Mary Elizabeth "Sissy" Spacek (born December 25, 1949 in Quitman, Texas) is an Academy Award-winning American actress and singer.

Family history

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She was born to Edwin Arnold Spacek and Virginia Spilman. Her paternal grandfather, Arnold A. Spacek, was the son of a Czech father, Frank J. Spacek, and a German mother, Julie Gloekner (both of whom had immigrated to Texas). Her paternal grandmother, Mary Cervenka, was also of Czech descent. Spacek's mother is of English descent.

She is a cousin of actor Rip Torn, whose mother's maiden name was Thelma Spacek.

Career

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Spacek started out in the entertainment business thanks to Torn, who was already an actor and through him she was able to enroll in Lee Strasberg's Actors Studio and then the Lee Strasberg Institute in New York City. Her first credited role was in the 1972 movie Prime Cut, in which she played a young woman sold into white slavery.

The first role that brought her notice was the 1973 film Badlands, where she met art director Jack Fisk, whom she would later marry. Their daughter Schuyler Fisk is a movie actress. Spacek is also an ardent crusader for women's rights.

Her breakout role was in Carrie, in 1976, in which she played the title character, an emotionally troubled teenager with, telekinetic powers; she was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress for her work in the film. She eventually won the Oscar in 1980 for Coal Miner's Daughter, in which she played country music star Loretta Lynn.

She was also nominated for a Grammy Award for her singing on that film's soundtrack album. She made a comeback of sorts in 2001 when she starred as Ruth Fowler in In the Bedroom, winning extraordinary praise and garnering the New York and Los Angeles Film Critics Awards for Best Actress. She lost the Oscar to Halle Berry that year.

Academy Award and nominations

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• 1976 - Nominated - Best Actress in a Leading Role - Carrie
• 1980 - Won - Best Actress in a Leading Role - Coal Miner's Daughter
• 1982 - Nominated - Best Actress in a Leading Role - Missing
• 1984 - Nominated - Best Actress in a Leading Role - The River
• 1986 - Nominated - Best Actress in a Leading Role - Crimes of the Heart
• 2001 - Nominated - Best Actress in a Leading Role - In the Bedroom

Filmography

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• An American Haunting (2006)
• North Country (2005)
• The Ring 2 (2005)
• Tuck Everlasting (2002)
• Last Call (2002)
• Midwives (2001)
• In the Bedroom (2001) – Academy Award nomination for Best Actress
• Songs in Ordinary Time (2000)
• The Straight Story (1999)
• Blast from the Past (1999)
• Affliction (1997)
• If These Walls Could Talk
• Beyond the Call (1996)
• Streets of Laredo (1995)
• The Grass Harp (1995)
• The Good Old Boys (1995)
• Trading Mom (1994)
• A Place for Annie (1994)
• A Private Matter (1992)
• JFK (1991)
• Hard Promises (1991)
• The Long Walk Home (1990)
• Crimes of the Heart (1986) – Academy Award nomination for Best Actress
• 'night, Mother (1986)
• Violets Are Blue (1986)
• Marie (1985)
• The River (1984) – Academy Award nomination for Best Actress
• The Man with Two Brains (1983)
• Missing (1982) – Academy Award nomination for Best Actress
• Raggedy Man (1981)
• Heart Beat (1980)
• Coal Miner's Daughter (1980) – Academy Award for Best Actress
• Verna, USO Girl (1978)
• Welcome to L.A. (1976)
• 3 Women (1977)
• Carrie (1976) – Academy Award nomination for Best Actress
• Katherine a.k.a. The Radical (1975)
• The Migrants (1974)
• Badlands (1973)
• Ginger in the Morning (1974)
• The Girls of Huntington House (1973)
• Prime Cut (1972)
• Trash (1970)
• Phantom of the Paradise (Costume Designer)
• Death Game (art director)

External Links

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• Sissy Spacek - A timeline of her life

1949 births | Living people | American actors | Best Actress Oscar | Best Actress Academy Award nominees | Czech-Americans | English Americans | Film actors | Methodist Americans | People from Texas | Sundance Film Festival award winners

Sissy Spacek | Sissy Spacek | Sissy Spacek | Sissy Spacek | Maria Elisabetha Spacek | シシー・スペイセク | Sissy Spacek | Sissy Spacek