Mary Elizabeth "Sissy" Spacek (; born December 25, 1949) is an American actress and singer. She has received numerous accolades throughout her career spanning over five decades, including an Academy Award, three Golden Globe Awards, and a Screen Actors Guild Award as well as nominations for four British Academy Film Awards, three Primetime Emmy Awards, and a Grammy Award. For her contributions to the film industry, Spacek was honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2011.
After attending the Lee Strasberg Theatre and Film Institute, Spacek made her feature film debut in Michael Ritchie's Prime Cut (1972). Her performance in Terrence Malick's neo-noir crime drama film Badlands (1973), earned her a nomination for the BAFTA Award for Most Promising Newcomer. Spacek's breakthrough came when she played the abused teen misfit title character with telekinetic powers in Brian De Palma's supernatural horror film Carrie (1976), which earned her first nomination for the Academy Award for Best Actress. She then starred in Robert Altman's psychological drama film 3 Women (1977).
Spacek's gave a complex performance as country music star Loretta Lynn in Michael Apted's biographical musical film Coal Miner's Daughter (1980). She portrayed Lynn from early adolescent to near middle age and did her own singing, earning her an Academy Award as well as a Golden Globe Award. She received three more Academy Award nominations for her roles in the 1980s: Costa Gravas's Missing (1982), Curtis Hanson's The River (1984) and Bruce Beresford's Crimes of the Heart (1986). Spacek scored another nomination for Todd Field's In the Bedroom in 2001, winning another Golden Globe Award. Other notable films include Oliver Stone's JFK (1991), Tate Taylor's The Help (2011) and David Lowery's The Old Man & the Gun (2018). Spacek remains active appearing in Sam & Kate in 2022.
In television, Spacek received her first Primetime Emmy Award nomination for her role in the Western film The Good Old Boys (1995). She was later Emmy-nominated for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie and Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series for her work in the drama film Last Call (2002) and the HBO series Big Love (2010–2011), respectively. Spacek played matriarch Sally Rayburn in the Netflix series Bloodline (2015–2017), Ruth Deaver in the Hulu series Castle Rock (2018), and Ellen Bergman in the Amazon Prime Video series Homecoming (2018). Her other notable television work include the films The Migrants (1974), A Place for Annie (1994), If These Walls Could Talk (1996), Midwives (2001) and Pictures of Hollis Woods (2007), and the series Night Sky (2022).
Spacek has also ventured into the music industry. In 1968, under the stage name Rainbo, she recorded her debut single "John You Went Too Far This Time". When sales sputtered, Spacek was dropped by her record label. She later recorded vocals for the soundtrack album to Coal Miner's Daughter, which peaked at No. 2 on the Billboard Top Country Albums chart and garnered her a nomination for the Grammy Award for Best Female Country Vocal Performance. Spacek subsequently released her debut studio album, Hangin' Up My Heart (1983).
Early life and education
Mary Elizabeth Spacek was born on Christmas Day 1949, in Quitman, Texas, the daughter of Virginia Frances (née Spilman, 1917–1981) and Edwin Arnold Spacek Sr., a Wood County agricultural agent in Quitman. Her father was of three quarters Czech (Moravian) and one quarter Sudeten-German ancestry; her paternal grandparents were Mary (née Cervenka) and Arnold A. Spacek (who served as mayor of Granger, Texas in Williamson County). Rip Torn was her first cousin; his mother Thelma Torn (née Spacek) was an elder sister of Sissy's father Edwin. Spacek's mother, who was of English and Irish descent, was from the Rio Grande Valley of Texas.
At the age of six, Spacek performed on stage for the first time in a local talent show. She attended Quitman High School. She has said the tragedy made her fearless in her acting career:
Spacek initially aspired to a singing career. In 1968, under the stage name Rainbo, she recorded a single, "John You Went Too Far This Time", the lyrics of which chided John Lennon for his and Yoko Ono's nude album cover for Two Virgins. When sales of her music sputtered, Spacek was dropped by her record label. She switched her focus to acting, enrolling at the Lee Strasberg Theatre and Film Institute.
Career
1970s: Early work and rise to prominence
Spacek worked as a photographic model (represented by Ford Models) and as an extra at Andy Warhol's Factory. With the help of her cousin, actor Rip Torn, she enrolled in Lee Strasberg's Actors Studio and later the Lee Strasberg Theatre and Film Institute.
Spacek's first credited film role was in the action crime thriller Prime Cut (1972), in which she played Poppy, a girl sold into sexual slavery. Vincent Canby of The New York Times called it a "cool, sometimes brilliant, always ferociously American film", and wrote "Sheen and Miss Spacek are splendid as the self-absorbed, cruel, possibly psychotic children of our time." On the set of Badlands, Spacek met art director Jack Fisk, whom she married in 1974. She worked as the set dresser for Brian De Palma's film Phantom of the Paradise (1974).
Spacek's most prominent early role came in De Palma's supernatural horror film Carrie (1976), playing Carrie White, a shy, troubled high school senior with telekinetic powers. Spacek's performance was critically acclaimed and led to a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Actress. Pauline Kael of The New Yorker wrote: "Though few actresses have distinguished themselves in gothics, Sissy Spacek, who is onscreen almost continuously, gives a classic chameleon performance. She shifts back and forth and sideways: a nasal, whining child; a chaste young beauty at the prom; and then a second transformation when her destructive impulses burst out and age her. Spacek uses her freckled pallor and whitish eyelashes to suggest a squashed, groggy girl who could go in any direction; at times, she seems unborn–a fetus. I don't see how this performance could be any better; she's touching, like Elizabeth Hartman in one of her victim roles, but she's also unearthly—a changeling."
After Carrie success, Spacek played the role of housekeeper Linda Murray in Alan Rudolph's drama musical romance film Welcome to L.A. (1976) and cemented her reputation in independent film with her performance as Pinky Rose in Robert Altman's psychological drama 3 Women (1977). A review in The New York Times said, "In this film Miss Spacek added a new dimension of eeriness to the waif she played so effectively in Carrie." Altman was deeply impressed by her performance: "She's remarkable, one of the top actresses I've ever worked with. Her resources are like a deep well." De Palma said: "[Spacek is] a phantom. She has this mysterious way of slipping into a part, letting it take over her. She's got a wider range than any young actress I know." Spacek helped finance Eraserhead (1977), David Lynch's directorial debut, and is thanked in the film's credits.
1980s: Continued acclaim and music
thumb|Spacek portrayed [[Loretta Lynn in Coal Miner's Daughter, which won her the Academy Award for Best Actress.]]Spacek began the 1980s with an Academy Award for Best Actress for her performance in Michael Apted's biographical musical Coal Miner's Daughter (1980), in which she portrayed country music star Loretta Lynn, who personally selected her for the role. Andrew Sarris of The Village Voice wrote: "Sissy Spacek—yes, I'm flabbergasted—is simple and faithful as Lynn. Spacek's face is no more of an actor's instrument than it ever was, but given a human being to play, given a director concerned with acting, she makes that woman exist. She sings the songs herself, nicely, and she has mastered the Appalachian accent." Spacek also was nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Female Country Vocal Performance for the film's soundtrack album. She followed this with her own country album, Hangin' Up My Heart (1983); spawning one hit single, "Lonely but Only for You", a song written by K. T. Oslin, which reached No. 15 on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart.
In John Byrum's romantic drama film Heart Beat (1980), Spacek portrayed Carolyn Cassady, who—under the influence of Jack Kerouac (John Heard) and Neal Cassady (Nick Nolte)—slips into a combination of drudgery and debauchery. Spacek was so adamant about getting the role that she pored through over 4,000 pages of research to prepare for her character. Byrum and producer Ed Pressman took her to dinner to advise her that she did not have the role. Spacek was so distraught at the news that she shattered a glass of wine in her hand. After that, Pressman walked up to her with a piece of shattered glass and told her she had the role. He said that Spacek breaking the glass clinched the deal, and they believed she ultimately would best suit the part. The film was released on April 25, 1980, to mixed reviews. Ebert called Spacek's performance "wonderfully played", and her scenes with Heard and Nolte "almost poetic".
In 1982, Spacek starred alongside Jack Lemmon in Costa-Gavras's biographical thriller drama film Missing (based on the book The Execution of Charles Horman: An American Sacrifice by Thomas Hauser). She co-starred with Mel Gibson in Mark Rydell's drama film The River (1984), and with Diane Keaton and Jessica Lange in Bruce Beresford's black comedy drama film Crimes of the Heart (1986).
1990s: Supporting roles
Spacek had a supporting role as the wife of Jim Garrison (played by Kevin Costner) in Oliver Stone's epic political thriller film JFK (1991) and made a number of comedies and television films. She played Verena Talbo in Charles Matthau's comedy drama film The Grass Harp (1995), which reunited her with both Lemmon and Piper Laurie. Spacek lent a supporting role as the waitress Margie Fogg in Paul Schrader's neo-noir crime drama film Affliction (1997). She also played Rose Straight in David Lynch's biographical road drama film The Straight Story (1999) and the mother of Brendan Fraser's character in Hugh Wilson's romantic comedy fantasy adventure film Blast from the Past (1999).
2000s: Television and professional expansion
thumb|Spacek at the 2005 [[Toronto International Film Festival]]Spacek began the 2000s with critical acclaim for her performance as Ruth Fowler, a grieving mother consumed by revenge, in Todd Field's In the Bedroom, which was released in 2001. She earned a sixth nomination for the Academy Award for Best Actress, which established her as the eighth and most recent actress to be nominated for at least six leading role Oscars. She additionally won the New York Film Critics Circle Award and Los Angeles Film Critics Association Award for Best Actress, as well as the Critics' Choice Award for Best Actress, Golden Globe Award for Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Drama and Independent Spirit Award for Best Female Lead, among others. Spacek starred in Jay Russell's romantic fantasy drama film Tuck Everlasting (2002). That same year, she was nominated for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie for her portrayal of Zelda Fitzgerald in the Showtime film Last Call (2002).
Spacek played unfaithful wife Ruth in Rodrigo García's Nine Lives (2005) and a woman suffering from Alzheimer's disease in the television film Pictures of Hollis Woods (2007). She played a supporting role in Seth Gordon's comedy film Four Christmases (2008) and the lead role in the drama film Lake City (2008). Spacek appeared in the HBO series Big Love for a multi-episode arc as a powerful Washington, D.C. lobbyist and earned a nomination for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series. She narrated the 2005 audiobook of Stephen King's 1974 novel Carrie. In 2006, Spacek narrated Harper Lee's novel To Kill a Mockingbird (1960), which sold over 30 million copies.
2010s: Memoir and return to film
Spacek was honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2011. That same year, Spacek appeared in Tate Taylor's period drama film The Help, whose ensemble cast, including Emma Stone, Viola Davis, Bryce Dallas Howard, Octavia Spencer, Jessica Chastain and Allison Janney, received the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture.
In 2012, Spacek published her memoir, My Extraordinary Ordinary Life, with co-author Maryanne Vollers. The Washington Post Jen Chaney called it "refreshingly down-to-earth" and "beautifully written", adding that Spacek's description of her childhood is so "evocative that one can almost taste the sour stalks of goatweed she chewed on steamy summer afternoons." Jay Stafford of Richmond Times-Dispatch wrote that, unlike other actors' autobiographies, Spacek's "benefits from good writing and remarkable frankness." Margaret Moser of The Austin Chronicle wrote that Spacek's memoir is "as easy to read as it is a pleasure to digest." Biographile Kirkus Reviews was less appreciative, calling it "an average memoir" and "overly detailed" while criticizing its lack of "narrative arc", but complimented Spacek for being "truly down-to-earth." Kirkus added that "the book is 'ordinary' and does not have enough drama to engage readers not directly interested in Spacek and her work" and is "for diehard movie buffs and Spacek fans only." Spacek also had starring roles in a variety of television series in the late 2010s. She played matriarch Sally Rayburn in the Netflix series Bloodline, which aired from 2015 to 2017; Ruth Deaver in the Hulu series Castle Rock (2018), which intertwines characters and themes from King's fictional town of Castle Rock, Maine; and Ellen Bergman, the mother of Julia Roberts's character, in the Amazon Prime Video series Homecoming (2018).
2020s work
Spacek co-starred alongside Dustin Hoffman in Darren Le Gallo's directorial debut Sam & Kate (2022). That same year, she acted in the Amazon Prime Video series Night Sky, acting opposite J. K. Simmons. Despite positive reviews, the series was cancelled after its first season. In 2021 Spacek served as Susanna Clark's voice narrating Tamara Saviano's documentary of Guy Clark "Without getting Killed or Caught".
Personal life
Spacek married production designer and art director Jack Fisk in 1974, after they met on the set of Badlands. Spacek and her family moved to a farm near Charlottesville, Virginia, in 1982.
Filmography
Film
{| class="wikitable sortable"
|-
! Year
! Title
! Role
! class="unsortable" | Notes
|-
| 1972
| Prime Cut
| Poppy
|
|-
| rowspan="2" | 1973
| Geo Funny Book Stories
| Coraline Jones
| Voice
|-
| Badlands
| Holly Sargis
|
|-
| rowspan="2" | 1974
| Ginger in the Morning
| Ginger
|
|-
| Phantom of the Paradise
|
| Set dresser
|-
| rowspan="3" |1976
| Vigilante Force
|
| Assistant art director and set dresser; Uncredited
|-
| Carrie
| Carrie White
|
|-
| Welcome to L.A.
| Linda Murray
|
|-
| rowspan="2" | 1977
| 3 Women
| Mildred "Pinky" Rose
|
|-
| Death Game
|
| Set dresser
|-
| rowspan="2" | 1980
| Coal Miner's Daughter
| Loretta Lynn
|
|-
| Heart Beat
| Carolyn Cassady
|
|-
| 1981
| Raggedy Man
| Nita Longley
|
|-
| 1982
| Missing
| Beth Horman
|
|-
| 1983
| data-sort-value="Man with Two Brains, The" | The Man with Two Brains
| Anne Uumellmahaye (voice)
| Uncredited
| Narrator (voice)
| Documentary
|-
| 2018
| data-sort-value="Old Man & the Gun, The" | The Old Man & the Gun
| Jewel
|
|-
| 2022
| Sam & Kate
| Tina
|
|-
| 2025
| Die, My Love
| Pam
|
|}
Television
{| class="wikitable sortable"
|-
! Year
! Title
! Notes
! class="unsortable" | Notes
|-
| rowspan="4" | 1973
| Love, American Style
| Teri
| Episode: "Love and the Older Lover"
|-
| data-sort-value="Girls of Huntington House, The" | The Girls of Huntington House
| Sara
| Television film
|-
| data-sort-value="Waltons, The" | The Waltons
| Sarah Jane Simmonds
| Episodes: "The Townie", "The Odyssey"
|-
| data-sort-value="Rookies, The" | The Rookies
| Barbara Tabnor
| Episode: "Sound of Silence"
|-
| 1974
| data-sort-value="Migrants, The" | The Migrants
| Wanda Trimpin
| rowspan="4" | Television film
|-
| 1975
| Katherine
| Katherine Alman
|-
| 1978
| Verna: USO Girl
| Verna Vane
|-
| rowspan="2" | 1992
| data-sort-value="Private Matter, A" | A Private Matter
| Sherri Finkbine
|-
| Shelley Duvall's Bedtime Stories
| Narrator
| Season 1 Episode 4
|-
| 1994
| data-sort-value="Place for Annie, A" | A Place for Annie
| Susan Lansing
| rowspan="2" | Television film
|-
| rowspan="2" | 1995
| data-sort-value="Good Old Boys, The" | The Good Old Boys
| Spring Renfro
|-
| Streets of Laredo
| Lorena Parker
| 3 episodes
|-
| rowspan="2" | 1996
| Beyond the Call
| Pam O'Brien
| Television film
|-
| If These Walls Could Talk
| Barbara Barrows
| Television film; segment: "1974"
|-
| 2000
| Songs in Ordinary Time
| Marie Fermoyle
| rowspan="2" | Television film
|-
| 2002
| Last Call
| Zelda Fitzgerald
|-
| 2009
| Appalachia: A History of Mountains and People
| Narrator (voice)
| 4 episodes
|-
| 2010
| Gimme Shelter
| Adrienne Nourse
| Pilot
|-
| 2010–2011
| Big Love
| Marilyn Densham
| 5 episodes
|-
| 2015–2017
| Bloodline
| Sally Rayburn
| 33 episodes
|-
| rowspan="2" | 2018
| Castle Rock
| Ruth Deaver
| 8 episodes
|-
| Homecoming
| Ellen Bergman
| 6 episodes
|-
| 2022
| Night Sky
| Irene York
| 8 episodes
|-
| 2025
| Dying for Sex
| Gail
| Miniseries
|}
Music video
{| class="wikitable sortable"
|-
! Year
! Title
! Artist
! class="unsortable" | Notes
|-
| 2018
| "Oh Baby"
| LCD Soundsystem
|
|}
Discography
Albums
{| class="wikitable sortable"
|-
! Year
! Album
! <small>US Country</small>
! Label
|-
| 1983
| Hangin' Up My Heart
| style="text-align:center;"| 17
| Atlantic
|}
Singles
{| class="wikitable sortable"
|-
! rowspan="2"| Year
! rowspan="2"| Single
! colspan="3"| Chart positions
! rowspan="2"| Album
|-
! style="width:50px;"| <small>US Country</small>
! style="width:50px;"| <small>US Bubbling</small>
! style="width:50px;"| <small>CAN Country</small>
|-
| rowspan="2"| 1980
| "Coal Miner's Daughter"
| style="text-align:center;"| 24
| style="text-align:center;"|—
| style="text-align:center;"| 7
| rowspan="2"| Coal Miner's Daughter (Soundtrack)
|-
| "Back in Baby's Arms"
| style="text-align:center;"| —
| style="text-align:center;"| —
| style="text-align:center;"| 71
|-
| 1983
| "Lonely but Only for You"
| style="text-align:center;"| 15
| style="text-align:center;"| 10
| style="text-align:center;"| 13
| rowspan="3"| Hangin' Up My Heart
|-
| rowspan="2"| 1984
| "If I Can Just Get Through the Night"
| style="text-align:center;"| 57
| style="text-align:center;"| —
| style="text-align:center;"| 41
|-
| "If You Could Only See Me Now"
| style="text-align:center;"| 79
| style="text-align:center;"| —
| style="text-align:center;"| —
|}
Awards and nominations
See also
- List of actors with Academy Award nominations
- List of actors with two or more Academy Award nominations in acting categories
- List of stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame
- List of actors with Hollywood Walk of Fame motion picture stars
References
Further reading
- Crowe, Cameron. "From a Nymphet to Weirdo". The Montreal Gazette. November 19, 1979.