Sissy Spacek
- Known for
- Acting
- Born
- Dec 25, 1949 (age 76)
- Place of birth
- Quitman, Texas, USA
- Credits
- 100
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.
Known for
Filmography
The Catch
2027Movie
Love Letter to Texas
2026Movie
Narrator
Die My Love
2025Movie
Pam
Dying for Sex
2025TV
Gail
Henry Fonda for President
2025Movie
Self (archive footage)
Sam & Kate
2022Movie
Tina
Night Sky
2022TV
Irene York
Without Getting Killed or Caught
2021Movie
Narrator / Voice of Susanna Clark (voice)
Homecoming
2018TV
Ellen Bergman
The Old Man & the Gun
2018Movie
Jewel
Castle Rock
2018TV
Ruth Deaver
GQ Presents: Iconic Characters
2018TV
Self
HyperNormalisation
2016Movie
Self (archive footage)
River of Gold
2016Movie
Narrator
Loretta Lynn: Still a Mountain Girl
2016Movie
Self / Loretta Lynn
Bloodline
2015TV
Sally Rayburn
Off Camera with Sam Jones
2014TV
Self
Making Badlands
2013Movie
Self
Deadfall
2012Movie
June
A Night at the Movies: The Horrors of Stephen King
2011Movie
Self (archive footage)
The Help
2011Movie
Missus Walters
Get Low
2010Movie
Mattie Darrow
Appalachia: A History of Mountains and People
2009TV
Four Christmases
2008Movie
Paula
Lake City
2008Movie
Maggie
Pictures of Hollis Woods
2007Movie
Josie Cahill
Hot Rod
2007Movie
Marie Powell
Gray Matters
2007Movie
Dr. Sydney
Big Love
2006TV
Marilyn Densham
Nine Lives
2005Movie
Ruth
An American Haunting
2005Movie
Lucy Bell
The Ring Two
2005Movie
Evelyn
North Country
2005Movie
Alice Aimes
A Home at the End of the World
2004Movie
Alice Glover
Absence of Malick
2003Movie
Self
A Decade Under the Influence
2003Movie
Self
Tuck Everlasting
2002Movie
Mae Tuck
Rosy-Fingered Dawn: A Film on Terrence Malick
2002Movie
Self
Last Call
2002Movie
Zelda Fitzgerald
In the Bedroom
2001Movie
Ruth Fowler
Acting 'Carrie'
2001Movie
Self
Visualizing 'Carrie'
2001Movie
Self (archive footage)
Midwives
2001Movie
Sibyl Danforth
Songs In Ordinary Time
2000Movie
Marie Fermoyle
The Straight Story
1999Movie
Rose
The Rage: Carrie 2
1999Movie
Carrie White (archive footage) (uncredited)
Blast from the Past
1999Movie
Helen
Affliction
1998Movie
Margie Fogg
The View
1997TV
Self
The Grass Harp
1996Movie
Verena Talbo
If These Walls Could Talk
1996Movie
Barbara Barrows
Beyond the Call
1996Movie
Pam O'Brien
The Rosie O'Donnell Show
1996TV
Self - Guest
Streets of Laredo
1995TV
Lorena
Thomas Jefferson: A View from the Mountain
1995TV
Martha Jefferson Randolph (voice)
The Good Old Boys
1995Movie
Spring Renfro
Inside the Actors Studio
1994TV
Self
A Place for Annie
1994Movie
Susan Lansing
Trading Mom
1994Movie
Mommy / Mama / Mom / Natasha
Beyond JFK: The Question of Conspiracy
1993Movie
Self
A Private Matter
1992Movie
Sherri Finkbine
Shelley Duvall's Bedtime Stories
1992TV
Narrator (voice)
Hard Promises
1992Movie
Christine Ann Coalter
Fonda on Fonda
1992Movie
Self - The 53rd Annual Academy Awards (archive footage)
JFK
1991Movie
Liz Garrison
The Talking Eggs
1991Movie
Narrator (voice)
Voices That Care
1991Movie
Self - Choir Member
The Long Walk Home
1990Movie
Miriam Thompson
Seitenblicke
1987TV
self
Crimes of the Heart
1986Movie
Babe Magrath
'night, Mother
1986Movie
Jessie Cates
Violets Are Blue
1986Movie
Augusta "Gussie" Sawyer
Marie: A True Story
1985Movie
Marie Ragghianti
The River
1984Movie
Mae Garvey
The Man with Two Brains
1983Movie
Anne Uumellmahaye (uncredited) (voice)
Missing
1982Movie
Beth Horman
Raggedy Man
1981Movie
Nita
Heart Beat
1980Movie
Carolyn Cassady
Coal Miner's Daughter
1980Movie
Loretta Lynn
Verna: USO Girl
1978Movie
Verna Vane
Rolling Stone Magazine: The 10th Anniversary
1977Movie
Self
3 Women
1977Movie
Mildred "Pinky" Rose
Welcome to L.A.
1976Movie
Linda Murray
Carrie
1976Movie
Carrie
Saturday Night Live
1975TV
Self - Host
Katherine
1975Movie
Katherine Alman
Les Rendez-vous du dimanche
1975TV
Self
Ginger in the Morning
1974Movie
Ginger Brown
The Migrants
1974Movie
Wanda Trimpin
Badlands
1973Movie
Holly Sargis
The Girls of Huntington House
1973Movie
Sara
The Waltons
1972TV
The Rookies
1972TV
Prime Cut
1972Movie
Poppy
Film '72
1971TV
Self
Great Performances
1971TV
Verna Vane
The Merv Griffin Show
1962TV
Self
The Oscars
1953TV
Self
Hallmark Hall of Fame
1951TV
Susan Lansing
A Woman in the Sun
Movie