Sissy Spacek Biography

Multiple Oscar nominee Sissy Spacek was one of Hollywood's leading actresses in the 1970s and 1980s, initially gaining attention for the startling character transformations of her wide-eyed innocents in "Badlands" (1973) and the blood-drenched "Carrie" (1977). The Texas-bred actress had a penchant for embodying strong, independent women and what she called "ordinary people in extraordinary situations;" both apt descriptions for her portrayals of real life figures like hardscrabble country music star Loretta Lynn in "Coal Miner's Daughter" (1980), and Beth Horman, a woman who took on international forces following the disappearance of her journalist husband in "Missing" (1982). Spacek developed into an earthy, mothering persona who often found her calling in TV movies that explored political or social issues, though she made several notable big screen turns later on in JFK" (1991), "The Straight Story" (1996), "North Country" (2005) and "In The Bedroom" (2001) - the latter of which earning her among the highest accolades of her career for her role as the conflicted and helpless mother of a son violently targeted by his girlfriend's ex.Mary Elizabeth Spacek (dubbed "Sissy" by her older brothers) was born on Christmas day in 1949 and grew up in the north Texas town of Quitman. It was an idyllic small town upbringing, where the young freckled, strawberry blonde girl sang and danced in local talent shows and dreamed of becoming a performer. 

Sissy Spacek cousin Rip Torn was beginning to make a name for himself as an actor in New York and Spacek joined him after her high school graduation and the death of her older brother from leukemia - a traumatic event that underscored the unpredictable nature of life and inspired her to waste no time pursuing her dreams.

Spacek initially landed in New York with her sights set on becoming a singer. For several years, she sang and played guitar in Greenwich Village coffeehouses and landed some paying work singing commercial jingles. Sissy Spacek had a break of sorts when, under the pseudonym Rainbo, she recorded a novelty number called "John, You've Gone Too Far This Time" (about John Lennon posing nude on the Two Virgins album cover). The single failed to chart high and that spelled the end of Rainbo. Spacek decided to next try her hand at acting, taking classes at the famed Lee Strasberg institute and landing an uncredited film role in Andy Warhol's "Trash" (1970).

Sissy Spacek eventually secured an agent and her first substantial movie part as a teenager abducted by a white slavery ring in the lurid "Prime Cut" (1972). Sissy Spacek earthy country-girl looks began to serve her well, especially her several appearances as a spunky love interest to John-Boy Walton (Richard Thomas) in the rural drama, "The Waltons" (CBS, 1972-1981). The same year, she landed attention for her starring role as a naive teenager wo d into an interstate crime spree by her psychopathic garbage man in Terrence Malick's "Badlands" (1973). Inspired by the real-life 1958 case of Charles Starkweather and Caril Ann Fugate, "Badlands" was chilling, beautiful and provocative. While not a box-office hit, it earned the actress a BAFTA nomination and in the years since its release, developed enormous respect. Spacek would joke that she was "not known for making career moves," and thus, did not jump at Hollywood offers as a result of her newfound attention. Plus, she had fallen in love with then fledgling director, Jack Fisk. The couple would marry in 1974.