Sissy Spacek

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 (96 Appearances)

Love Letter to Texas

2026

Die My Love

2025

Dying for Sex

2025

Henry Fonda for President

2025

Sam & Kate

2022

Night Sky

2022

Without Getting Killed or Caught

2021

Homecoming

2018

The Old Man & the Gun

2018

Castle Rock

2018

GQ Presents: Iconic Characters

2018

HyperNormalisation

2016

River of Gold

2016

Loretta Lynn: Still a Mountain Girl

2016

Bloodline

2015

Off Camera with Sam Jones

2014

Making Badlands

2013

Deadfall

2012

The Help

2011

Get Low

2010

Appalachia: A History of Mountains and People

2009

Four Christmases

2008

Lake City

2008

Pictures of Hollis Woods

2007

Hot Rod

2007

Gray Matters

2007

Big Love

2006

Nine Lives

2005

An American Haunting

2005

The Ring Two

2005

North Country

2005

A Home at the End of the World

2004

Absence of Malick

2003

A Decade Under the Influence

2003

Tuck Everlasting

2002

Rosy-Fingered Dawn: A Film on Terrence Malick

2002

Last Call

2002

In the Bedroom

2001

Acting 'Carrie'

2001

Visualizing 'Carrie'

2001

Midwives

2001

Songs In Ordinary Time

2000

The Straight Story

1999

The Rage: Carrie 2

1999

Blast from the Past

1999

Affliction

1998

The View

1997

The Grass Harp

1996

If These Walls Could Talk

1996

Beyond the Call

1996

The Rosie O'Donnell Show

1996

Streets of Laredo

1995

Thomas Jefferson: A View from the Mountain

1995

The Good Old Boys

1995

Inside the Actors Studio

1994

A Place for Annie

1994

Trading Mom

1994

Beyond JFK: The Question of Conspiracy

1993

A Private Matter

1992

Shelley Duvall's Bedtime Stories

1992

Hard Promises

1992

Fonda on Fonda

1992

JFK

1991

The Talking Eggs

1991

Voices That Care

1991

The Long Walk Home

1990

Seitenblicke

1987

Crimes of the Heart

1986

'night, Mother

1986

Violets Are Blue

1986

Marie: A True Story

1985

The River

1984

The Man with Two Brains

1983

Missing

1982

Raggedy Man

1981

Heart Beat

1980

Coal Miner's Daughter

1980

Verna: USO Girl

1978

Rolling Stone Magazine: The 10th Anniversary

1977

3 Women

1977

Welcome to L.A.

1976

Carrie

1976

Saturday Night Live

1975

Katherine

1975

Les Rendez-vous du dimanche

1975

Ginger in the Morning

1974

The Migrants

1974

Badlands

1974

The Girls of Huntington House

1973

The Waltons

1972

The Rookies

1972

Prime Cut

1972 Debut

Great Performances

1971

The Merv Griffin Show

1962

The Oscars

1953

Hallmark Hall of Fame

1951
Back to top