Sissy Spacek

Born Mary Elizabeth Spacek, she grew up in rural Texas and attended Quitman High School. Her brothers gave her the nickname Sissy, which became her professional name. After high school, she moved to New York City in 1967 intending to pursue music, and stayed with her cousin, actor Rip Torn, and his wife, actress Geraldine Page.

Spacek studied at the Lee Strasberg Theatre Institute while working as a model, singer, and occasional extra. In 1968, she recorded the novelty single John, You Went Too Far This Time under the name Rainbo. After the single failed to gain traction, she shifted her focus toward acting. Her first credited film role was as Poppy in Prime Cut (1972), alongside Lee Marvin and Gene Hackman.

Spacek gained critical attention as Holly Sargis in Terrence Malick's Badlands (1973). She played a bored teenager who joins her boyfriend, portrayed by Martin Sheen, in a murder spree, and also provided the film's narration. The performance earned her a British Academy Film Award nomination for Most Promising Newcomer to Leading Film Roles.

While working on Badlands, Spacek met art director Jack Fisk. They married in 1974, and later collaborated on eight films. Before her major breakthrough, she appeared in television programs including Love, American Style and The Waltons, as well as the television film The Migrants and the feature Ginger in the Morning.

Spacek became internationally known for playing Carrie White in Brian De Palma's horror film Carrie (1976), based on Stephen King's novel. Carrie is a bullied and isolated high school student with telekinetic powers. Spacek's performance earned her an Academy Award nomination for Best Actress, a notable recognition for a horror performance.

She followed Carrie with roles in Welcome to L.A. and Robert Altman's 3 Women (1977), in which she played Pinky Rose. Her defining early success came with Coal Miner's Daughter (1980), in which she portrayed country singer Loretta Lynn from adolescence into adulthood. Lynn personally selected Spacek for the role, and Spacek performed her own singing. She won the Academy Award and Golden Globe for Best Actress, while the film's soundtrack earned her a Grammy nomination.

During the 1980s, Spacek received Academy Award nominations for Missing (1982), The River (1984), and Crimes of the Heart (1986). She also appeared in Heart Beat, Raggedy Man, Marie, 'night, Mother, and Violets Are Blue.... Her work in Crimes of the Heart earned her a Golden Globe Award for Best Actress in a Motion Picture, Musical or Comedy.

Her later film roles included The Long Walk Home (1990), JFK (1991), Affliction (1997), and The Straight Story (1999). In In the Bedroom (2001), she played Ruth Fowler, a grieving mother seeking revenge after the death of her son. The performance brought her a sixth Academy Award nomination for Best Actress and wins from the Golden Globes, Independent Spirit Awards, and several critics' associations. She also received Emmy nominations for The Good Old Boys, Last Call, and her guest role on Big Love.

Spacek appeared in films including Tuck Everlasting, The Ring Two, North Country, Nine Lives, Four Christmases, Get Low, The Help, and The Old Man & the Gun. She played Missus Walters in The Help, whose ensemble cast received the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture. In 2011, Spacek received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

Her television work expanded with the Netflix drama Bloodline, in which she played family matriarch Sally Rayburn from 2015 to 2017. She later portrayed Ruth Deaver in Castle Rock and Ellen Bergman in Homecoming. In 2022, she starred as Irene York in Night Sky and appeared opposite Dustin Hoffman in Sam & Kate. Spacek published the memoir My Extraordinary Ordinary Life in 2012.