Karen Black
Personal Info
Known for
Acting
Gender
Female
Birthday
1939-07-01
Day of Death
2013-08-08 (74 years old)
Place of Birth
Park Ridge, Illinois, USA
Karen Black
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
Acting
(2025)
(2018)
Deadly Dolls: Deepest Cuts
as (archive footage)
(2015)
Going Clear: Scientology and the Prison of Belief
as Self (archive footage)
(2015)
Bottomless Pit
as Karen Black
(2014)
Wild in Blue
as Justine
(2013)
Ooga Booga
as Mrs. Allardyce
(2013)
She Loves Me Not
as Karla
(2013)
Gore Vidal: The United States of Amnesia
as Self (archive footage)
(2012)
OowieWanna
as The Donna
(2012)
Maria My Love
as Maria
(2012)
Dark Blood
as Motel Woman
(2012)
Hawk Warrior of the Wheelzone
as Tarot
(2012)
Mommy's Little Monster
as Mrs. Melnick
(2011)
Letters from the Big Man
as Sean's Colleague
(2011)
Some Guy Who Kills People
as Ruth Boyd
(2010)
Nothing Special
as May
(2010)
(2010)
(2009)
Irene in Time
as Sheila Shivvers
(2009)
Stuck!
as The Neighbor Lady
(2009)
Wamego: Ultimatum
as Self
(2009)
Repo Chick
as Aunt De La Chasse
(2009)
Double Duty
as Annabelle
(2009)
(2008)
Watercolors
as Mrs. Martin
(2008)
Contamination
as Mavis
(2008)
A Single Woman
as Storyteller
(2007)
Hollywood Dreams
as Luna
(2007)
Suffering Man's Charity
as Renee
(2007)
One Long Night
as Barbara
(2006)
Wanderlust
as Herself
(2006)
Whitepaddy
as Mrs. Leider
(2006)
Read You Like a Book
as Kate
(2005)
Dr. Rage
as Molly
(2005)
America Brown
as Marianne Brown
(2005)
Trailer for a Remake of Gore Vidal's Caligula
as Agrippina
(2005)
My Suicidal Sweetheart
as Grace's Mom
(2005)
Firecracker
as Sandra / Eleanor
(2004)
(2004)
(2003)
House of 1000 Corpses
as Mother Firefly
(2003)
Harold Buttleman: Daredevil Stuntman
as Mrs. Buttleman
(2003)
Paris
as Chantelle
(2003)
(2002)
Curse of the Forty-Niner
as Aunt Nelly
(2002)
Best of Tromadance Film Festival: Volume 1
as ("Los Vampirios Moronious" short)
(2002)
Teknolust
as Dirty Dick
(2002)
A Light in the Darkness
as Mrs. Melnick
(2001)
Soulkeeper
as Martha la Magnifica
(2001)
Gypsy 83
as Bambi LeBleau
(2001)
The Donor
as Mrs. Springle
(2001)
Plotting 'Family Plot'
as Self
(2000)
Red Dirt
as Aunt Summer
(2000)
Altman on His Own Terms
as Self
(2000)
Fallen Arches
as Lucy Romano
(2000)
Oliver Twisted
as Mrs. Mary Happ
(2000)
The Independent
as Karen Black
(1999)
Paradise Cove
as Ma
(1999)
The Underground Comedy Movie
as Mother
(1999)
Conceiving Ada
as Lady Byron / Mother Coer
(1999)
Mascara
as Aunt Eloise
(1999)
Easy Rider: Shaking the Cage
as Self
(1999)
Karen Black: Actress at Work
as Self
(1998)
I Woke Up Early the Day I Died
as Whip Lady
(1998)
Invisible Dad
as Courtney Whitmer
(1998)
Angel Blue
as Social Worker
(1998)
Malaika
as Jessica Martin
(1998)
Charades
as Jude
(1998)
Bury the Evidence
as The Mother
(1998)
(1998)
Light Speed
as High Priestess
(1997)
Stir
as Dr. Gabrielle Kessler
(1997)
Dogtown
as Rose Van Horn
(1997)
Who Is Henry Jaglom?
as Self
(1997)
Men
as Alex
(1996)
Children of the Corn IV: The Gathering
as June Rhodes
(1996)
Cries of Silence
as Rose Walsh
(1996)
Crimetime
as Millicent
(1996)
New York Crossing
as Mrs. Tender
(1995)
Starstruck
as Bertha
(1995)
Dinosaur Valley Girls
as Ro-Kell
(1995)
Plan 10 from Outer Space
as Nehor
(1995)
(1994)
(1994)
(1994)
(1993)
The Trust
as Maria Vandermeer
(1993)
Legend of The Roller Blade Seven
as Tarot
(1993)
Return of the Roller Blade Seven
as Tarot
(1993)
Bound and Gagged: A Love Story
as Carla
(1992)
Auntie Lee's Meat Pies
as Auntie Lee
(1992)
The Player
as Karen Black
(1992)
Final Judgement
as Mrs. Sorrel
(1992)
Rubin & Ed
as Rula
(1992)
Judgement
as Tiffany Powers
(1992)
The Double 0 Kid
as Mrs. Elliot
(1992)
Tuesday Never Comes
as Michelle
(1992)
Dead Girls Don't Tango
as Insp. Wilson
(1991)
Caged Fear
as Blanche
(1991)
Blood Money
as Barrett
(1991)
Children of the Night
as Karen Thompson
(1991)
The Roller Blade Seven
as Tarot
(1991)
Ralph S. Mouse
as Miss Kuchenbacker
(1991)
Quiet Fire
as Kim Martino
(1991)
Evil Spirits
as Ella Purdy
(1990)
Mirror Mirror
as Susan Gordon
(1990)
Overexposed
as Mrs. Trowbridge
(1990)
Fatal Encounter
as Joan Caldwell
(1990)
Night Angel
as Rita
(1990)
Club Fed
as Sally Rich
(1990)
Haunting Fear
as Dr. Julia Harcourt
(1990)
Zapped Again!
as Homeroom Teacher
(1990)
The Children
as Sybil Lullmer
(1990)
Twisted Justice
as Mrs. Granger
(1989)
Homer and Eddie
as Belle
(1988)
The Legendary Life of Ernest Hemingway
as Martha Gelhorn
(1988)
The Invisible Kid
as Mom
(1988)
Dixie Lanes
as Zelma Putnam
(1988)
On the tracks of a filmmaker
as Karen Black
(1988)
Out of the Dark
as Ruth Wilson
(1987)
It's Alive III: Island of the Alive
as Ellen Jarvis
(1987)
The Little Mermaid
as Sea Witch
(1987)
Hostage
as Laura Lawrence
(1986)
Flight of the Spruce Goose
as Gloria
(1986)
Invaders from Mars
as Linda Magnusson
(1985)
Cut and Run
as Karin
(1985)
Savage Dawn
as Rachel
(1985)
Martin's Day
as Karen
(1985)
Eternal Evil
as Janus
(1984)
Bad Manners
as Gladys Fitzpatrick
(1983)
(1982)
The Last Horror Film
as Karen Black (uncredited)
(1982)
(1982)
Miss Right
as Amy
(1981)
Separate Ways
as Valentine Colby
(1981)
Chanel Solitaire
as Emilienne d'Alençon
(1981)
The Grass Is Singing
as Mary Turner
(1980)
Power
as Rose Vanda-Buchanan
(1980)
Where the Ladies Go
as Helen
(1980)
Police Story: Confessions of a Lady Cop
as Investigator Evelyn Carter
(1979)
Mr. Horn
as Ernestina Crawford
(1979)
Killer Fish
as Kate
(1979)
The Last Word
as Paula Herbert
(1978)
In Praise of Older Women
as Maya
(1978)
Because He's My Friend
as Anne
(1978)
The Squeeze
as Clarisse Saunders
(1977)
The Strange Possession of Mrs. Oliver
as Miriam Oliver / Sandy
(1977)
Capricorn One
as Judy Drinkwater
(1976)
Burnt Offerings
as Marian Rolf
(1976)
Crime and Passion
as Susan Winters
(1976)
Family Plot
as Fran
(1975)
Trilogy of Terror
as Julie / Millicent Larimore / Therese Larimore / Amelia
(1975)
Nashville
as Connie White
(1975)
The Day of the Locust
as Faye Greener
(1974)
The Great Gatsby
as Myrtle Wilson
(1974)
Airport 1975
as Nancy Pryor
(1974)
Law and Disorder
as Gloria
(1974)
Rhinoceros
as Daisy
(1973)
The Outfit
as Bett Harrow
(1973)
The Pyx
as Elizabeth Lucy
(1973)
Little Laura and Big John
as Laura
(1972)
Portnoy's Complaint
as Mary Jane Reid a.k.a. Monkey
(1971)
Born to Win
as Parm
(1971)
A Gunfight
as Jenny Simms
(1971)
Drive, He Said
as Olive
(1971)
Cisco Pike
as Sue
(1970)
Five Easy Pieces
as Rayette Dipesto
(1969)
Easy Rider
as Karen
(1969)
Hard Contract
as Ellen
(1966)
You're a Big Boy Now
as Amy Partlett
(1960)
The Prime Time
as Betty
Crew
(2005)
Firecracker
Editorial Consultant
(2000)
The Invention of Dr. Morel
Screenplay
(1998)
Charades
Writer, Producer
(1997)
Men
Writer
(1995)
(1975)
Nashville
Original Music Composer