Film Snail

Karen Black

Born · July 1, 1939

Died · August 8, 2013 (74 years old)

Known For: Acting

Place of Birth: Park Ridge, Illinois, USA

Bio

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. Description above from the Wikipedia article Karen Black, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.

Known for

Deadly Dolls: Deepest Cuts

5.0

2018

Bottomless Pit

Karen Black

0.0

2015

Going Clear: Scientology and the Prison of Belief

Self (archive footage)

7.6

2015

Wild in Blue

Justine

4.5

2014

She Loves Me Not

Karla

Annabelle

7.0

2009

Stuck!

3.1

2009

Repo Chick

Aunt De La Chasse

3.4

2009

Irene in Time

Sheila Shivvers

1.2

2009

Wamego: Ultimatum

Self

0.0

2009

No Subtitles Necessary: Laszlo & Vilmos

Self

6.3

2009

A Single Woman

Storyteller

7.0

2008

Watercolors

Mrs. Martin

5.8

2008

Contamination

Mavis

2.0

2008

Hollywood Dreams

Luna

2.8

2007

One Long Night

Barbara

3.9

2007

Ghost Writer

Renee

4.7

2007

Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job!

Jennifer · (1 episode)

7.5

2007

Read You Like a Book

Kate

3.9

2006

Wanderlust

Herself

5.0

2006

Whitepaddy

Mrs. Leider

0.0

2006

America Brown

Marianne Brown

5.7

2005

Firecracker

Sandra / Eleanor

6.2

2005

Trailer for a Remake of Gore Vidal's Caligula

Agrippina

6.1

2005

Dr. Rage

Molly

2.2

2005

WAMEGO: Making Movies Anywhere

Self

0.0

2004

Paris

Chantelle

2.0

2003

Harold Buttleman: Daredevil Stuntman

Mrs. Buttleman

5.0

2003

House of 1000 Corpses

Mother Firefly

6.2

2003

Easy Riders, Raging Bulls: How the Sex 'n' Drugs 'n' Rock 'n' Roll Generation Saved Hollywood

Self

7.1

2003

Curse of the Forty-Niner

Aunt Nelly

4.3

2002

Best of Tromadance Film Festival: Volume 1

("Los Vampirios Moronious" short)

0.0

2002

Teknolust

Dirty Dick

4.3

2002

A Light in the Darkness

Mrs. Melnick

2.0

2002

Gypsy 83

Bambi LeBleau

6.4

2001

Law & Order: Criminal Intent

Vera Morgan · (1 episode)

7.6

2001

The Donor

Mrs. Springle

3.5

2001

Plotting 'Family Plot'

Self

6.2

2001

Soulkeeper

Martha la Magnifica

5.2

2001

The Independent

Karen Black

5.6

2000

Red Dirt

Aunt Summer

5.8

2000

Fallen Arches

Lucy Romano

0.0

2000

Oliver Twisted

Mrs. Mary Happ

3.0

2000

Easy Rider: Shaking the Cage

Self

7.0

1999

The Underground Comedy Movie

Mother

2.6

1999

Mascara

Aunt Eloise

3.8

1999

Conceiving Ada

Lady Byron / Mother Coer

4.5

1999

Paradise Cove

6.0

1999

Charades

Jude

4.1

1998

Bury the Evidence

The Mother

0.0

1998

Angel Blue

Social Worker

4.8

1998

I Woke Up Early the Day I Died

Whip Lady

5.6

1998

Invisible Dad

Courtney Whitmer

3.8

1998

Malaika

Jessica Martin

0.0

1998

Light Speed

High Priestess

3.0

1998

Mythos Hollywood - Das Geheimnis des Erfolgs

Self

0.0

1998

Men

Alex

4.4

1997

The Hunger

Miss Gati / Landlady · (1 episode)

5.7

1997

Who Is Henry Jaglom?

Self

6.6

1997

Stir

Dr. Gabrielle Kessler

4.3

1997

New York Crossing

Mrs. Tender

0.0

1996

Children of the Corn IV: The Gathering

June Rhodes

4.4

1996

Dogtown

Rose Van Horn

3.0

1996

E! True Hollywood Story

(1 episode)

8.0

1996

Crimetime

Millicent

4.1

1996

Cries of Silence

Rose Walsh

7.5

1996

The Wacky Adventures of Dr. Boris and Nurse Shirley

Evelyn

0.0

1995

Plan 10 from Outer Space

Nehor

6.3

1995

Dinosaur Valley Girls

Ro-Kell

5.5

1995

Starstruck

Bertha

2.0

1995

The Voluptuous Horror Of Karen Black: Teather Penumbra

0.0

1994

Too Bad About Jack

0.0

1994

Rula

6.4

1992

The Player

Karen Black

7.2

1992

Dead Girls Don't Tango

Insp. Wilson

0.0

1992

Quiet Fire

Kim Martino

5.4

1991

Children of the Night

Karen Thompson

4.3

1991

The Roller Blade Seven

Tarot

3.0

1991

Caged Fear

Blanche

3.2

1991

The Killers Edge

Barrett

5.8

1991

Ralph S. Mouse

Miss Kuchenbacker

6.0

1991

Mirror Mirror

Susan Gordon

5.2

1990

Club Fed

Sally Rich

3.7

1990

Haunting Fear

Dr. Julia Harcourt

4.9

1990

Night Angel

Rita

4.2

1990

The Children

Sybil Lullmer

5.2

1990

Zapped Again!

Homeroom Teacher

4.1

1990

Twisted Justice

Mrs. Granger

5.5

1990

Evil Spirits

Ella Purdy

3.6

1990

Overexposed

Mrs. Trowbridge

3.5

1990

Fatal Encounter

Joan Caldwell

0.0

1990

Homer and Eddie

Belle

5.6

1989

Out of the Dark

Ruth Wilson

5.5

1988

Dixie Lanes

Zelma Putnam

3.2

1988

The Invisible Kid

Mom

4.9

1988

The Legendary Life of Ernest Hemingway

Martha Gelhorn

0.0

1988

On the tracks of a filmmaker

Karen Black

0.0

1988

Hostage

Laura Lawrence

0.0

1987

It's Alive III: Island of the Alive

Ellen Jarvis

5.4

1987

The Little Mermaid

Sea Witch

6.3

1987

Invaders from Mars

Linda Magnusson

5.5

1986

Savage Dawn

Rachel

4.4

1986

Flight of the Spruce Goose

Gloria

0.0

1986

Cut and Run

Karin

5.6

1985

Martin's Day

Karen

6.2

1985

Eternal Evil

Janus

4.4

1985

Bad Manners

Gladys Fitzpatrick

5.7

1984

Murder, She Wrote

Dr. Sylvia Dunn · (1 episode)

7.5

1984

Miami Vice

(1 episode)

7.5

1984

E/R

(3 episodes)

5.2

1984

The Hitchhiker

Kay Mason · (1 episode)

6.1

1983

Can She Bake a Cherry Pie?

Zee

6.6

1983

Come Back to the 5 & Dime, Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean

Joanne

6.0

1982

Faerie Tale Theatre

Guest Interviewee · (1 episode)

8.2

1982

Faerie Tale Theatre

Sea Witch · (1 episode)

8.2

1982

The Last Horror Film

Karen Black (uncredited)

5.2

1982

Miss Right

Amy

3.0

1982

The Grass Is Singing

Mary Turner

4.2

1981

Separate Ways

Valentine Colby

5.0

1981

Chanel Solitaire

Emilienne d'Alençon

3.8

1981

Police Story: Confessions of a Lady Cop

Investigator Evelyn Carter

1.0

1980

Where the Ladies Go

Helen

0.0

1980

Power

Rose Vanda-Buchanan

2.0

1980

Killer Fish

Kate

4.5

1979

The Last Word

Paula Herbert

4.0

1979

Mr. Horn

Ernestina Crawford

6.0

1979

The Squeeze

Clarisse Saunders

5.2

1978

In Praise of Older Women

Maya

5.2

1978

Because He's My Friend

Anne

0.0

1978

Capricorn One

Judy Drinkwater

6.8

1977

The Strange Possession of Mrs. Oliver

Miriam Oliver / Sandy

5.8

1977

Burnt Offerings

Marian Rolf

6.5

1976

Family Plot

Fran

6.7

1976

Crime and Passion

Susan Winters

6.0

1976

Saturday Night Live

Self - Host · (2 episodes)

6.9

1975

Nashville

Connie White

7.2

1975

The Day of the Locust

Faye Greener

6.3

1975

Trilogy of Terror

Julie / Millicent Larimore / Therese Larimore / Amelia

6.2

1975

Airport 1975

Nancy Pryor

5.7

1974

Law and Disorder

Gloria

4.8

1974

The Great Gatsby

Myrtle Wilson

6.3

1974

Rhinoceros

Daisy

5.4

1974

The Outfit

Bett Harrow

6.8

1973

The Pyx

Elizabeth Lucy

5.3

1973

Little Laura and Big John

Laura

4.0

1973

Police Story

(1 episode)

7.1

1973

Ghost Story

Barbara Sanders · (1 episode)

7.1

1972

Portnoy's Complaint

Mary Jane Reid a.k.a. Monkey

4.5

1972

Cisco Pike

Sue

5.6

1972

Born to Win

Parm

5.3

1971

A Gunfight

Jenny Simms

5.8

1971

Drive, He Said

Olive

6.0

1971

Five Easy Pieces

Rayette Dipesto

7.1

1970

Easy Rider

Karen

7.1

1969

Hard Contract

Ellen

4.9

1969

Adam-12

Susan Decker · (1 episode)

7.1

1968

The Name of the Game

Monica Garrison · (1 episode)

6.8

1968

Mannix

(1 episode)

6.7

1967

The Carol Burnett Show

Self - Guest / Various Characters · (1 episode)

7.5

1967

Judd for the Defense

(1 episode)

7.5

1967

The Invaders

Claudia Stone · (1 episode)

6.8

1967

You're a Big Boy Now

Amy Partlett

6.3

1966

The F.B.I.

Lorraine Chapman · (1 episode)

5.4

1965

The Big Valley

Carla · (1 episode)

6.0

1965

Run for Your Life

Jennifer Palmer · (1 episode)

7.2

1965

The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson

Self · (1 episode)

7.4

1962

The Mike Douglas Show

Self · (2 episodes)

5.1

1961

The Prime Time

Betty

4.2

1960