Karen Black was an American actress, screenwriter, singer, and songwriter from Illinois. She kicked off her actinâ game in New York City, hittinâ Broadway before landinâ her big film break in Francis Ford Coppolaâs âYouâre a Big Boy Nowâ . She kept it rollinâ with roles in âEasy Riderâ , âFive Easy Piecesâ , and âThe Great Gatsbyâ , snagginâ Golden Globes for Best Supportinâ Actress for the last two and an Oscar nom for âFive Easy Piecesâ.

In 1975, she was in Dan Curtisâs cult horror flicks âTrilogy of Terrorâ and âBurnt Offeringsâ, plus Robert Altmanâs âNashvilleâ and âThe Day of the Locustâ, which got her another Golden Globe nod. Other gigs include âAirport 1975â , Alfred Hitchcockâs âFamily Plotâ , âCome Back to the Five and Dime, Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Deanâ , and Tobe Hooperâs âInvaders from Marsâ .
In the â90s, she leaned into arthouse and horror flicks, writinâ her own scripts too, before poppinâ up in Rob Zombieâs âHouse of 1000 Corpsesâ , which locked in her rep as a cult horror legend. She kept grindinâ in smaller films through the early 2000s and worked as a playwright until she was hit with ampullary cancer in 2010. She passed away from it in Los Angeles in August 2013. With a career spanninâ over 50 years and nearly 200 film credits, Karen Black was an icon.






Full archive of her photos and videos from ICLOUD LEAKS 2026 Here
