Sissy Spacek
- Known for
- Acting
- Born
- December 25, 1949
- Birthplace
- Quitman, Texas, USA
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
- A Woman in the Sun
A Woman in the Sun TBA
Actor
- The Catch
The Catch 2027
Actor
Love Letter to Texas 2026
as Narrator
Die My Love 2025
as Pam
Henry Fonda for President 2025
as Self (archive footage)
Sam & Kate 2022
as Tina
Without Getting Killed or Caught 2021
as Narrator / Voice of Susanna Clark (voice)
The Old Man & the Gun 2018
as Jewel
HyperNormalisation 2016
as Self (archive footage)
River of Gold 2016
as Narrator
Loretta Lynn: Still a Mountain Girl 2016
as Self / Loretta Lynn
Making Badlands 2013
as Self
Deadfall 2012
as June
A Night at the Movies: The Horrors of Stephen King 2011
as Self (archive footage)
The Help 2011
as Missus Walters
Get Low 2010
as Mattie Darrow
Four Christmases 2008
as Paula
Lake City 2008
as Maggie
Pictures of Hollis Woods 2007
as Josie Cahill
Hot Rod 2007
as Marie Powell
Gray Matters 2007
as Dr. Sydney
Nine Lives 2005
as Ruth
An American Haunting 2005
as Lucy Bell
The Ring Two 2005
as Evelyn
North Country 2005
as Alice Aimes
A Home at the End of the World 2004
as Alice Glover
Absence of Malick 2003
as Self
A Decade Under the Influence 2003
as Self
Tuck Everlasting 2002
as Mae Tuck
Rosy-Fingered Dawn: A Film on Terrence Malick 2002
as Self
Last Call 2002
as Zelda Fitzgerald
In the Bedroom 2001
as Ruth Fowler
Visualizing 'Carrie' 2001
as Self (archive footage)
Acting 'Carrie' 2001
as Self
Midwives 2001
as Sibyl Danforth
Songs In Ordinary Time 2000
as Marie Fermoyle
The Straight Story 1999
as Rose
The Rage: Carrie 2 1999
as Carrie White (archive footage) (uncredited)
Blast from the Past 1999
as Helen
Affliction 1998
as Margie Fogg
Eye of God 1997
Thanks
The Grass Harp 1996
as Verena Talbo
If These Walls Could Talk 1996
as Barbara Barrows
Beyond the Call 1996
as Pam O'Brien
The Good Old Boys 1995
as Spring Renfro
A Place for Annie 1994
as Susan Lansing
Trading Mom 1994
as Mommy / Mama / Mom / Natasha
Beyond JFK: The Question of Conspiracy 1993
as Self
A Private Matter 1992
as Sherri Finkbine
Hard Promises 1992
as Christine Ann Coalter
Fonda on Fonda 1992
as Self - The 53rd Annual Academy Awards (archive footage)
JFK 1991
as Liz Garrison
- The Talking Eggs
The Talking Eggs 1991
as Narrator (voice)
Voices That Care 1991
as Self - Choir Member
The Long Walk Home 1990
as Miriam Thompson
Crimes of the Heart 1986
as Babe Magrath
'night, Mother 1986
as Jessie Cates
Violets Are Blue 1986
as Augusta "Gussie" Sawyer
Marie: A True Story 1985
as Marie Ragghianti
The River 1984
as Mae Garvey
The Man with Two Brains 1983
as Anne Uumellmahaye (uncredited) (voice)
Missing 1982
as Beth Horman
Raggedy Man 1981
as Nita
Heart Beat 1980
as Carolyn Cassady
Coal Miner's Daughter 1980
as Loretta Lynn
Verna: USO Girl 1978
as Verna Vane
Death Game 1977
Set Dresser
3 Women 1977
as Mildred "Pinky" Rose
Welcome to L.A. 1976
as Linda Murray
Carrie 1976
as Carrie
Katherine 1975
as Katherine Alman
Phantom of the Paradise 1974
Set Dresser
Ginger in the Morning 1974
as Ginger Brown, Songs
The Migrants 1974
as Wanda Trimpin
Badlands 1973
as Holly Sargis
The Girls of Huntington House 1973
as Sara
Prime Cut 1972
as Poppy
Credits from TMDB.