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