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 Coppolas Youre a Big Boy Now (1966). Black relocated to California and was cast as an acid-tripping prostitute in Dennis Hoppers 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 Altmans 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 Schlesingers 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 Curtiss supernatural horror feature, Burnt Offerings (1976). The same year, she starred as a con artist in Alfred Hitchcocks 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 Altmans subsequent film adaptation. She next starred in the comedy Can She Bake a Cherry Pie? (1983), followed by Tobe Hoopers 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 Zombies 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.Description above from the Wikipedia article Karen Black, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.
Jessica Martin
Film 1998
Laura
Film 1973
Ro-Kell
Film 1995
Mom
Film 1988
Bambi LeBleau
Film 2001
Nehor
Film 1995
Rula
Film 1992
Auntie Lee
Film 1992
Dr. Julia Harcourt
Film 1990
Karen Thompson
Film 1991
Courtney Whitmer
Film 1998
Martha la Magnifica
Film 2001
Julie / Millicent Larimore / Therese Larimore / Amelia
Film 1975
Mrs. Tender
Film 1996
Sandra / Eleanor
Film 2005
Self
Film 2003
Joanne
Film 1982
Film 2009
The Mother
Film 1998
Herself
Film 2006
Elizabeth Lucy
Film 1973
Rachel
Film 1986
Lady Byron / Mother Coer
Film 1999
Maria
Film 2012
Mrs. Melnick
Film 2012
Marianne Brown
Film 2005
Self
Film 2009
Sheila Shivvers
Film 2009
Rose Van Horn
Film 1996
Carla
Film 1993
Mary Turner
Film 1981
Susan Winters
Film 1976
Zee
Film 1983
High Priestess
Film 1998
Self
Film 1998
Mrs. Allardyce
Film 2013
Jude
Film 1998
Mrs. Trowbridge
Film 1990
Barrett
Film 1991
Kim Martino
Film 1991
Sally Rich
Film 1990
May
Film 2010
Tiffany Powers
Film 1992
Laura Lawrence
Film 1987
Betty
Film 1960
Film 1994
Molly
Film 2005
Blanche
Film 1991
Miriam Oliver / Sandy
Film 1977
Agrippina
Film 2005
Luna
Film 2007
Homeroom Teacher
Film 1990
Self (archive footage)
Film 2015
Self
Film 2009
Mavis
Film 2008
Justine
Film 2014
Mrs. Granger
Film 1990
Mother
Film 1999
Tarot
Film 2012
Karen Black
Film 2015
Social Worker
Film 1998
Karen Black
Film 1988
Self
Film 2010
Rose Walsh
Film 1996
Emilienne d'Alençon
Film 1981
Self
Film 2001
Sybil Lullmer
Film 1990
Ernestina Crawford
Film 1979
Mrs. Sorrel
Film 1992
Dr. Gabrielle Kessler
Film 1997
Gloria
Film 1986
Self
Film 1999
Aunt De La Chasse
Film 2009
Tarot
Film 1993
Dirty Dick
Film 2002
("Los Vampirios Moronious" short)
Film 2002
Ma
Film 1999
Film 1994
Mrs. Mary Happ
Film 2000
Storyteller
Film 2008
Insp. Wilson
Film 1992
Joan Caldwell
Film 1990
Film 2018
Self
Film 2010
Mrs. Springle
Film 2001
Kate
Film 2006
Anne
Film 1978
Evelyn
Film 1995
Maria Vandermeer
Film 1993
Film 1994
Mrs. Martin
Film 2008
Karen Black (uncredited)
Film 1982
Self
Film 2004
Miss Kuchenbacker
Film 1991
Mrs. Leider
Film 2006
Self
Film 1997
Motel Woman
Film 2012
Tv 1984
Tv 1996
Tv 1967
Tv 1993
Tv 1973
Tv 1984
Tv 1967
Barbara Sanders
Tv 1972
Self - Host
Tv 1975
Self
Tv 1961
Self
Tv 1962
Monica Garrison
Tv 1968
Self - Guest / Various Characters
Tv 1967
Self
Tv 1993