Karen Blanche Black (née Ziegler; July 1, 1939 – August 8, 2013) was an American actress, screenwriter, singer and songwriter. She is known for her appearances in such films as Easy Rider (1969), Five Easy Pieces (1970), The Great Gatsby and Airport 1975 (both 1974), The Day of the Locust and Nashville (both 1975), Alfred Hitchcock's final film Family Plot (1976), and Capricorn One (1978). Over the course of her career, she won two Golden Globe Awards (out of three nominations), and an Academy Award nomination in 1971 for Best Supporting Actress.
August 8, 2013, Santa Monica, California, United States
Place Of Birth
Park Ridge, Illinois, USA
Height
5' 8" (1.73 m)
Profession
Actress, Soundtrack, Writer
Education
Northwestern University
Nationality
American
Spouse
Stephen Eckelberry (m. 1987–2013)
Children
Hunter Carson, Celine Eckelberry, Diane Koehnemann Bay
Parents
Elsie Mary Reif, Norman Arthur Ziegler
Siblings
Gail Brown
Awards
Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress – Motion Picture
Music Groups
The New Christy Minstrels
Nominations
Academy Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role, Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture – Drama, National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Supporting Actress, TV Land Blockbuster Movie of the Week Award
Movies
Five Easy Pieces, Easy Rider, Trilogy of Terror, Family Plot, Burnt Offerings, House of 1000 Corpses, The Day of the Locust, Airport 1975, Nashville, Come Back to the Five and Dime, Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean, The Great Gatsby, Drive, He Said, You're a Big Boy Now, The Outfit, Born to Win, Cisco Pike, I...
TV Shows
Tales of the City (UK)
Star Sign
Cancer
#
Quote
1
[on Alfred Hitchcock] We'd do limericks together. One day he pulled up his shirt to show me his belly-button - which he didn't have. He'd had an operation and when they sewed him up they took it away. His belly-button was gone!
2
[re Bob Rafelson, director of Five Easy Pieces (1970) and her character in it] Rafelson thought I might be too complex for Rayette, but I told him I'm essentially simple, that really everybody is essentially simple, that we are all just beings who, uh, be. Certainly Rayette can just be. dig her, she's not dumb, she's just not into thinking. I didn't have to know anybody like her to play her. I mean, I'm like her, in ways. Rayette enjoys things as she sees them, she doesn't have to add significances. She can just love the dog, love the cat. See? There are many things she does not know, but that's cool; she doesn't intrude on anybody else's trip. And she's going to survive. Do you understand me?
3
Every time you do a part you try to find out what it would really be like to be that person, no matter who she is.
4
[on the craft of acting] That's really what acting is: you imagine things, then you respond naturally to what you've imagined.
5
My God, there aren't any more movie stars, which is terrific with me, it's very healthy. A lot of love now occurs in the business, people helping each other to do good work, getting high on each other's success. Isn't that great?
For her work in The Great Gatsby (1974), she's one of only 4 actresses to win the Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actress in a motion picture without receiving an Oscar nomination for the same performance. The other 3 are, in chronological order: Katy Jurado in High Noon (1952), Hermione Gingold in Gigi (1958) and Katharine Ross in Voyage of the Damned (1976).
She is of German, Bohemian (Czech), and Norwegian descent.
6
Diagnosed with ampullary cancer in November 2010 and had a third of her pancreas immediately removed. Though declared cancer-free in 2011, had relapsed and underwent two operations in 2012.
7
Considers Kris Kristofferson to be the most attractive male star she has ever worked with. She especially liked his voice.
8
Was married to actor Robert Burton at the time they filmed the cult TV-movie Trilogy of Terror (1975). Ms. Black initially turned the role down but eventually accepted when Robert was selected for a lead role in one of the three segments. Karen plays a college English teacher and he plays an obsessed student who stalks her. The couple was already divorced (after less than two years) by the time the TV-movie premiered in March of 1975.
9
The second daughter of Norman and Elsie Ziegler (1911-2008), her mother, who went by her maiden name of Elsie Reif, was a writer of several prize-winning children's novels; her paternal grandfather was Arthur Ziegler, a classical musician and the first violinist for the Chicago Symphony Orchestra.
10
Attended Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois, for two years before moving to New York, where she studied with Lee Strasberg at the Actor's Studio and appeared in a number of Off-Broadway productions.
11
Made her Broadway debut in 1965's "The Playroom", which ran less than a month. She received great reviews, however, and nominated for a Drama Circle Critics Award for Best Actress.
12
Launched her career as a playwright in May 2007 with the opening of "Missouri Waltz" in Los Angeles; Black starred in the play as well. The piece is conceived as a play with music, rather than a musical.
13
Wrote the songs "Memphis" and "Rolling Stone" which she performed in character as country singer Connie White in the movie Nashville (1975). As a result she was nominated for a Grammy Award for Album of Best Original Score Written for a Motion Picture or Television Series.
Guitarist Abby Normal featured a song, titled "Scream Karen Black", on his solo project album, "Midnight Creature Feature Picture Show".
16
She and her husband, Stephen Eckelberry, are active in the Church of Scientology.
17
Has a cult glam-punk band named after her. Called The Voluptuous Horror of Karen Black, Kembra Pfahler is the American performance artist and singer/rock musician who fronts it. She is known for the often sexual nature of her pieces.
18
Is the highest ranked actress on the "Oracle of Bacon" website (and 21st overall), which uses the IMDB database to determine which actors can be linked by the highest number of other actors in the "Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon" trivia game.
Needlework Pictures Presents Francesco Vezzoli in Gore Vidal's 'Caligula'
2005
Short
Agrippina
Carma
2005/I
Kate Burns (voice)
Crazy for Love
2005
Grace's Mom
Love Wine
2005
TV Movie
Aunt Anita
Dr. Rage
2005
Molly
Birth of Industry
2004
Short
Sara
America Brown
2004
Marianne Brown
The Work of Director Chris Cunningham
2003
Video
Dancer (segment "Windowlicker")
Summer Solstice
2003
Dr. Sally McDermott
Paris
2003
Chantelle
House of 1000 Corpses
2003
Mother Firefly
Russkie v Gorode Angelov
2003
TV Series
Patricia Sommers
Law & Order: Criminal Intent
2003
TV Series
Vera Morgan
Buttleman
2003
Mrs. Buttleman
Curse of the Forty-Niner
2002
Aunt Nelly
A Light in the Darkness
2002
Mrs. Melnick
Teknolust
2002
Dirty Dick
Soulkeeper
2001
Magnificent Martha
Gypsy 83
2001
Bambi LeBleau
Hard Luck
2001
Aunt Judy
The Donor
2001
Mrs. Springle
Inviati speciali
2000
Oliver Twisted
2000
Mrs. Mary Happ
Red Dirt
2000
Aunt Summer
Paradise Cove
1999
Ma
Rude Awakening
1999
TV Series
Crystal Garcia
Mascara
1999
Aunt Eloise
The Underground Comedy Movie
1999
Mother
Fallen Arches
1998
Lucy Romano
Light Speed
1998
High Priestess
Stripping for Jesus
1998
Short
Waiting for Dr. MacGuffin
1998
Short
Dental Assistant
Charades
1998
Jude
Party of Five
1998
TV Series
Doreen Jablonsky
Malaika
1998
Jessica Martin
My Neighbor's Daughter
1998
TV Movie
Social Worker
Bury the Evidence
1998
The Mother
Sugar: The Fall of the West
1998
I Woke Up Early the Day I Died
1998
Whip Lady
Profiler
1998
TV Series
Evie Long
Invisible Dad
1998
Video
Courtney Whitmer
Modern Rhapsody
1997
Men
1997
Alex
Dogtown
1997
Rose Van Horn
Conceiving Ada
1997
Lady Byron / Mother Coer
The Hunger
1997
TV Series
Miss Gati
Stir
1997
Dr. Gabrielle Kessler
Dinosaur Valley Girls
1996
Ro-Kell
Every Minute Is Goodbye
1996
Schubert
Movies Money Murder
1996
Bettie
New York Crossing
1996
TV Movie
Mrs. Tender
Children of the Corn: The Gathering
1996
Video
June Rhodes
Crimetime
1996
Millicent
Sister Island
1996
Rose Walsh
Starstruck
1995
Bertha
The Wacky Adventures of Dr. Boris and Nurse Shirley
1995
Evelyn
Plan 10 from Outer Space
1995
Nehor
Too Bad About Jack
1994
The Trust
1993
Maria Vandermeer
Bound and Gagged: A Love Story
1993
Carla
In the Heat of the Night
1993
TV Series
Carla Ray
Moon Over Miami
1993
TV Series
Lorraine Pitzer
Dead Girls Don't Tango
1992
Insp. Wilson
Legend of the Roller Blade Seven
1992
Tarot
Return of the Roller Blade Seven
1992
Tarot
Auntie Lee's Meat Pies
1992
Auntie Lee
Judgement
1992
Tiffany Powers
Final Judgement
1992
Video
Mrs. Sorrel
Tuesday Never Comes
1992
Michelle
The Player
1992
Karen Black
The Double 0 Kid
1992
Video
Mrs. Elliot
The Roller Blade Seven
1991
Tarot
Quiet Fire
1991
Video
Kim Martino
Children of the Night
1991
Karen Thompson
Rubin and Ed
1991
Rula
Caged Fear
1991
Blanche
The Killers Edge
1991
Video
Barrett
ABC Weekend Specials
1991
TV Series
Miss Kuchenbacker
Evil Spirits
1990
Ella Purdy
Fatal Encounter
1990
The Children
1990
Sybil Lullmer
Mirror Mirror
1990
Susan Gordon
Club Fed
1990
Sally Rich
Haunting Fear
1990
Video
Dr. Julia Harcourt
Night Angel
1990
Rita
Zapped Again!
1990
Video
Substitute Teacher
Twisted Justice
1990
Mrs. Granger
Overexposed
1990
Mrs. Trowbridge
The Legendary Life of Ernest Hemingway
1989
Martha Gelhorn
Homer and Eddie
1989
Belle
Miami Vice
1989
TV Series
Helen Jackson
Platinum Blonde
1988
Short
Out of the Dark
1988
Ruth Wilson
Dixie Lanes
1988
Zelma Putnam
The Invisible Kid
1988
Mom / Deborah
Hostage
1987
Laura Lawrence
It's Alive III: Island of the Alive
1987
Ellen Jarvis
Faerie Tale Theatre
1985-1987
TV Series
Sea Witch / Guest Interviewee
Worlds Beyond
1987
TV Series
Lee Jeffreys
Invaders from Mars
1986
Linda Magnusson
Murder, She Wrote
1986
TV Series
Dr. Sylvia Dunn
Flight of the Spruce Goose
1986
Gloria
Raw Terror
1986
Savage Dawn
1985
Rachel
Eternal Evil
1985
Janus
Inferno in diretta
1985
Karin
The Hitchhiker
1985
TV Series
Kay Mason
Martin's Day
1985
Karen
E/R
1984-1985
TV Series
Sheila Sheinfeld
A Stroke of Genius
1984
Growing Pains
1984
Gladys Fitzpatrick
Can She Bake a Cherry Pie?
1983
Zee
Miss Right
1982
Amy
The Last Horror Film
1982
Karen Black (uncredited)
Come Back to the 5 & Dime, Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean
1982
Joanne
Chanel Solitaire
1981
Emilienne d'Alençon
Killing Heat
1981
Mary Turner
Separate Ways
1981
Valentine Colby
Police Story: Confessions of a Lady Cop
1980
TV Movie
Investigator Evelyn Carter
Where the Ladies Go
1980
TV Movie
Helen
Power
1980
TV Movie
Rose Vanda-Buchanan
Killer Fish
1979
Kate
The Last Word
1979
Paula Herbert
Mr. Horn
1979
TV Movie
Ernestina Crawford
In Praise of Older Women
1978
Maya
The Squeeze
1978
Clarisse Saunders
Because He's My Friend
1978
TV Movie
Anne
Capricorn One
1977
Judy Drinkwater
The Strange Possession of Mrs. Oliver
1977
TV Movie
Miriam Oliver
Sandy
Burnt Offerings
1976
Marian Rolf
Family Plot
1976
Fran
Crime and Passion
1976
Susan Winters
Nashville
1975
Connie White
The Day of the Locust
1975
Faye Greener
Trilogy of Terror
1975
TV Movie
Julie
Millicent Larimore
Therese Larimore
...
Airport 1975
1974
Nancy Pryor
Law and Disorder
1974
Gloria
The Great Gatsby
1974
Myrtle Wilson
Rhinoceros
1974
Daisy
The Outfit
1973
Bett Harrow
The Pyx
1973
Elizabeth Lucy
Little Laura and Big John
1973
Laura
Circle of Fear
1972
TV Series
Barbara Sanders
Portnoy's Complaint
1972
Mary Jane Reid (The Monkey)
Cisco Pike
1972
Sue
Born to Win
1971
Parm
A Gunfight
1971
Jenny Simms
Drive, He Said
1971
Olive
Freedom
1970/II
Short
Five Easy Pieces
1970
Rayette Dipesto
Hastings Corner
1970
TV Movie
Jenny Honker
The Name of the Game
1969
TV Series
Monica Garrison
Easy Rider
1969
Karen
Hard Contract
1969
Ellen
Adam-12
1968
TV Series
Susan Decker
Judd for the Defense
1968
TV Series
Alethea Staunton
Mannix
1968
TV Series
Elaine Tate
Iron Horse
1967
TV Series
Patricia Dunne
The Invaders
1967
TV Series
Claudia Stone
The Second Hundred Years
1967
TV Series
Marcia
The Big Valley
1967
TV Series
Carla Roberts
Run for Your Life
1967
TV Series
Jennifer Palmer
The F.B.I.
1967
TV Series
Lorraine Chapman
You're a Big Boy Now
1966
Amy Partlett
The Prime Time
1960
Betty - Painted Woman
Soundtrack
Title
Year
Status
Character
Firecracker
2005
performer: "J'attendrai"
Gypsy 83
2001
performer: "When Sunny Gets Blue", "I Want a Lip", "Walking in the Jungle"
Dogtown
1997
performer: "Love God"
The Hunger
1997
TV Series performer - 1 episode
The Road to Freedom: L. Ron Hubbard and Friends
1986
Video documentary short "The ARC Song"
Come Back to the 5 & Dime, Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean
1982
performer: "Wives & Lovers"
Saturday Night Live
1976
TV Series performer - 1 episode
Dolly
1976
TV Series performer - 1 episode
Nashville
1975
lyrics: "I Don't Know If I Found It in You" / music: "I Don't Know If I Found It in You" / performer: "Memphis", "Rolling Stone", "I Don't Know If I Found It in You" / writer: "Memphis", "Rolling Stone"
The Pyx
1973
"Song of Solomon Chapter 3 verses 1-4", "I was touched by your passing through", "It all turned out the way I planned it"
Born to Win
1971
performer: "Ballad in C"
Five Easy Pieces
1970
performer: "Don't Touch Me" - uncredited
Writer
Title
Year
Status
Character
The Invention of Dr. Morel
2000
Short
Edna McCoy's Festival
1999
writer
Charades
1998
writer
Malaika
1998
additional story
Men
1997
Movies Money Murder
1996
Going Home
1996
Short
Composer
Title
Year
Status
Character
Can She Bake a Cherry Pie?
1983
Nashville
1975
Editorial Department
Title
Year
Status
Character
Firecracker
2005
editorial consultant
Producer
Title
Year
Status
Character
Charades
1998
producer
Thanks
Title
Year
Status
Character
Wichita
2016
in loving memory of
Bottomless Pit
2015
Short in cosmic loving memory
Salat Kaligula
2015
Short in memory of
5%
2013
Short film dedicated to
Reputations
1999
TV Series documentary with thanks to - 1 episode
Self
Title
Year
Status
Character
Jonas in the Desert
1994
Documentary
Herself
Armistead Maupin's Tales of the City
1993
TV Mini-Series
Herself
The Pat Sajak Show
1989-1990
TV Series
Herself - Guest
Circus of the Stars #14
1989
TV Special documentary
Herself - Elephant Act
This Is Your Life
1989
TV Series documentary
Herself
The Road to Freedom: L. Ron Hubbard and Friends
1986
Video documentary short
Herself
The 42nd Annual Golden Globe Awards
1985
TV Special
Herself - Presenter
The Don Harron Show
1984
TV Series
Herself
Breakaway
1984
TV Series
Herself
Saturday Night Live
1976-1981
TV Series
Herself - Host / Various / Mona Lisa / ...
America 2-Night
1978
TV Series
Herself
The 50th Annual Academy Awards
1978
TV Special
Herself - Performer: Best Costume Design Award
Science Fiction Film Awards
1978
TV Movie documentary
Herself - Host
AFI Life Achievement Award: A Tribute to Bette Davis
1977
TV Special documentary
Herself (uncredited)
The Mike Douglas Show
1975-1977
TV Series
Herself - Actress
Circus of the Stars
1977
TV Special documentary
Herself - Performer
Gala de l'union
1976
TV Series
Herself
The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson
1971-1976
TV Series
Herself - Guest
The 2nd Annual People's Choice Awards
1976
TV Special
Herself - Presenter
Dolly
1976
TV Series
Herself
The 28th Annual Tony Awards
1974
TV Special
Herself - Presenter: Best Costume Designer
The Dean Martin Show
1972
TV Series
Herself
The 44th Annual Academy Awards
1972
TV Special
Herself - Presenter
The Carol Burnett Show
1972
TV Series
Herself
Rollin' on the River
1972
TV Series
Herself
The David Frost Show
1971
TV Series
Herself - Guest
The 43rd Annual Academy Awards
1971
TV Special
Herself - Nominee: Best Actress in Supporting Role
Stage Door Divas
2014
Documentary
5th Annual World Music & Independent Film Festival
2014
Herself - 5th annual Lifetime Achievement Award
Karen Black: On Acting
2014
Video documentary
Herself
Brighter Featuring Karen Black
2013
Short
Herself
Henry Jaglom Finds a Safe Place
2010
Video documentary short
Herself
Soul Searching in Five Easy Pieces
2010
Video documentary short
Herself
Wamego: Ultimatum
2009
Video documentary
Herself
No Subtitles Necessary: Laszlo & Vilmos
2008
Documentary
Herself
Wamego Strikes Back
2007
Documentary
Herself
The John Kerwin Show
2007
TV Series
Herself - Guest
George Sluizer - Filmen over grenzen
2006
Documentary
Herself
Wanderlust
2006
TV Movie documentary
Herself
Trilogy of Terror: Three Colors Black
2006
Video documentary short
Herself
On Screen!
2005
TV Series documentary
Herself
Biography
2004
TV Series documentary
Herself
Film Trix 2004
2004
Documentary short
Herself
Wamego: Making Movies Anywhere
2004
Video documentary
Herself
Switched!
2003
TV Series
Herself
Easy Riders, Raging Bulls: How the Sex, Drugs and Rock 'N' Roll Generation Saved Hollywood
2003
Documentary
Herself
Fans and Freaks: The Culture of Comics and Conventions
2002
Documentary
Herself
The Big Show
2001
TV Movie
Herself
Plotting 'Family Plot'
2001
Video documentary
Herself
The Independent
2000
Herself
Karen Black: Actress at Work
1999
Documentary
Herself
Easy Rider: Shaking the Cage
1999
Video documentary
Herself
Decoupage 2000: Return of the Goddess
1999
Short
Herself
Who Is Henry Jaglom?
1997
Documentary
Herself
Archive Footage
Title
Year
Status
Character
Electric Boogaloo: The Wild, Untold Story of Cannon Films
2014
Documentary
Linda Magnusson (uncredited)
The 86th Annual Academy Awards
2014
TV Special
Herself - Actress (In Memoriam)
20th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards
2014
TV Special
Herself - In Memoriam
Troma Is Spanish for Troma
2010
Documentary
Saucy 70's Volume 2
2010
Video documentary
A Conversation with Robert Altman
2000
Video documentary short
Connie White (uncredited)
Hollywood Mavericks
1990
Documentary
Rayette Dipesto
Give Me Your Answer True
1987
Documentary
America at the Movies
1976
Documentary
Rayette Dipesto (uncredited)
Won Awards
Year
Award
Ceremony
Nomination
Movie
2005
International Fantasy Film Award
Fantasporto
Best Actress
Firecracker (2005)
2005
Outstanding Achievement Award
New York VisionFest
Acting - Female
Firecracker (2005)
2004
Chainsaw Award
Fangoria Chainsaw Awards
Best Supporting Actress
House of 1000 Corpses (2003)
2003
Stinker Award
The Stinkers Bad Movie Awards
Worst Fake Accent: Female
House of 1000 Corpses (2003)
2000
Eyegore Award
Eyegore Awards
1999
Acting Award
Chicago Alt.Film Fest
Best Actress
Fallen Arches (1998)
1999
Indie Supporter Award
Method Fest
1998
Best Actress
Hermosa Beach Film Festival
Dogtown (1997)
1977
Medalla Sitges en Plata de Ley
Sitges - Catalonian International Film Festival
Best Actress
Burnt Offerings (1976)
1975
Golden Globe
Golden Globes, USA
Best Supporting Actress - Motion Picture
The Great Gatsby (1974)
1971
Golden Globe
Golden Globes, USA
Best Supporting Actress - Motion Picture
Five Easy Pieces (1970)
1971
NBR Award
National Board of Review, USA
Best Supporting Actress
Five Easy Pieces (1970)
1970
NYFCC Award
New York Film Critics Circle Awards
Best Supporting Actress
Five Easy Pieces (1970)
Nominated Awards
Year
Award
Ceremony
Nomination
Movie
2006
TV Land Award
TV Land Awards
Blockbuster Movie of the Week
Trilogy of Terror (1975)
2003
Stinker Award
The Stinkers Bad Movie Awards
Worst Supporting Actress
House of 1000 Corpses (2003)
1976
Golden Globe
Golden Globes, USA
Best Actress in a Motion Picture - Drama
The Day of the Locust (1975)
1976
Grammy
Grammy Awards
Album of Best Original Score Written for a Motion Picture or Television Special