The inimitable Karen Black

She was a product of her time. Sure she was good but only in the late 60s / early 70s.

I would add the early 80s for Come Back to Five and Dime, Jimmy Dean Jimmy Dean on stage and in the film version.

In Concert

"Come Back to the Five and Dime, Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean," is set in Texas.

KAREN BLACK: That was a very-very difficult role. And I hope to never do it again. When I was sent the script, they first offered me the Kathy Bates part. But I was ecstatic to do Joanne. I first thought of her as a transvestite. But she’s a transsexual, which is not the same at all. So I studied these women. The more you researched, the sadder it got. My character was disappointed with her change. I cried a lot while making that because it was so painful. Because people would have their entire bodies replaced to chase that pot of gold at the end of that rainbow. But when they got there, the pot was empty. There are suicides — and a lot of sad statistics. A transsexual helped me. She’d show me about sitting, smoking and crossing my arms. She’d correct me and say, “No, no, no. That's not right.” It was a difficult Broadway play. I was happier onscreen because Joanne is a quiet person — she thinks a lot. The index of her personality is really not in her behavior, but rather in her perception. So a closer camera suited the character better. And that was a relief.

They really don't make 'em like Karen anymore, do they? She was offbeat, one-of-a-kind, and brilliant in a way that was similar to her peer Shelley Duvall. I can't think of a modern-day equivalent. I always thought it was weird that she was a Scientologist, although I suppose it makes sense given that they prey on people who are a bit mad/off-kilter, espousing all their seemingly 'practical' solutions to the problems of life. Was she actually an active Scientologist up to the end? I recall reading rumors that she'd left some time in the 2000s, but she never really talked about it—come to think of it, she never really discussed it, ever.

r5 A modern day equivalent would be Chloe Sevigny.

Chloe is a fantastic comparison, R6—I don't know why I didn't think of her. She is really the only one today who seems to exist in that same sort of space. I'm a fan of both hers and Karen's for essentially the same reasons—both take/took risks and aren't as calculated and measured as bores like Jessica Chastain or Sandra Bullock. Even when the risks don't pan out, at least something interesting/unusual was strived for.

Karen Black is the only person in history who has worked with the likes of Robert Altman and Alfred Hitchcock, AND appeared in such things as Rob Zombie flicks and Death Grips music video. The polarities there are almost too extreme to fathom, and Karen deserves to be heralded as an icon for that reason alone.

She always reminds me of a B picture Faye Dunaway, but much more likable.

I think the level of crazy is about the same. Faye's just meaner.

You're right, R9, although I've never read any accounts of Karen having been mean in the slightest. She seemed like a nice, albeit inarguably kooky, lady. Faye, on the other hand, is a vainglorious cunt who, unlike Karen, will not be the subject of fond DL threads such as this one, but rather threads that rehash all of the innumerable ways in which she was a vainglorious cunt.

That is a brilliant analysis of her character, Joanne is JIMMY DEAN (and amazing her perception as to why creating the character was much more suited to the camera's scrutiny, rather than the size of a Broadway stage. It also says much about the never allowed to be spoken danger of transitioning. We'll read a lot about this disappointment in the years to come.

If you read interviews with her, it's clear she was a very adept, intellectual woman. She had a nutty aura about her that might have made her appear otherwise, but I believe she was highly intelligent.

Karen reportedly did not get along with Cher on Jimmy Dean.

Really, R13? Never heard this before. I can't necessarily blame her.

Karen claimed for years that Day of the Locust ruined her career; not because of her performance, but because apparently there was some sort of squabble within the studio involving her. She never stated what was said about her or the "gossip" she claimed was circling around her, but she alleged that it ended in her being blackballed by major studios. The timing does add up, because after 1975 she started doing horror flicks and random indies and international films. It's sad that Day of the Locust was such a bad experience, because she is absolutely fucking brilliant in it. I am a massive fan of the Nathanael West novel—I even wrote my M.A. thesis on it—and she captured the character of Faye in a way that was uncanny.

I know she always bucked the horror icon title, but she really was incredible in Trilogy of Terror. She was one of those true character actors that disappeared into roles, and in Trilogy of Terror we got to see her do it three times in one movie.

She had a strange haircut in Henry Jaglom's Can She Bake a Cherry Pie? and did a cameo for him in the generally unwatchable Hollywood Dreams, where she has a funny scene with Melissa Leo.

I always hoped that Connie White in Nashville was just Rayette from Five Easy Pieces who had gone on to success with her singing.

Love her as Rayette. She had a lot of heart and a lot of hair! Her look was so specifically late 60’s. DL should have a thread about 5 Ez pieces, so much about class and culture it is. The scenes at the old family home were so bizarrely WASPy eccentric yet oppressed.

She was a little nonplussed when she found out that a band had named themselves after her.

R13 where did you hear she did not get on with Cher?

This interview definitely highlights her eccentricity. I think she was possibly playing it up more for the camera, but maybe not.

I loved her in “The Strange Possession of Mrs. Oliver.”

R21 In "Robert Altman: The Oral Biography", Cher says, "Sandy and I were really close friends. Karen and I never got along." (page 378)

R24 It just goes to show what an illusion Hollywood is because if you google pics today them together, they look like good friends.

I often hear people comment on how homely she was, but I've always regarded her as having had a strange beauty.

Here is a photo of Karen with Sandy, Cher, and Robert Altman. Cher looks like the only person excessively happy to be there.

Sandy looks pretty there.

Cher's friendship with Sandy didn't stop her from claiming she had the lead role in the film and deserved the Oscar nomination, when it is hoped that Sandy would get one.

Karen in Jimmy Dean. Pauline Kael wrote that Karen did her best screen work to date in the film.

I thought she was exquisite in The Great Gatsby

Did she ever play a 'normal' character, like a suburban mom or a district attorney or something?

"The stewardess is flying the plane!!!"

She was attractive R26, the problem was that she appeared to have one eye in the center of her forehead...

An incredible, iconic actress. So iconic there was an incredible band named after her, The Voluptuous Horror of Karen Black.

She is so articulate and intelligent and funny in her late career interviews. Saw her at The Castro when they showed Jimmy Dean about 8 years ago. Even on her deathbed, she gave an interview with a friend which is sad but made me think she would be a great friend.

She had terrible teeth.

Another great interview shortly before she was diagnosed with cancer

She had the best role in Jimmy Dean and gave a great performance. The other characters seemed like exhausted cliches pirated from Tennessee Williams and William Inge to me.