Acting
Karen Black
NL, EN, RU, DA cinema · 179 credits
Born
1 July 1939
Died
8 August 2013 (aged 74)
Birthplace
Park Ridge, Illinois, USA
Also known as カレン・ブラック · Karen Blanche Ziegler · Карен Блэк · Карен Бланш Циглер · Caran Black · Karen Ziegler
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
Filmography
Vacationland
Vacationland
as Louise
Deadly Dolls: Deepest Cuts
as (archive footage)
Going Clear: Scientology and the Prison of Belief
as Self (archive footage)
Bottomless Pit
2015
Bottomless Pit
as Karen Black
Wild in Blue
as Justine
Electric Boogaloo: The Wild, Untold Story of Cannon Films
as Linda Magnusson (archive footage) (uncredited)
Return to the 5 & Dime: An Interview with Ed Graczyk
2014
Return to the 5 & Dime: An Interview with Ed Graczyk
as Self – Joanne (archive footage)
Ooga Booga
as Mrs. Allardyce
She Loves Me Not
as Karla
Gore Vidal: The United States of Amnesia
as Self (archive footage)
Mommy's Little Monster
2012
Mommy's Little Monster
as Mrs. Melnick
OowieWanna
as The Donna
Dark Blood
as Motel Woman
Some Guy Who Kills People
as Ruth Boyd
Letters from the Big Man
as Sean's Colleague
Stuck!
as The Neighbor Lady
Irene in Time
as Sheila Shivvers
Repo Chick
as Aunt De La Chasse
Double Duty
as Annabelle
First Time Long Time
as Dr. Shneidel
Contamination
as Mavis
A Single Woman
as Storyteller
Watercolors
as Mrs. Martin
One Long Night
as Barbara
Hollywood Dreams
as Luna
Wanderlust
as Herself
Whitepaddy
as Mrs. Leider
Firecracker
as Sandra / Eleanor, Editorial Consultant
America Brown
as Marianne Brown
Dr. Rage
as Molly
Crazy for Love
as Grace's Mom
House of 1000 Corpses
as Mother Firefly
Paris
as Chantelle
Harold Buttleman: Daredevil Stuntman
as Mrs. Buttleman
Curse of the Forty-Niner
as Aunt Nelly
Teknolust
as Dirty Dick
Best of Tromadance Film Festival: Volume 1
as ("Los Vampirios Moronious" short)
A Light in the Darkness
as Mrs. Melnick
Gypsy 83
as Bambi LeBleau
Soulkeeper
as Martha la Magnifica
The Donor
as Mrs. Springle
Red Dirt
as Aunt Summer
Fallen Arches
as Lucy Romano
The Independent
as Karen Black
Oliver Twisted
as Mrs. Mary Happ
The Invention of Dr. Morel
Screenplay
Conceiving Ada
as Lady Byron / Mother Coer
Mascara
as Aunt Eloise
Malaika
as Jessica Martin
I Woke Up Early the Day I Died
as Whip Lady
Invisible Dad
as Courtney Whitmer
Bury the Evidence
as The Mother
Light Speed
1998
Light Speed
as High Priestess
Charades
as Jude, Writer, Producer
Angel Blue
as Social Worker
Men
as Alex, Writer
Dogtown
as Rose Van Horn
Stir
as Dr. Gabrielle Kessler
Children of the Corn IV: The Gathering
as June Rhodes
New York Crossing
as Mrs. Tender
Crimetime
as Millicent
Cries of Silence
as Rose Walsh
Dinosaur Valley Girls
as Ro-Kell
Plan 10 from Outer Space
as Nehor, Songs
Starstruck
as Bertha
The Trust
as Maria Vandermeer
The Player
as Karen Black
Rubin & Ed
as Rula
Auntie Lee's Meat Pies
as Auntie Lee
Judgement
as Tiffany Powers
The Double 0 Kid
as Mrs. Elliot
Final Judgement
as Mrs. Sorrel
Tuesday Never Comes
as Michelle
Dead Girls Don't Tango
as Insp. Wilson
Evil Spirits
as Ella Purdy
Children of the Night
as Karen Thompson
Blood Money
as Barrett
Quiet Fire
as Kim Martino
Caged Fear
as Blanche
Ralph S. Mouse
as Miss Kuchenbacker
Haunting Fear
as Dr. Julia Harcourt
Night Angel
as Rita
Mirror Mirror
as Susan Gordon
Overexposed
as Mrs. Trowbridge
Club Fed
as Sally Rich
Zapped Again!
as Homeroom Teacher
Twisted Justice
as Mrs. Granger
Fatal Encounter
as Joan Caldwell
The Children
as Sybil Lullmer
Homer and Eddie
as Belle
Out of the Dark
as Ruth Wilson
The Legendary Life of Ernest Hemingway
as Martha Gelhorn
Dixie Lanes
as Zelma Putnam
On the tracks of a filmmaker
as Karen Black
It's Alive III: Island of the Alive
as Ellen Jarvis
Hostage
as Laura Lawrence
The Little Mermaid
as Sea Witch
Invaders from Mars
as Linda Magnusson
Cut and Run
as Karin
Savage Dawn
as Rachel
Eternal Evil
as Janus
Martin's Day
as Karen
Bad Manners
as Gladys Fitzpatrick
Miss Right
as Amy
The Last Horror Film
as Karen Black (uncredited)
Separate Ways
as Valentine Colby
The Grass Is Singing
as Mary Turner
Chanel Solitaire
as Emilienne d'Alençon
Where the Ladies Go
as Helen
Police Story: Confessions of a Lady Cop
as Investigator Evelyn Carter
Killer Fish
as Kate
The Last Word
as Paula Herbert
The Squeeze
as Clarisse Saunders
The Strange Possession of Mrs. Oliver
as Miriam Oliver / Sandy
Capricorn One
as Judy Drinkwater
Family Plot
as Fran
Burnt Offerings
as Marian Rolf
Crime and Passion
as Susan Winters
Nashville
as Connie White, Original Music Composer
The Day of the Locust
as Faye Greener
Trilogy of Terror
as Julie / Millicent Larimore / Therese Larimore / Amelia
The Great Gatsby
as Myrtle Wilson
Airport 1975
as Nancy Pryor
Law and Disorder
as Gloria
Rhinoceros
as Daisy
The Outfit
as Bett Harrow
The Pyx
as Elizabeth Lucy, Songs
Cisco Pike
as Sue
Portnoy's Complaint
as Mary Jane Reid a.k.a. Monkey
Born to Win
as Parm
A Gunfight
as Jenny Simms
Drive, He Said
as Olive
Five Easy Pieces
as Rayette Dipesto
Hard Contract
as Ellen
Easy Rider
as Karen
You're a Big Boy Now
as Amy Partlett
The Prime Time
as Betty