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Personal Info
Known For
Acting
Birthday
July 1, 1939
Died
August 8, 2013
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
Karen Black
1.0 Popularity
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
0.0
Airports
2025
5.4
(archive footage)
Deadly Dolls: Deepest Cuts
2018
🎬
0.0
Karen Black
Bottomless Pit
2015
7.6
Self (archive footage)
Going Clear: Scientology and the Prison of Belief
2015
7.2
Linda Magnusson (archive footage) (uncredited)
Electric Boogaloo: The Wild, Untold Story of Cannon Films
2014
4.3
Justine
Wild in Blue
2014
7.8
Self (archive footage)
Gore Vidal: The United States of Amnesia
2013
3.9
Karla
She Loves Me Not
2013
3.3
Mrs. Allardyce
Ooga Booga
2013
5.8
Motel Woman
Dark Blood
2012
Credits
Airports
2025
0.0
Deadly Dolls: Deepest Cuts
as (archive footage)
2018
5.4
🎬
Bottomless Pit
as Karen Black
2015
0.0
Going Clear: Scientology and the Prison of Belief
as Self (archive footage)
2015
7.6
Electric Boogaloo: The Wild, Untold Story of Cannon Films
as Linda Magnusson (archive footage) (uncredited)
2014
7.2
Wild in Blue
as Justine
2014
4.3
Gore Vidal: The United States of Amnesia
as Self (archive footage)
2013
7.8
She Loves Me Not
as Karla
2013
3.9
Ooga Booga
as Mrs. Allardyce
2013
3.3
Dark Blood
as Motel Woman
2012
5.8
🎬
Maria My Love
as Maria
2012
2.0
OowieWanna
as The Donna
2012
9.8
🎬
Mommy's Little Monster
as Mrs. Melnick
2012
3.5
Hawk Warrior of the Wheelzone
as Tarot
2012
0.0
Letters from the Big Man
as Sean's Colleague
2011
7.2
Some Guy Who Kills People
as Ruth Boyd
2011
6.0
BBStory: An American Film Renaissance
as Self
2010
0.0
Henry Jaglom Finds 'A Safe Place'
as Self
2010
0.0
Nothing Special
as May
2010
5.0
Double Duty
as Annabelle
2009
7.0
Stuck!
as The Neighbor Lady
2009
2.6
Repo Chick
as Aunt De La Chasse
2009
3.6
Irene in Time
as Sheila Shivvers
2009
1.2
🎬
Meet the Eye
2009
0.0
Wamego: Ultimatum
as Self
2009
0.0
No Subtitles Necessary: Laszlo & Vilmos
as Self
2009
5.9
A Single Woman
as Storyteller
2008
5.5
The Blue Tooth Virgin
as Zena
2008
8.0
Watercolors
as Mrs. Martin
2008
5.6
Contamination
as Mavis
2008
2.0
Hollywood Dreams
as Luna
2007
2.4
One Long Night
as Barbara
2007
3.9
Suffering Man's Charity
as Renee
2007
4.6
Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job!
as Jennifer
2007
7.4
Read You Like a Book
as Kate
2006
3.6
Wanderlust
as Herself
2006
5.0
Whitepaddy
as Mrs. Leider
2006
5.0
America Brown
as Marianne Brown
2005
5.7
Firecracker
as Sandra / Eleanor
2005
5.8
Trailer for a Remake of Gore Vidal's Caligula
as Agrippina
2005
5.8
My Suicidal Sweetheart
as Grace's Mom
2005
5.3
Dr. Rage
as Molly
2005
2.2
Jack Nicholson: The Joker Is Wild
as Self
2004
2.0
WAMEGO: Making Movies Anywhere
as Self
2004
0.0
Paris
as Chantelle
2003
1.7
Harold Buttleman: Daredevil Stuntman
as Mrs. Buttleman
2003
5.0
House of 1000 Corpses
as Mother Firefly
2003
6.2
Easy Riders, Raging Bulls: How the Sex 'n' Drugs 'n' Rock 'n' Roll Generation Saved Hollywood
as Self
2003
7.1
Russians in the City of Angels
as Patricia Sommers
2003
7.8
Curse of the Forty-Niner
as Aunt Nelly
2002
4.1
A Light in the Darkness
as Mrs. Melnick
2002
2.0
Best of Tromadance Film Festival: Volume 1
as ("Los Vampirios Moronious" short)
2002
0.0
Teknolust
as Dirty Dick
2002
4.3
Gypsy 83
as Bambi LeBleau
2001
6.3
Soulkeeper
as Martha la Magnifica
2001
4.9
Law & Order: Criminal Intent
as Vera Morgan
2001
7.6
The Donor
as Mrs. Springle
2001
2.5
Plotting 'Family Plot'
as Self
2001
6.2
The Independent
as Karen Black
2000
5.4
Red Dirt
as Aunt Summer
2000
5.6
Fallen Arches
as Lucy Romano
2000
0.0
Oliver Twisted
as Mrs. Mary Happ
2000
3.0
Altman on His Own Terms
as Self
2000
0.0
Easy Rider: Shaking the Cage
as Self
1999
7.0
The Underground Comedy Movie
as Mother
1999
2.4
Mascara
as Aunt Eloise
1999
3.0
Conceiving Ada
as Lady Byron / Mother Coer
1999
4.3
Paradise Cove
as Ma
1999
6.0
🎬
Karen Black: Actress at Work
as Self
1999
0.0
Charades
as Jude
1998
3.3
Bury the Evidence
as The Mother
1998
0.0
Angel Blue
as Social Worker
1998
3.9
I Woke Up Early the Day I Died
as Whip Lady
1998
5.0
Invisible Dad
as Courtney Whitmer
1998
3.4
🎬
Light Speed
as High Priestess
1998
2.0
Malaika
as Jessica Martin
1998
0.0
Mythos Hollywood - Das Geheimnis des Erfolgs
as Self
1998
3.0
Men
as Alex
1997
4.0
The Hunger
as Miss Gati / Landlady
1997
5.9
Who Is Henry Jaglom?
as Self
1997
6.6
Stir
as Dr. Gabrielle Kessler
1997
3.5
Dogtown
as Rose Van Horn
1997
3.4
New York Crossing
as Mrs. Tender
1996
1.0
Children of the Corn IV: The Gathering
as June Rhodes
1996
4.4
Profiler
as Evie Long
1996
7.0
E! True Hollywood Story
1996
8.1
Crimetime
as Millicent
1996
3.9
Cries of Silence
as Rose Walsh
1996
7.5
The Wacky Adventures of Dr. Boris and Nurse Shirley
as Evelyn
1995
0.0
Plan 10 from Outer Space
as Nehor
1995
5.9
Dinosaur Valley Girls
as Ro-Kell
1995
3.8
Starstruck
as Bertha
1995
2.0
The Voluptuous Horror of Karen Black: Teather Penumbra
1994
0.0
Party of Five
as Doreen Jablonsky
1994
7.0
🎬
Too Bad About Jack
1994
0.0
Fertile La Toyah Video Magazine #2: The Kinky Issue!
1994
0.0
Bound and Gagged: A Love Story
as Carla
1993
5.3
Tales of the City
as Self
1993
7.7
Moon Over Miami
1993
7.0
Legend of The Roller Blade Seven
as Tarot
1993
3.8
The Trust
as Maria Vandermeer
1993
0.0
Return of the Roller Blade Seven
as Tarot
1993
4.4
Auntie Lee's Meat Pies
as Auntie Lee
1992
4.8
The Double 0 Kid
as Mrs. Elliot
1992
4.8
Judgement
as Tiffany Powers
1992
3.0
Final Judgement
as Mrs. Sorrel
1992
3.3
Tuesday Never Comes
as Michelle
1992
2.0
Rubin & Ed
as Rula
1992
6.4
The Player
as Karen Black
1992
7.2
Dead Girls Don't Tango
as Insp. Wilson
1992
1.0
Quiet Fire
as Kim Martino
1991
4.7
Evil Spirits
as Ella Purdy
1991
3.3
Children of the Night
as Karen Thompson
1991
4.2
The Roller Blade Seven
as Tarot
1991
2.8
Caged Fear
as Blanche
1991
3.4
Blood Money
as Barrett
1991
5.2
Ralph S. Mouse
as Miss Kuchenbacker
1991
7.0
Mirror Mirror
as Susan Gordon
1990
5.1
Club Fed
as Sally Rich
1990
4.8
Haunting Fear
as Dr. Julia Harcourt
1990
4.3
Night Angel
as Rita
1990
4.1
The Children
as Sybil Lullmer
1990
3.8
Zapped Again!
as Homeroom Teacher
1990
4.0
Twisted Justice
as Mrs. Granger
1990
4.4
Fatal Encounter
as Joan Caldwell
1990
0.0
Overexposed
as Mrs. Trowbridge
1990
2.4
Homer and Eddie
as Belle
1989
5.5
Out of the Dark
as Ruth Wilson
1988
5.5
Dixie Lanes
as Zelma Putnam
1988
3.0
The Invisible Kid
as Mom
1988
4.8
The Legendary Life of Ernest Hemingway
as Martha Gelhorn
1988
0.0
On the tracks of a filmmaker
as Karen Black
1988
0.0
Hostage
as Laura Lawrence
1987
7.0
It's Alive III: Island of the Alive
as Ellen Jarvis
1987
5.4
The Little Mermaid
as Sea Witch
1987
6.3
Invaders from Mars
as Linda Magnusson
1986
5.6
Flight of the Spruce Goose
as Gloria
1986
0.0
Savage Dawn
as Rachel
1985
4.1
Cut and Run
as Karin
1985
5.3
Martin's Day
as Karen
1985
6.2
Eternal Evil
as Janus
1985
4.3
Bad Manners
as Gladys Fitzpatrick
1984
5.6
Murder, She Wrote
as Dr. Sylvia Dunn
1984
7.5
Miami Vice
as Helen Jackson
1984
7.5
E/R
1984
4.6
The Hitchhiker
as Kay Mason
1983
6.1
Can She Bake a Cherry Pie?
as Zee
1983
5.7
Come Back to the 5 & Dime, Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean
as Joanne
1982
5.9
Faerie Tale Theatre
as Guest Interviewee
1982
8.1
Faerie Tale Theatre
as Sea Witch
1982
8.1
The Last Horror Film
as Karen Black (uncredited)
1982
5.2
Miss Right
as Amy
1982
2.3
Chanel Solitaire
as Emilienne d'Alençon
1981
4.4
The Grass Is Singing
as Mary Turner
1981
3.8
Separate Ways
as Valentine Colby
1981
4.1
Police Story: Confessions of a Lady Cop
as Investigator Evelyn Carter
1980
1.0
Where the Ladies Go
as Helen
1980
0.0
Power
as Rose Vanda-Buchanan
1980
2.0
Killer Fish
as Kate
1979
4.6
The Last Word
as Paula Herbert
1979
4.0
Mr. Horn
as Ernestina Crawford
1979
6.0
The Squeeze
as Clarisse Saunders
1978
5.2
In Praise of Older Women
as Maya
1978
4.9
Because He's My Friend
as Anne
1978
0.0
Capricorn One
as Judy Drinkwater
1977
6.8
The Strange Possession of Mrs. Oliver
as Miriam Oliver / Sandy
1977
5.8
Burnt Offerings
as Marian Rolf
1976
6.5
Family Plot
as Fran
1976
6.8
Crime and Passion
as Susan Winters
1976
6.0
Saturday Night Live
as Self - Host
1975
7.0
Nashville
as Connie White
1975
7.2
The Day of the Locust
as Faye Greener
1975
6.4
Trilogy of Terror
as Julie / Millicent Larimore / Therese Larimore / Amelia
1975
6.2
Airport 1975
as Nancy Pryor
1974
5.7
Law and Disorder
as Gloria
1974
4.5
The Great Gatsby
as Myrtle Wilson
1974
6.3
Rhinoceros
as Daisy
1974
5.3
The Outfit
as Bett Harrow
1973
6.8
The Pyx
as Elizabeth Lucy
1973
5.0
Little Laura and Big John
as Laura
1973
3.6
Police Story
as Office Evelyn Carter
1973
6.9
Ghost Story
as Barbara Sanders
1972
7.1
Portnoy's Complaint
as Mary Jane Reid a.k.a. Monkey
1972
4.3
Born to Win
as Parm
1971
5.2
Cisco Pike
as Sue
1971
5.6
A Gunfight
as Jenny Simms
1971
5.7
Drive, He Said
as Olive
1971
5.7
Five Easy Pieces
as Rayette Dipesto
1970
7.1
Easy Rider
as Karen
1969
7.1
Hard Contract
as Ellen
1969
4.7
Adam-12
as Susan Decker
1968
7.0
The Name of the Game
as Monica Garrison
1968
6.8
Mannix
1967
6.7
The Carol Burnett Show
as Self - Guest / Various Characters
1967
7.7
Judd for the Defense
1967
7.5
The Second Hundred Years
as Marcia
1967
6.3
The Invaders
as Claudia Stone
1967
6.8
You're a Big Boy Now
as Amy Partlett
1966
6.1
The F.B.I.
as Lorraine Chapman
1965
5.4
The Big Valley
as Carla
1965
6.1
Run for Your Life
as Jennifer Palmer
1965
7.2
The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson
as Self
1962
7.5
The Mike Douglas Show
as Self
1961
5.4
The Prime Time
as Betty
1960
3.8
Science Fiction Film Awards
as Herself
N/A
0.0
🎬
Every Minute Is Goodbye
N/A
0.0