
Sissy Spacek
Biography
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.
Gallery










Known For
Acting History
2025
Die My Love as Pam
2025Dying for Sex as Gail
2022Sam & Kate as Tina
2022Night Sky as Irene York
2021Without Getting Killed or Caught as Narrator / Voice of Susanna Clark (voice)
2018Homecoming as Ellen Bergman
2018The Old Man & the Gun as Jewel
2018Castle Rock as Ruth Deaver
2018GQ Presents: Iconic Characters as Self
2016HyperNormalisation as Self (archive footage)
2016River of Gold as Narrator
2016Loretta Lynn: Still a Mountain Girl as Self / Loretta Lynn
2015Bloodline as Sally Rayburn
2014Off Camera with Sam Jones as Self
2013Making Badlands as Self
2012Deadfall as June
2011The Help as Missus Walters
2010Get Low as Mattie Darrow
2008Four Christmases as Paula
2008Lake City as Maggie
2007Pictures of Hollis Woods as Josie Cahill
2007Hot Rod as Marie Powell
2007Gray Matters as Dr. Sydney
2006Big Love as Marilyn Densham
2005Nine Lives as Ruth
2005An American Haunting as Lucy Bell
2005The Ring Two as Evelyn
2005North Country as Alice Aimes
2004A Home at the End of the World as Alice Glover
2003Absence of Malick as Self
2003A Decade Under the Influence as Self
2002Tuck Everlasting as Mae Tuck
2002Rosy-Fingered Dawn: A Film on Terrence Malick as Self
2002Last Call as Zelda Fitzgerald
2001In the Bedroom as Ruth Fowler
2001Acting 'Carrie' as Self
2001Visualizing 'Carrie' as Self (archive footage)
2001Midwives as Sibyl Danforth
2000Songs In Ordinary Time as Marie Fermoyle
1999The Straight Story as Rose
1999The Rage: Carrie 2 as Carrie White (archive footage) (uncredited)
1999Blast from the Past as Helen
1998Affliction as Margie Fogg
1997The View as Self
1996The Grass Harp as Verena Talbo
1996If These Walls Could Talk as Barbara Barrows
1996Beyond the Call as Pam O'Brien
1996The Rosie O'Donnell Show as Self - Guest
1995Streets of Laredo as Lorena
1995Thomas Jefferson: A View from the Mountain as Martha Jefferson Randolph (voice)
1995The Good Old Boys as Spring Renfro
1994Inside the Actors Studio as Self
1994A Place for Annie as Susan Lansing
1994Trading Mom as Mommy / Mama / Mom / Natasha
1993Beyond JFK: The Question of Conspiracy as Self
1992A Private Matter as Sherri Finkbine
1992Shelley Duvall's Bedtime Stories as Narrator (voice)
1992Hard Promises as Christine Ann Coalter
1992Fonda on Fonda as Self - The 53rd Annual Academy Awards (archive footage)
1991JFK as Liz Garrison
1991The Talking Eggs as Narrator (voice)
1991Voices That Care as Self - Choir Member
1990The Long Walk Home as Miriam Thompson
1987Seitenblicke as self
1986Crimes of the Heart as Babe Magrath
1986'night, Mother as Jessie Cates
1986Violets are Blue as Augusta "Gussie" Sawyer
1985Marie: A True Story as Marie Ragghianti
1984The River as Mae Garvey
1983The Man with Two Brains as Anne Uumellmahaye (uncredited) (voice)
1982Missing as Beth Horman
1981Raggedy Man as Nita
1980Heart Beat as Carolyn Cassady
1980Coal Miner's Daughter as Loretta Lynn
1978Verna: USO Girl as Verna Vane
1977Rolling Stone Magazine: The 10th Anniversary as Self
19773 Women as Mildred "Pinky" Rose
1976Welcome to L.A. as Linda Murray
1976Carrie as Carrie
1975Saturday Night Live as Self - Host
1975Katherine as Katherine Alman
1975Les Rendez-vous du dimanche as Self
1974Ginger in the Morning as Ginger Brown
1974The Migrants as Wanda Trimpin
1974Badlands as Holly Sargis
1973The Girls of Huntington House as Sara
1972The Waltons
1972The Rookies
1972Prime Cut as Poppy
1971Great Performances as Verna Vane
1962The Merv Griffin Show as Self
1953The Oscars as Self
1951Hallmark Hall of Fame as Susan Lansing









