Karen Black (1939 – 2013)

Karen Black, best known for her roles in Easy Rider and Five Easy Pieces, died yesterday after battling cancer for nearly 3 years.

Born in a small suburb just outside of Chicago, Black was attending Northwestern University at the age of 15 before moving to New York. After appeared in several Off-Broadway productions, Black made her Broadway debut in the 1965 production of The Playroom and drew rave reviews. She later re-located to Los Angeles, landing supporting roles on TV shows as Adam-12 and Mannix and made her big screen debut in Francis Ford Coppola’s first film, You’re A Big Boy Now. Black had a key role in the 1969 counterculture classic Easy Rider as a prostitute joins Peter Fonda and Dennis Hopper on a acid-inspired trip during Mardi Gras. In 1970, she received Best Supporting Actress Academy Award and Golden Globe nominations for Best Supporting Actress for her role as Rayette, Jack Nicholson’s waitress-girlfriend in Five Easy Pieces. Black would receive another Golden Globe nomination for her role as Myrtle Wilson in the 1974 version of The Great Gatsby. Black wrote and performed in Robert Altman’s highly acclaimed film Nashville for which she would be nominated for a Grammy. She would later reunite with Altman for the critically acclaimed 1982 film Come Back To The Five And Dime, Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean.

After the success of the ABC Made-For-TV film, Trilogy Of Terror (in which she played the lead in all three stories), Black would go on the star in a series of horror/suspense films that would make her a icon of the genre. Performance artist Kembra Pfahler went as far as to name her glam-punk band The Voluptuous Horror of Karen Black. She was also a major influence and mentor to artists ranging from Bebe Buell to Juliette Lewis.

Karen Black was 74.