Karen Black

1939–2013 · American actress, screenwriter, singer, and songwriter

Karen Blanche Black was an American actress, screenwriter, singer, and songwriter. She rose to prominence for her work in 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 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.

Karen Black, in order

1966 You're a Big Boy Now: acted · directed by Francis Ford Coppola
1969 Easy Rider: acted · directed by Dennis Hopper · critics 85%, audiences 82% · streaming on Fawesome
1969 Hard Contract: acted · directed by S. Lee Pogostin
1970 Five Easy Pieces: acted · directed by Bob Rafelson
1971 A Gunfight: acted · directed by Lamont Johnson
1971 Born to Win: acted · directed by Ivan Passer
1971 Cisco Pike: acted · directed by Bill L. Norton
1971 Drive, He Said: acted · directed by Jack Nicholson
1972 Portnoy's Complaint: acted · directed by Ernest Lehman
1973 Little Laura and Big John: acted · directed by Luke Moberly
1973 The Outfit: acted · directed by John Flynn
1973 The Pyx: acted · directed by Harvey Hart
1974 Airport 1975: acted · directed by Jack Smight
1974 Law and Disorder: acted · directed by Ivan Passer · streaming on Prime Video, Plex, Prime Video (free)
1974 Rhinoceros: acted · directed by Tom O'Horgan
1974 The Great Gatsby: acted · directed by Jack Clayton · critics 41%, audiences 47% · streaming on fuboTV, MGM+, Philo
1975 Nashville: acted · directed by Robert Altman · critics 89%, audiences 83%
1975 Saturday Night Live (TV series): acted · directed by A. D. Miles and Adam McKay · audiences 63% · streaming on Peacock, Prime Video, fuboTV
1975 The Day of the Locust: acted · directed by John Schlesinger
1975 The Rip-Off: acted · directed by Antonio Margheriti
1975 Trilogy of Terror (TV movie): acted · directed by Dan Curtis
1976 Burnt Offerings: acted · directed by Dan Curtis
1976 Crime and Passion: acted · directed by Ivan Passer
1976 Family Plot: acted · directed by Alfred Hitchcock · critics 90%, audiences 62%
1977 Capricorn One: acted · directed by Peter Hyams
1978 In Praise of Older Women: acted · directed by George Kaczender
1979 Killer Fish: acted · directed by Antonio Margheriti
1979 The Last Word: acted · directed by Roy Boulting
1981 Chanel Solitaire: acted · directed by George Kaczender
1981 Killing Heat: acted · directed by Michael Raeburn
1982 Come Back to the Five and Dime, Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean: acted · directed by Robert Altman · critics 89%, audiences 81% · streaming on Kanopy
1983 Breathless: acted · directed by Jim McBride
1983 Can She Bake a Cherry Pie?: acted · directed by Henry Jaglom
1985 Cut and Run: acted · directed by Ruggero Deodato
1985 Martin's Day: acted · directed by Alan Gibson
1985 Savage Dawn: acted · directed by Simon Nuchtern
1985 The Blue Man: acted · directed by George Mihalka
1986 Invaders from Mars: acted · directed by Tobe Hooper
1987 It's Alive III: Island of the Alive: acted · directed by Larry Cohen
1988 The Invisible Kid: acted · directed by Avery Crounse
1989 Homer and Eddie: acted · directed by Andrei Konchalovsky
1990 Club Fed: acted · directed by Nat Christian
1990 Mirror, Mirror: acted · directed by Marina Sargenti
1990 Night Angel: acted · directed by Dominique Othenin-Girard
1990 The Children: acted · directed by Tony Palmer
1991 Children of the Night: acted · directed by Tony Randel
1991 The Roller Blade Seven: acted · directed by Donald G. Jackson
1992 Final Judgement: acted · directed by Louis Morneau
1992 Judgement: acted · directed by William Sachs
1992 The Double 0 Kid: acted · directed by Dee McLachlan
1992 The Legend of the Roller Blade Seven: acted · directed by Donald G. Jackson
1992 The Player: acted · directed by Robert Altman · critics 97%, audiences 84% · streaming on HBO Max
1993 Auntie Lee's Meat Pies: acted · directed by Joseph F. Robertson
1993 Return of the Roller Blade Seven: acted · directed by Donald G. Jackson
1994 Plan 10 from Outer Space: acted · directed by Trent Harris
1996 Children of the Corn IV: The Gathering: acted · directed by Greg Spence
1996 New York Crossing: acted · directed by Vinícius Mainardi
1997 Conceiving Ada: acted · directed by Lynn Hershman Leeson
1997 Men: wrote, acted · directed by Zoe Clarke-Williams
1998 Charades: wrote, produced, acted · directed by Stephen Eckelberry
1998 Fallen Arches: acted · directed by Ron Cosentino
1998 I Woke Up Early The Day I Died: acted · directed by Aris Iliopulos
1999 The Underground Comedy Movie: acted · directed by Vince Offer
2000 Inviati speciali: acted · directed by Fred Olen Ray
2000 Red Dirt: acted · directed by Tag Purvis
2000 The Donor: acted · directed by Jean-Marie Pallardy
2000 The Independent: acted · directed by Stephen Kessler · critics 61%, audiences 50%
2001 Gypsy 83: acted · directed by Todd Stephens
2001 Soulkeeper (TV movie): acted · directed by Darin Ferriola
2002 Curse of the Forty-Niner: acted · directed by John Carl Buechler
2002 Teknolust: acted · directed by Lynn Hershman Leeson
2003 Harold Buttleman, Daredevil Stuntman: acted · directed by Francis Stokes
2003 House of 1000 Corpses: acted · directed by Rob Zombie
2003 Summer Solstice: acted · directed by George Fivas
2005 Firecracker: acted · directed by Steve Balderson
2005 My Suicidal Sweetheart: acted · directed by Michael Parness
2006 Hollywood Dreams: acted · directed by Henry Jaglom
2007 Suffering Man's Charity: acted · directed by Alan Cumming
2008 A Single Woman: acted · directed by Kamala Lopez
2008 No Subtitles Necessary: Laszlo & Vilmos: acted · directed by James Chressanthis · audiences 70%
2008 Watercolors: acted · directed by David Oliveras
2012 Dark Blood: acted · directed by George Sluizer
2012 Some Guy Who Kills People: acted · directed by Jack Perez
2013 In the Woods: acted · directed by Jennifer Elster
2013 She loves me not: acted · directed by Brian Jun
2015 Going Clear: Scientology, Hollywood, and the Prison of Belief: acted · directed by Alex Gibney · critics 95%, audiences 90% · streaming on HBO Max, Kanopy, Pluto TV
2023 Evil Spirits: acted · directed by Gary Graver