Karen Black
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.
Nashville
(Connie White)
Men
(Alex)
Malaika
(Jessica Martin)
House of 1000 Corpses
(Mother Firefly)
The Player
(Karen Black)
I Woke Up Early the Day I Died
(Whip Lady)
Little Laura and Big John
(Laura)
The Great Gatsby
(Myrtle Wilson)
The Day of the Locust
(Faye Greener)
Born to Win
(Parm)
Out of the Dark
(Ruth Wilson)
Dinosaur Valley Girls
(Ro-Kell)
Family Plot
(Fran)
The Invisible Kid
(Mom)
Cut and Run
(Karin)
Invaders from Mars
(Linda Magnusson)
Children of the Corn IV: The Gathering
(June Rhodes)
Gypsy 83
(Bambi LeBleau)
Five Easy Pieces
(Rayette Dipesto)
The Outfit
(Bett Harrow)
Airport 1975
(Nancy Pryor)
One Long Night
(Barbara)
Burnt Offerings
(Marian Rolf)
Evil Spirits
(Ella Purdy)
Plan 10 from Outer Space
(Nehor)
Killer Fish
(Kate)
Rubin & Ed
(Rula)
Auntie Lee's Meat Pies
(Auntie Lee)
Haunting Fear
(Dr. Julia Harcourt)
Night Angel
(Rita)
You're a Big Boy Now
(Amy Partlett)
Children of the Night
(Karen Thompson)
Invisible Dad
(Courtney Whitmer)
Soulkeeper
(Martha la Magnifica)
Trilogy of Terror
(Julie / Millicent Larimore / Therese Larimore / Amelia)
New York Crossing
(Mrs. Tender)
Firecracker
(Sandra / Eleanor)
Easy Riders, Raging Bulls: How the Sex 'n' Drugs 'n' Rock 'n' Roll Generation Saved Hollywood
(Self)
Homer and Eddie
(Belle)
Hard Contract
(Ellen)
It's Alive III: Island of the Alive
(Ellen Jarvis)
Come Back to the 5 & Dime, Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean
(Joanne)
Stuck!
Bury the Evidence
(The Mother)
Some Guy Who Kills People
(Ruth Boyd)
A Gunfight
(Jenny Simms)
Ghost Writer
(Renee)
Mirror Mirror
(Susan Gordon)
Wanderlust
(Herself)
Separate Ways
(Valentine Colby)
Cisco Pike
(Sue)
The Pyx
(Elizabeth Lucy)
Drive, He Said
(Olive)
Savage Dawn
(Rachel)
Red Dirt
(Aunt Summer)
Conceiving Ada
(Lady Byron / Mother Coer)
Eternal Evil
(Janus)
The Roller Blade Seven
(Tarot)
Maria My Love
(Maria)
Mommy's Little Monster
(Mrs. Melnick)
America Brown
(Marianne Brown)
Mascara
(Aunt Eloise)
Crimetime
(Millicent)
No Subtitles Necessary: Laszlo & Vilmos
(Self)
Irene in Time
(Sheila Shivvers)
Dogtown
(Rose Van Horn)
Portnoy's Complaint
(Mary Jane Reid a.k.a. Monkey)
Bound and Gagged: A Love Story
(Carla)
The Grass Is Singing
(Mary Turner)
In Praise of Older Women
(Maya)
Crime and Passion
(Susan Winters)
Law and Disorder
(Gloria)
Can She Bake a Cherry Pie?
(Zee)
Easy Rider
(Karen)
Light Speed
(High Priestess)
Martin's Day
(Karen)
Mythos Hollywood - Das Geheimnis des Erfolgs
(Self)
Ooga Booga
(Mrs. Allardyce)
Charades
(Jude)
Overexposed
(Mrs. Trowbridge)
The Killers Edge
(Barrett)
Quiet Fire
(Kim Martino)
Club Fed
(Sally Rich)
The Squeeze
(Clarisse Saunders)
Nothing Special
(May)
She Loves Me Not
(Karla)
Judgement
(Tiffany Powers)
Hostage
(Laura Lawrence)
Rhinoceros
(Daisy)
The Prime Time
(Betty)
The Voluptuous Horror Of Karen Black: Teather Penumbra
Dr. Rage
(Molly)
Caged Fear
(Blanche)
Miss Right
(Amy)
Return of the Roller Blade Seven
(Tarot)
The Strange Possession of Mrs. Oliver
(Miriam Oliver / Sandy)
Where the Ladies Go
(Helen)
Bad Manners
(Gladys Fitzpatrick)
Trailer for a Remake of Gore Vidal's Caligula
(Agrippina)
The Legendary Life of Ernest Hemingway
(Martha Gelhorn)
Hollywood Dreams
(Luna)
Zapped Again!
(Homeroom Teacher)
Going Clear: Scientology and the Prison of Belief
(Self (archive footage))
Wamego: Ultimatum
(Self)
Contamination
(Mavis)
Wild in Blue
(Justine)
Twisted Justice
(Mrs. Granger)
The Underground Comedy Movie
(Mother)
Hawk Warrior of the Wheelzone
(Tarot)
Curse of the Forty-Niner
(Aunt Nelly)
Fallen Arches
(Lucy Romano)
Dixie Lanes
(Zelma Putnam)
Power
(Rose Vanda-Buchanan)
Police Story: Confessions of a Lady Cop
(Investigator Evelyn Carter)
Letters from the Big Man
(Sean's Colleague)
Bottomless Pit
(Karen Black)
Angel Blue
(Social Worker)
OowieWanna
(The Donna)
On the tracks of a filmmaker
(Karen Black)
BBStory: An American Film Renaissance
(Self)
Paris
(Chantelle)
Cries of Silence
(Rose Walsh)
Capricorn One
(Judy Drinkwater)
The Double 0 Kid
(Mrs. Elliot)
Chanel Solitaire
(Emilienne d'Alençon)
The Last Word
(Paula Herbert)
Plotting 'Family Plot'
(Self)
The Children
(Sybil Lullmer)
Mr. Horn
(Ernestina Crawford)
The Independent
(Karen Black)
Final Judgement
(Mrs. Sorrel)
Stir
(Dr. Gabrielle Kessler)
Starstruck
(Bertha)
Flight of the Spruce Goose
(Gloria)
Easy Rider: Shaking the Cage
(Self)
Repo Chick
(Aunt De La Chasse)
Double Duty
(Annabelle)
Legend of The Roller Blade Seven
(Tarot)
Teknolust
(Dirty Dick)
Best of Tromadance Film Festival: Volume 1
(("Los Vampirios Moronious" short))
Paradise Cove
(Ma)
The Little Mermaid
(Sea Witch)
Too Bad About Jack
Oliver Twisted
(Mrs. Mary Happ)
Tuesday Never Comes
(Michelle)
A Single Woman
(Storyteller)
A Light in the Darkness
(Mrs. Melnick)
Dead Girls Don't Tango
(Insp. Wilson)
Fatal Encounter
(Joan Caldwell)
Deadly Dolls: Deepest Cuts
Harold Buttleman: Daredevil Stuntman
(Mrs. Buttleman)
Henry Jaglom Finds 'A Safe Place'
(Self)
The Donor
(Mrs. Springle)
Read You Like a Book
(Kate)
Because He's My Friend
(Anne)
The Wacky Adventures of Dr. Boris and Nurse Shirley
(Evelyn)
The Trust
(Maria Vandermeer)
Fertile La Toyah Video Magazine #2: The Kinky Issue!
Watercolors
(Mrs. Martin)
The Last Horror Film
(Karen Black (uncredited))
WAMEGO: Making Movies Anywhere
(Self)
Ralph S. Mouse
(Miss Kuchenbacker)
Whitepaddy
(Mrs. Leider)
Who Is Henry Jaglom?
(Self)
Dark Blood
(Motel Woman)
Murder, She Wrote
(Dr. Sylvia Dunn)
The F.B.I.
(Lorraine Chapman)
Miami Vice
E! True Hollywood Story
Mannix
Adam-12
(Susan Decker)
Moon Over Miami
Law & Order: Criminal Intent
(Vera Morgan)
Run for Your Life
(Jennifer Palmer)
Police Story
E/R
The Hitchhiker
(Kay Mason)
The Big Valley
(Carla)
Judd for the Defense
The Hunger
(Miss Gati / Landlady)
Ghost Story
(Barbara Sanders)
Saturday Night Live
(Self - Host)
Faerie Tale Theatre
(Guest Interviewee)
Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job!
(Jennifer)
The Mike Douglas Show
(Self)
The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson
(Self)
The Name of the Game
(Monica Garrison)
Faerie Tale Theatre
(Sea Witch)
The Carol Burnett Show
(Self - Guest / Various Characters)
The Invaders
(Claudia Stone)
Tales of the City
(Self)
