Karen Black
Acting
Born: July 1, 1939 · Park Ridge, Illinois, USA
Died: August 8, 2013 (aged 74)
Highest Rated
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
Easy Rider
1969
House of 1000 Corpses
2003
The Player
1992
Going Clear: Scientology and the Prison of Belief
2015
Five Easy Pieces
1970
Miami Vice
1984
The Great Gatsby
1974
Capricorn One
1977
Family Plot
1976
Nashville
1975
Murder, She Wrote
1984
Law & Order: Criminal Intent
2001
Photos (13)
Movies (152)
Family Plot
Fran
Invaders from Mars
Linda Magnusson
House of 1000 Corpses
Mother Firefly
Airport 1975
Nancy Pryor
Nashville
Connie White
The Outfit
Bett Harrow
The Player
Karen Black
Capricorn One
Judy Drinkwater
Electric Boogaloo: The Wild, Untold Story of Cannon Films
Linda Magnusson (archive footage) (uncredited)
Easy Rider
Karen
Teknolust
Dirty Dick
The Great Gatsby
Myrtle Wilson
The Last Horror Film
Karen Black (uncredited)
Killer Fish
Kate
Night Angel
Rita
Savage Dawn
Rachel
The Double 0 Kid
Mrs. Elliot
The Squeeze
Clarisse Saunders
Five Easy Pieces
Rayette Dipesto
Burnt Offerings
Marian Rolf
Drive, He Said
Olive
Final Judgement
Mrs. Sorrel
Come Back to the 5 & Dime, Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean
Joanne
Bad Manners
Gladys Fitzpatrick
The Day of the Locust
Faye Greener
Children of the Corn IV: The Gathering
June Rhodes
You're a Big Boy Now
Amy Partlett
Wild in Blue
Justine
The Independent
Karen Black
Nothing Special
May
Auntie Lee's Meat Pies
Auntie Lee
Quiet Fire
Kim Martino
Out of the Dark
Ruth Wilson
Cisco Pike
Sue
Trilogy of Terror
Julie / Millicent Larimore / Therese Larimore / Amelia
Stuck!
The Neighbor Lady
Law and Disorder
Gloria
Red Dirt
Aunt Summer
Crazy for Love
Grace's Mom
I Woke Up Early the Day I Died
Whip Lady
The Children
Sybil Lullmer
Mascara
Aunt Eloise
Haunting Fear
Dr. Julia Harcourt
Stir
Dr. Gabrielle Kessler
Return of the Roller Blade Seven
Tarot
Trailer for a Remake of Gore Vidal's Caligula
Agrippina
Crimetime
Millicent
Twisted Justice
Mrs. Granger
Firecracker
Sandra / Eleanor
Crime and Passion
Susan Winters
Cut and Run
Karin
Rubin & Ed
Rula
Fertile La Toyah Video Magazine #2: The Kinky Issue!
1994
Born to Win
Parm
The Underground Comedy Movie
Mother
It's Alive III: Island of the Alive
Ellen Jarvis
Airports
2025
Hard Contract
Ellen
Some Guy Who Kills People
Ruth Boyd
A Gunfight
Jenny Simms
The Invisible Kid
Mom
Caged Fear
Blanche
Whitepaddy
Mrs. Leider
Judgement
Tiffany Powers
In Praise of Older Women
Maya
Chanel Solitaire
Emilienne d'Alençon
Mirror Mirror
Susan Gordon
Dark Blood
Motel Woman
Soulkeeper
Martha la Magnifica
Cries of Silence
Rose Walsh
Separate Ways
Valentine Colby
Suffering Man's Charity
Renee
Dead Girls Don't Tango
Insp. Wilson
Zapped Again!
Homeroom Teacher
New York Crossing
Mrs. Tender
Invisible Dad
Courtney Whitmer
Eternal Evil
Janus
Dinosaur Valley Girls
Ro-Kell
Ooga Booga
Mrs. Allardyce
She Loves Me Not
Karla
The Grass Is Singing
Mary Turner
First Time Long Time
Dr. Shneidel
The Roller Blade Seven
Tarot
Conceiving Ada
Lady Byron / Mother Coer
A Single Woman
Storyteller
The Prime Time
Betty
Read You Like a Book
Kate
The Legendary Life of Ernest Hemingway
Martha Gelhorn
Blood Money
Barrett
Children of the Night
Karen Thompson
Repo Chick
Aunt De La Chasse
Hawk Warrior of the Wheelzone
Tarot
Homer and Eddie
Belle
Bound and Gagged: A Love Story
Carla
Plan 10 from Outer Space
Nehor
Curse of the Forty-Niner
Aunt Nelly
Dogtown
Rose Van Horn
The Strange Possession of Mrs. Oliver
Miriam Oliver / Sandy
Watercolors
Mrs. Martin
Hollywood Dreams
Luna
The Little Mermaid
Sea Witch
Paris
Chantelle
Harold Buttleman: Daredevil Stuntman
Mrs. Buttleman
Legend of The Roller Blade Seven
Tarot
Because He's My Friend
Anne
Ralph S. Mouse
Miss Kuchenbacker
The Donor
Mrs. Springle
Can She Bake a Cherry Pie?
Zee
The Blue Tooth Virgin
Zena
Men
Alex
Where the Ladies Go
Helen
Police Story: Confessions of a Lady Cop
Investigator Evelyn Carter
Martin's Day
Karen
Deadly Dolls: Deepest Cuts
(archive footage)
Irene in Time
Sheila Shivvers
Bury the Evidence
The Mother
Evil Spirits
Ella Purdy
Tuesday Never Comes
Michelle
The Pyx
Elizabeth Lucy
Club Fed
Sally Rich
Miss Right
Amy
The Voluptuous Horror of Karen Black: Teather Penumbra
1994
Best of Tromadance Film Festival: Volume 1
("Los Vampirios Moronious" short)
A Light in the Darkness
Mrs. Melnick
Malaika
Jessica Martin
Dr. Rage
Molly
Charades
Jude
On the tracks of a filmmaker
Karen Black
Birth of Industry
Sara
Hostage
Laura Lawrence
Overexposed
Mrs. Trowbridge
Angel Blue
Social Worker
Gypsy 83
Bambi LeBleau
The Last Word
Paula Herbert
Letters from the Big Man
Sean's Colleague
Flight of the Spruce Goose
Gloria
America Brown
Marianne Brown
Portnoy's Complaint
Mary Jane Reid a.k.a. Monkey
Rhinoceros
Daisy
One Long Night
Barbara
The Trust
Maria Vandermeer
Dixie Lanes
Zelma Putnam
Little Laura and Big John
Laura
Oliver Twisted
Mrs. Mary Happ
Paradise Cove
Ma
Fallen Arches
Lucy Romano
Contamination
Mavis
The Wacky Adventures of Dr. Boris and Nurse Shirley
Evelyn
Fatal Encounter
Joan Caldwell
Double Duty
Annabelle
OowieWanna
The Donna
Starstruck
Bertha
TV Shows (29)
Law & Order: Criminal Intent
Vera Morgan · 1 eps
Murder, She Wrote
Dr. Sylvia Dunn · 1 eps
Mannix
1 eps
Miami Vice
Helen Jackson · 1 eps
Adam-12
Susan Decker · 1 eps
Party of Five
Doreen Jablonsky · 1 eps
The F.B.I.
Lorraine Chapman · 1 eps
The Big Valley
Carla · 1 eps
Profiler
Evie Long · 1 eps
The Invaders
Claudia Stone · 1 eps
Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job!
Jennifer · 1 eps
The Name of the Game
Monica Garrison · 1 eps
The Hitchhiker
Kay Mason · 1 eps
Run for Your Life
Jennifer Palmer · 1 eps
Police Story
Office Evelyn Carter · 1 eps
Faerie Tale Theatre
Guest Interviewee · 1 eps
Faerie Tale Theatre
Sea Witch · 1 eps
The Hunger
Miss Gati / Landlady · 1 eps
Judd, for the Defense
1 eps
Ghost Story
Barbara Sanders · 1 eps
Rude Awakening
Crystal Garcia · 2 eps
The Second Hundred Years
Marcia · 3 eps
E/R
3 eps
Russians in the City of Angels
Patricia Sommers · 1 eps
E! True Hollywood Story
1 eps
Moon Over Miami
1 eps
Worlds Beyond
Lee Jeffreys · 1 eps
Power
Rose Vanda-Buchanan · 2 eps
Mr. Horn
Ernestina Crawford · 2 eps
Self / Appearances (21)
The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson
Self · 2 eps
The Mike Douglas Show
Self · 2 eps
Saturday Night Live
Self - Host · 2 eps
American Playhouse
Self · 1 eps
The Carol Burnett Show
Self - Guest / Various Characters · 1 eps
People's Choice Awards
Self · 1 eps
Going Clear: Scientology and the Prison of Belief
Self (archive footage)
Tales of the City
Self · 1 eps
Easy Riders, Raging Bulls: How the Sex 'n' Drugs 'n' Rock 'n' Roll Generation Saved Hollywood
Self
Gore Vidal: The United States of Amnesia
Self (archive footage)
Who Is Henry Jaglom?
Self
Wamego: Ultimatum
Self
Mythos Hollywood - Das Geheimnis des Erfolgs
Self
BBStory: An American Film Renaissance
Self
No Subtitles Necessary: Laszlo & Vilmos
Self
Altman on His Own Terms
Self
Easy Rider: Shaking the Cage
Self
Henry Jaglom Finds 'A Safe Place'
Self
Wanderlust
Herself
Plotting 'Family Plot'
Self
WAMEGO: Making Movies Anywhere
Self
