Karen Black
161 movies · 28 TV shows
- Known for
- Acting
- Born
- Jul 1, 1939
- Died
- Aug 8, 2013 (age 74)
- Place of birth
- Park Ridge, Illinois, USA
- Also known as
- カレン・ブラック · Karen Blanche Ziegler · Карен Блэк · Карен Бланш Циглер
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.
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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.
Profiles IMDb
Known for
Karen Black: movies and TV shows
Acting (188)
- Upcoming Vacationland
as Louise
- 2025
- 2018 Deadly Dolls: Deepest Cuts
as (archive footage)
- 2015 Bottomless Pit
as Karen Black
- 2014 Electric Boogaloo: The Wild, Untold Story of Cannon Films
as Linda Magnusson (archive footage) (uncredited)
- 2014 Wild in Blue
as Justine
- 2013 She Loves Me Not
as Karla
- 2013 Ooga Booga
as Mrs. Allardyce
- 2012 Dark Blood
as Motel Woman
- 2012 Maria My Love
as Maria
- 2012 OowieWanna
as The Donna
- 2012 Mommy's Little Monster
as Mrs. Melnick
- 2012 Hawk Warrior of the Wheelzone
as Tarot
- 2011 Letters from the Big Man
as Sean's Colleague
- 2011 Some Guy Who Kills People
as Ruth Boyd
- 2010 Nothing Special
as May
- 2009 Double Duty
as Annabelle
- 2009 Stuck!
as The Neighbor Lady
- 2009 Repo Chick
as Aunt De La Chasse
- 2009 Irene in Time
as Sheila Shivvers
- 2009
- 2009 First Time Long Time
as Dr. Shneidel
- 2008 A Single Woman
as Storyteller
- 2008 The Blue Tooth Virgin
as Zena
- 2008 Watercolors
as Mrs. Martin
- 2008 Contamination
as Mavis
- 2007 Hollywood Dreams
as Luna
- 2007 One Long Night
as Barbara
- 2007 Suffering Man's Charity
as Renee
- 2007
- 2006 Read You Like a Book
as Kate
- 2006 Whitepaddy
as Mrs. Leider
- 2005 America Brown
as Marianne Brown
- 2005 Firecracker
as Sandra / Eleanor
- 2005 Trailer for a Remake of Gore Vidal's Caligula
as Agrippina
- 2005 Crazy for Love
as Grace's Mom
- 2005 Dr. Rage
as Molly
- 2004 Birth of Industry
as Sara
- 2003 Paris
as Chantelle
- 2003 Harold Buttleman: Daredevil Stuntman
as Mrs. Buttleman
- 2003 House of 1000 Corpses
as Mother Firefly
- 2003
- 2002 Curse of the Forty-Niner
as Aunt Nelly
- 2002 A Light in the Darkness
as Mrs. Melnick
- 2002 Best of Tromadance Film Festival: Volume 1
as ("Los Vampirios Moronious" short)
- 2002 Teknolust
as Dirty Dick
- 2001 Gypsy 83
as Bambi LeBleau
- 2001 Soulkeeper
as Martha la Magnifica
- 2001
- 2001 The Donor
as Mrs. Springle
- 2000 The Independent
as Karen Black
- 2000 Red Dirt
as Aunt Summer
- 2000 Fallen Arches
as Lucy Romano
- 2000 Oliver Twisted
as Mrs. Mary Happ
- 1999 The Underground Comedy Movie
as Mother
- 1999 Mascara
as Aunt Eloise
- 1999 Conceiving Ada
as Lady Byron / Mother Coer
- 1999 Paradise Cove
as Ma
- 1998 Charades
as Jude
- 1998 Bury the Evidence
as The Mother
- 1998 Angel Blue
as Social Worker
- 1998 I Woke Up Early the Day I Died
as Whip Lady
- 1998
- 1998 Invisible Dad
as Courtney Whitmer
- 1998 Malaika
as Jessica Martin
- 1998 Light Speed
as High Priestess
- 1997 Men
as Alex
- 1997
- 1997 Stir
as Dr. Gabrielle Kessler
- 1997 Dogtown
as Rose Van Horn
- 1996 New York Crossing
as Mrs. Tender
- 1996 Children of the Corn IV: The Gathering
as June Rhodes
- 1996
- 1996
- 1996 Crimetime
as Millicent
- 1996 Cries of Silence
as Rose Walsh
- 1996
- 1995
- 1995 Plan 10 from Outer Space
as Nehor
- 1995 Dinosaur Valley Girls
as Ro-Kell
- 1995 Starstruck
as Bertha
- 1994
- 1994
- 1994
- 1994
- 1993 Bound and Gagged: A Love Story
as Carla
- 1993
- 1993 Legend of The Roller Blade Seven
as Tarot
- 1993 The Trust
as Maria Vandermeer
- 1993 Return of the Roller Blade Seven
as Tarot
- 1992 Auntie Lee's Meat Pies
as Auntie Lee
- 1992 The Double 0 Kid
as Mrs. Elliot
- 1992 Judgement
as Tiffany Powers
- 1992 Final Judgement
as Mrs. Sorrel
- 1992 Tuesday Never Comes
as Michelle
- 1992 Rubin & Ed
as Rula
- 1992 The Player
as Karen Black
- 1992 Dead Girls Don't Tango
as Insp. Wilson
- 1991 Quiet Fire
as Kim Martino
- 1991 Evil Spirits
as Ella Purdy
- 1991 Children of the Night
as Karen Thompson
- 1991 The Roller Blade Seven
as Tarot
- 1991 Caged Fear
as Blanche
- 1991 Blood Money
as Barrett
- 1991 Ralph S. Mouse
as Miss Kuchenbacker
- 1990 Mirror Mirror
as Susan Gordon
- 1990 Club Fed
as Sally Rich
- 1990 Haunting Fear
as Dr. Julia Harcourt
- 1990 Night Angel
as Rita
- 1990 The Children
as Sybil Lullmer
- 1990 Zapped Again!
as Homeroom Teacher
- 1990 Twisted Justice
as Mrs. Granger
- 1990 Overexposed
as Mrs. Trowbridge
- 1990 Fatal Encounter
as Joan Caldwell
- 1989 Homer and Eddie
as Belle
- 1988 Out of the Dark
as Ruth Wilson
- 1988 Dixie Lanes
as Zelma Putnam
- 1988 The Invisible Kid
as Mom
- 1988 The Legendary Life of Ernest Hemingway
as Martha Gelhorn
- 1988 On the tracks of a filmmaker
as Karen Black
- 1987 Hostage
as Laura Lawrence
- 1987 It's Alive III: Island of the Alive
as Ellen Jarvis
- 1987 The Little Mermaid
as Sea Witch
- 1986
- 1986 Invaders from Mars
as Linda Magnusson
- 1986 Flight of the Spruce Goose
as Gloria
- 1985 Savage Dawn
as Rachel
- 1985 Cut and Run
as Karin
- 1985 Martin's Day
as Karen
- 1985 Eternal Evil
as Janus
- 1984 Bad Manners
as Gladys Fitzpatrick
- 1984
- 1984
- 1984
- 1983
- 1983 Can She Bake a Cherry Pie?
as Zee
- 1982
- 1982
- 1982 The Last Horror Film
as Karen Black (uncredited)
- 1982 Miss Right
as Amy
- 1981 Chanel Solitaire
as Emilienne d'Alençon
- 1981 The Grass Is Singing
as Mary Turner
- 1981 Separate Ways
as Valentine Colby
- 1980 Police Story: Confessions of a Lady Cop
as Investigator Evelyn Carter
- 1980 Where the Ladies Go
as Helen
- 1980
- 1979 Killer Fish
as Kate
- 1979 The Last Word
as Paula Herbert
- 1979
- 1978 The Squeeze
as Clarisse Saunders
- 1978 In Praise of Older Women
as Maya
- 1978 Because He's My Friend
as Anne
- 1977 Capricorn One
as Judy Drinkwater
- 1977 The Strange Possession of Mrs. Oliver
as Miriam Oliver / Sandy
- 1976 Burnt Offerings
as Marian Rolf
- 1976 Family Plot
as Fran
- 1976 Crime and Passion
as Susan Winters
- 1975 Nashville
as Connie White
- 1975 The Day of the Locust
as Faye Greener
- 1975 Trilogy of Terror
as Julie / Millicent Larimore / Therese Larimore / Amelia
- 1974 Airport 1975
as Nancy Pryor
- 1974 Law and Disorder
as Gloria
- 1974 The Great Gatsby
as Myrtle Wilson
- 1974 Rhinoceros
as Daisy
- 1973 The Outfit
as Bett Harrow
- 1973 The Pyx
as Elizabeth Lucy
- 1973 Little Laura and Big John
as Laura
- 1973
- 1972
- 1972 Portnoy's Complaint
as Mary Jane Reid a.k.a. Monkey
- 1972 Cisco Pike
as Sue
- 1971 Born to Win
as Parm
- 1971 A Gunfight
as Jenny Simms
- 1971 Drive, He Said
as Olive
- 1970 Five Easy Pieces
as Rayette Dipesto
- 1969 Easy Rider
as Karen
- 1969 Hard Contract
as Ellen
- 1968
- 1968
- 1967
- 1967
- 1967
- 1967
- 1966 You're a Big Boy Now
as Amy Partlett
- 1965
- 1965
- 1965
- 1960 The Prime Time
as Betty
Behind the camera (7)
- 2005 Firecracker
Editorial Consultant
- 2000 The Invention of Dr. Morel
Screenplay
- 1998 Charades
Writer, Producer
- 1997 Men
Writer
- 1995 Plan 10 from Outer Space
Songs
- 1975 Nashville
Original Music Composer
- 1973 The Pyx
Songs
Talk shows and appearances (26)
- Upcoming
- Upcoming Science Fiction Film Awards
1 episode
- 2015
- 2014
- 2013
- 2010
- 2010
- 2009
- 2009
- 2006
- 2004
- 2004
- 2003
- 2001
- 2000
- 1999
- 1999
- 1998
- 1997
- 1993 Tales of the City
1 episode
- 1982 American Playhouse
1 episode
- 1975 Saturday Night Live
2 episodes
- 1975 People's Choice Awards
1 episode
- 1967 The Carol Burnett Show
1 episode
- 1962 The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson
2 episodes
- 1961 The Mike Douglas Show
2 episodes