Sissy Spacek
Born
December 25, 1949 (75 years old)
Known For
Acting
Place of Birth
Quitman, Texas, USA
Mary Elizabeth 'Sissy' Spacek (born December 25, 1949) is an American actress and singer. She is the recipient of numerous accolades, including an Academy Award, three Golden Globe Awards, a Screen Actors Guild Award, and nominations for four British Academy Film Awards, three Primetime Emmy Awards, and a Grammy Award. Spacek was honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2011.
Born and raised in Texas, she initially aspired to a career as a recording artist. In 1968, at age 18, she recorded a single, "John, You Went Too Far This Time," under the name Rainbo. She began her professional acting career in the early 1970s, making her debut as an extra in Andy Warhol's Women in Revolt (1971). Her breakout role came with Terrence Malick's influential crime film Badlands (1973), which earned her a nomination for the British Academy Film Award for Most Promising Newcomer to Leading Film Roles. She rose to international prominence with her portrayal of Carrie White in Brian De Palma's horror film Carrie (1976), for which she received her first nomination for the Academy Award for Best Actress. After appearing in the acclaimed films Welcome to L.A. (1976) and Robert Altman's 3 Women (1977), she won the Academy Award for Best Actress for her portrayal of Loretta Lynn in the biographical musical film Coal Miner's Daughter (1980).
Her other Oscar-nominated roles include Missing (1982), The River (1984), Crimes of the Heart (1986), and In the Bedroom (2001). Her other prominent films include Raggedy Man (1981), JFK (1991), Affliction (1997), The Straight Story (1999), Tuck Everlasting (2002), Nine Lives (2005), North Country (2005), Four Christmases (2008), Get Low (2010), The Help (2011), and The Old Man & the Gun (2018). She received Primetime Emmy Award nominations for the television films The Good Old Boys (1995) and Last Call (2002), and for her guest role on the HBO drama series Big Love (2011). She portrayed matriarch Sally Rayburn on the Netflix drama thriller series Bloodline (2015–2017), Ruth Deaver on the Hulu psychological horror series Castle Rock (2018), and Ellen Bergman on the Amazon Prime Video psychological thriller series Homecoming (2018).
She has also ventured into music, and recorded vocals for the soundtrack album of Coal Miner's Daughter, which peaked at number two on the Billboard Top Country Albums Chart and garnered her a nomination for the Grammy Award for Best Female Country Vocal Performance. She released a studio album, Hangin' Up My Heart (1983), which was critically well-received and peaked at number 17 on Billboard Top Country Albums chart.

Die My Love
Pam
2025

Dying for Sex
Gail · (8 episodes)
2025

Sam & Kate
Tina
2022

Night Sky
Irene York · (8 episodes)
2022

Without Getting Killed or Caught
Narrator / Voice of Susanna Clark (voice)
2021

Homecoming
Ellen Bergman · (10 episodes)
2018

The Old Man & the Gun
Jewel
2018

Castle Rock
Ruth Deaver · (10 episodes)
2018

GQ Presents: Iconic Characters
Self · (1 episode)
2018

HyperNormalisation
Self (archive footage)
2016

River of Gold
Narrator
2016

Loretta Lynn: Still a Mountain Girl
Self / Loretta Lynn
2016

Bloodline
Sally Rayburn · (33 episodes)
2015

Off Camera with Sam Jones
Self · (1 episode)
2014

And the Oscar Goes To...
Self (archive footage)
2014

Making Badlands
Self
2013

Deadfall
June
2012

The Help
Missus Walters
2011

Get Low
Mattie Darrow
2010

Four Christmases
Paula
2008

Lake City
Maggie
2008

Pictures of Hollis Woods
Josie Cahill
2007

Hot Rod
Marie Powell
2007

Gray Matters
Dr. Sydney
2007

Big Love
Marilyn Densham · (0 episode)
2006

Nine Lives
Ruth
2005

An American Haunting
Lucy Bell
2005

The Ring Two
Evelyn
2005

North Country
Alice Aimes
2005

A Home at the End of the World
Alice Glover
2004

Absence of Malick
Self
2003

A Decade Under the Influence
Self
2003

Tuck Everlasting
Mae Tuck
2002

Rosy-Fingered Dawn: A Film on Terrence Malick
Self
2002

Last Call
Zelda Fitzgerald
2002

In the Bedroom
Ruth Fowler
2001

Acting 'Carrie'
Self
2001

Visualizing 'Carrie'
Self (archive footage)
2001

Midwives
Sibyl Danforth
2001

Songs In Ordinary Time
Marie Fermoyle
2000

The Straight Story
Rose
1999

The Rage: Carrie 2
Carrie White (archive footage) (uncredited)
1999

Blast from the Past
Helen
1999

Affliction
Margie Fogg
1997

The View
Self · (2 episodes)
1997

The Grass Harp
Verena Talbo
1996

If These Walls Could Talk
Barbara Barrows
1996

Beyond the Call
Pam O'Brien
1996

The Rosie O'Donnell Show
Self - Guest · (1 episode)
1996

Streets of Laredo
Lorena · (3 episodes)
1995

Thomas Jefferson: A View from the Mountain
Martha Jefferson Randolph (voice) · (2 episodes)
1995

The Good Old Boys
Spring Renfro
1995

Inside the Actors Studio
Self · (1 episode)
1994

A Place for Annie
Susan Lansing
1994

Trading Mom
Mommy / Mama / Mom / Natasha
1994

Beyond JFK: The Question of Conspiracy
Self
1993

A Private Matter
Sherri Finkbine
1992

Shelley Duvall's Bedtime Stories
Narrator (Voice) · (1 episode)
1992

Hard Promises
Christine Ann Coalter
1992
Fonda on Fonda
Self - The 53rd Annual Academy Awards (archive footage)
1992

JFK
Liz Garrison
1991
The Talking Eggs
Narrator (voice)
1991

Voices That Care
Self - Choir Member
1991

The Long Walk Home
Miriam Thompson
1990
Seitenblicke
self · (1 episode)
1987

Crimes of the Heart
Babe Magrath
1986

'night, Mother
Jessie Cates
1986

Violets are Blue
Augusta "Gussie" Sawyer
1986

Marie: A True Story
Marie Ragghianti
1985

The River
Mae Garvey
1984

The Man with Two Brains
Anne Uumellmahaye (uncredited) (voice)
1983

Missing
Beth Horman
1982

Raggedy Man
Nita
1981

Heart Beat
Carolyn Cassady
1980

Coal Miner's Daughter
Loretta Lynn
1980

Verna: USO Girl
Verna Vane
1978
Rolling Stone Magazine: The 10th Anniversary
Self
1977

3 Women
Mildred "Pinky" Rose
1977

Welcome to L.A.
Linda Murray
1976

Carrie
Carrie
1976

Saturday Night Live
Self - Host · (1 episode)
1975

Katherine
Katherine Alman
1975

Les Rendez-vous du dimanche
Self · (1 episode)
1975

The Migrants
Wanda Trimpin
1974

Badlands
Holly Sargis
1974

Ginger in the Morning
Ginger Brown
1973

The Girls of Huntington House
Sara
1973

The Waltons
(2 episodes)
1972

The Rookies
(1 episode)
1972

Prime Cut
Poppy
1972

Great Performances
Verna Vane · (1 episode)
1971

The Oscars
Self · (3 episodes)
1953

Hallmark Hall of Fame
Susan Lansing · (1 episode)
1951