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Sissy Spacek

Sissy Spacek

Born: 1949-12-25 • Quitman, Texas, USA

Mary Elizabeth 'Sissy' Spacek (born December 25, 1949) is an American actress and singer. She is the recipient of numerous accolades, including an Academy Award, three Golden Globe Awards, a Screen Actors Guild Award, and nominations for four British Academy Film Awards, three Primetime Emmy Awards, and a Grammy Award. Spacek was honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2011.

Born and raised in Texas, she initially aspired to a career as a recording artist. In 1968, at age 18, she recorded a single, "John, You Went Too Far This Time," under the name Rainbo. She began her professional acting career in the early 1970s, making her debut as an extra in Andy Warhol's Women in Revolt (1971). Her breakout role came with Terrence Malick's influential crime film Badlands (1973), which earned her a nomination for the British Academy Film Award for Most Promising Newcomer to Leading Film Roles. She rose to international prominence with her portrayal of Carrie White in Brian De Palma's horror film Carrie (1976), for which she received her first nomination for the Academy Award for Best Actress. After appearing in the acclaimed films Welcome to L.A. (1976) and Robert Altman's 3 Women (1977), she won the Academy Award for Best Actress for her portrayal of Loretta Lynn in the biographical musical film Coal Miner's Daughter (1980).

Her other Oscar-nominated roles include Missing (1982), The River (1984), Crimes of the Heart (1986), and In the Bedroom (2001). Her other prominent films include Raggedy Man (1981), JFK (1991), Affliction (1997), The Straight Story (1999), Tuck Everlasting (2002), Nine Lives (2005), North Country (2005), Four Christmases (2008), Get Low (2010), The Help (2011), and The Old Man & the Gun (2018). She received Primetime Emmy Award nominations for the television films The Good Old Boys (1995) and Last Call (2002), and for her guest role on the HBO drama series Big Love (2011). She portrayed matriarch Sally Rayburn on the Netflix drama thriller series Bloodline (2015–2017), Ruth Deaver on the Hulu psychological horror series Castle Rock (2018), and Ellen Bergman on the Amazon Prime Video psychological thriller series Homecoming (2018).

She has also ventured into music, and recorded vocals for the soundtrack album of Coal Miner's Daughter, which peaked at number two on the Billboard Top Country Albums Chart and garnered her a nomination for the Grammy Award for Best Female Country Vocal Performance. She released a studio album, Hangin' Up My Heart (1983), which was critically well-received and peaked at number 17 on Billboard Top Country Albums chart.

Filmography
Die My Love poster
Die My Love
2025 • Pam
Henry Fonda for President poster
Henry Fonda for President
2025 • Self (archive footage)
Sam & Kate poster
Sam & Kate
2022 • Tina
Without Getting Killed or Caught poster
Without Getting Killed or Caught
2021 • Narrator / Voice of Susanna Clark (voice)
The Old Man & the Gun poster
The Old Man & the Gun
2018 • Jewel
HyperNormalisation poster
HyperNormalisation
2016 • Self (archive footage)
River of Gold poster
River of Gold
2016 • Narrator
Loretta Lynn: Still a Mountain Girl poster
Loretta Lynn: Still a Mountain Girl
2016 • Self / Loretta Lynn
Making Badlands poster
Making Badlands
2013 • Self
Deadfall poster
Deadfall
2012 • June
The Help poster
The Help
2011 • Missus Walters
Get Low poster
Get Low
2010 • Mattie Darrow
Four Christmases poster
Four Christmases
2008 • Paula
Lake City poster
Lake City
2008 • Maggie
Pictures of Hollis Woods poster
Pictures of Hollis Woods
2007 • Josie Cahill
Hot Rod poster
Hot Rod
2007 • Marie Powell
Gray Matters poster
Gray Matters
2007 • Dr. Sydney
Nine Lives poster
Nine Lives
2005 • Ruth
An American Haunting poster
An American Haunting
2005 • Lucy Bell
The Ring Two poster
The Ring Two
2005 • Evelyn
North Country poster
North Country
2005 • Alice Aimes
A Home at the End of the World poster
A Home at the End of the World
2004 • Alice Glover
Absence of Malick poster
Absence of Malick
2003 • Self
A Decade Under the Influence poster
A Decade Under the Influence
2003 • Self
Tuck Everlasting poster
Tuck Everlasting
2002 • Mae Tuck
Rosy-Fingered Dawn: A Film on Terrence Malick poster
Rosy-Fingered Dawn: A Film on Terrence Malick
2002 • Self
Last Call poster
Last Call
2002 • Zelda Fitzgerald
In the Bedroom poster
In the Bedroom
2001 • Ruth Fowler
Acting 'Carrie' poster
Acting 'Carrie'
2001 • Self
Visualizing 'Carrie' poster
Visualizing 'Carrie'
2001 • Self (archive footage)
Midwives poster
Midwives
2001 • Sibyl Danforth
Songs In Ordinary Time poster
Songs In Ordinary Time
2000 • Marie Fermoyle
The Straight Story poster
The Straight Story
1999 • Rose
The Rage: Carrie 2 poster
The Rage: Carrie 2
1999 • Carrie White (archive footage) (uncredited)
Blast from the Past poster
Blast from the Past
1999 • Helen
Affliction poster
Affliction
1998 • Margie Fogg
The Grass Harp poster
The Grass Harp
1996 • Verena Talbo
If These Walls Could Talk poster
If These Walls Could Talk
1996 • Barbara Barrows
Beyond the Call poster
Beyond the Call
1996 • Pam O'Brien
The Good Old Boys poster
The Good Old Boys
1995 • Spring Renfro
A Place for Annie poster
A Place for Annie
1994 • Susan Lansing
Trading Mom poster
Trading Mom
1994 • Mommy / Mama / Mom / Natasha
Beyond JFK: The Question of Conspiracy poster
Beyond JFK: The Question of Conspiracy
1993 • Self
A Private Matter poster
A Private Matter
1992 • Sherri Finkbine
Hard Promises poster
Hard Promises
1992 • Christine Ann Coalter
No Image
Fonda on Fonda
1992 • Self - The 53rd Annual Academy Awards (archive footage)
JFK poster
JFK
1991 • Liz Garrison
No Image
The Talking Eggs
1991 • Narrator (voice)
Voices That Care poster
Voices That Care
1991 • Self - Choir Member
The Long Walk Home poster
The Long Walk Home
1990 • Miriam Thompson
Crimes of the Heart poster
Crimes of the Heart
1986 • Babe Magrath
'night, Mother poster
'night, Mother
1986 • Jessie Cates
Violets are Blue poster
Violets are Blue
1986 • Augusta "Gussie" Sawyer
Marie: A True Story poster
Marie: A True Story
1985 • Marie Ragghianti
The River poster
The River
1984 • Mae Garvey
The Man with Two Brains poster
The Man with Two Brains
1983 • Anne Uumellmahaye (uncredited) (voice)
Missing poster
Missing
1982 • Beth Horman
Raggedy Man poster
Raggedy Man
1981 • Nita
Heart Beat poster
Heart Beat
1980 • Carolyn Cassady
Coal Miner's Daughter poster
Coal Miner's Daughter
1980 • Loretta Lynn
Verna: USO Girl poster
Verna: USO Girl
1978 • Verna Vane
Rolling Stone Magazine: The 10th Anniversary poster
Rolling Stone Magazine: The 10th Anniversary
1977 • Self
3 Women poster
3 Women
1977 • Mildred "Pinky" Rose
Welcome to L.A. poster
Welcome to L.A.
1976 • Linda Murray
Carrie poster
Carrie
1976 • Carrie
Katherine poster
Katherine
1975 • Katherine Alman
Ginger in the Morning poster
Ginger in the Morning
1974 • Ginger Brown
The Migrants poster
The Migrants
1974 • Wanda Trimpin
Badlands poster
Badlands
1974 • Holly Sargis
The Girls of Huntington House poster
The Girls of Huntington House
1973 • Sara
Prime Cut poster
Prime Cut
1972 • Poppy