You Like a Book
Anne
Because He's My Friend
Evelyn
The Wacky Adventures of Dr. Boris and Nurse Shirley
Maria Vandermeer
The Trust
Fertile La Toyah Video Magazine #2: The Kinky Issue!
Mrs. Martin
Watercolors
Karen Black (uncredited)
The Last Horror Film
Self
WAMEGO: Making Movies Anywhere
Miss Kuchenbacker
Ralph S. Mouse
Mrs. Leider
Whitepaddy
Self
Who Is Henry Jaglom?
Motel Woman
Dark Blood
Self
Altman on His Own Terms
Self
Jack Nicholson: The Joker Is Wild
Self (archive footage)
Gore Vidal: The United States of Amnesia
Grace's Mom
My Suicidal Sweetheart
Every Minute Is Goodbye
Self
Karen Black: Actress at Work
Airports
Personal Info
Known For
Acting
Known Credits
172
Gender
Female
Birthday
1939-07-01
Place of Birth
Park Ridge, Illinois, USA
Also Known As
カレン・ブラック