Sissy Spacek Movies
Strawberry blonde, freckle-faced, and willowy, Sissy Spacek was among the most popular female stars of the late '70s and '80s. The Texas born and bred actress originally aspired to become a singer, and, after heading east to New York, got her start singing at coffee houses in Greenwich Village. Billing herself as "Rainbo," Spacek also cut a single, "Johnny, You Went Too Far This Time." On the side, she earned money by recording backup vocals on television commercials.When the acting bug bit, Spacek enrolled at the Lee Strasberg Theatrical Institute. While she technically made her film debut as an extra in Andy Warhol's Trash (1971), her official debut is listed as Michael Ritchie's Prime Cut (1972). The actress' first crack at stardom came in 1973, when she played a teenage accomplice to ruthless cross-country killer Martin Sheen in Terrence Malick's disturbing Badlands. The role earned her critical acclaim, as did her portrayal of a sweet teen who becomes a violent radical in the made-for-television movie Katherine (1975).
Spacek's true breakthrough came when she played a troubled, shy teenager who discovers that she has telekinetic powers and uses them to get bloody revenge upon her cruel schoolmates and mother in Brian De Palma's chilling adaptation of Stephen King's novel Carrie (1976). Her work in the film earned her a Best Actress nomination, as well as permanent cult status. She once again experimented with emotional instability in Robert Altman's Three Women the following year, and then got to show off her singing abilities playing Loretta Lynn in Coal Miner's Daughter in 1980. Her portrayal of Lynn became one of Spacek's best-known roles, and it earned her an Oscar for Best Actress.
In 1981, Spacek starred in Raggedy Man, which was directed by her husband, Jack Fisk. Her career remained in high gear through the mid-'80s with such memorable turns as her Oscar-nominated work in Missing (1982) and The River (1984), but after 1986, when she was again nominated for an Oscar for her work in Crimes of the Heart, Spacek partially withdrew from acting to concentrate on raising kids. Throughout the 1990s, she occasionally returned to the big screen, lending her talents to such features as JFK (1991), The Grass Harp (1996), and Affliction (1998). In 1999, she turned in memorable performances playing Brendan Fraser's mother in Blast From the Past and Richard Farnsworth's speech-impaired daughter in David Lynch's The Straight Story. In 2001 the quietly intense actress shined once again in director Todd Field's critically praised In the Bedroom. Suffering from severe trauma and depression after her son is viciously murdered, Spacek's brooding and sympathetic performance in Bedroom found the actress taking home a Golden Globe for Best Actress and earning an Oscar nod in the same category. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1974
This made-for-TV drama focuses on the plight of a family of migratory farm workers. The film was Emmy-nominated as "Outstanding Drama" of the 1974 season. Nominations also went to director Tom Gries, actress Cloris Leachman, cinematographer Dick Kratina and composer Billy Goldenberg. ~ Brian Gusse, All Movie Guide
- 1973
- PG
Veteran art director Gordon Wiles occasionally wielded the directorial megaphone in both films and television with mixed results. Ginger in the Morning is an aggressively "small" picture, its success or failure totally reliant on the rapport between its stars. A young Sissy Spacek plays the title character, a gangly teenaged hitchhiker who thumbs a ride from travelling salesman Joe (Monte Markham). He is drawn to her free-spirited outlook on life. She, in turn, is attracted by his conservative, old-fashioned values. Nothing much happens, but the scenery is lovely and the leading players seem to be having a good time. Also appearing in the all-TV supporting cast are Susan Oliver, Mark Miller and Slim Pickens. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1973
Seeking solitude to write his stories, John-Boy (Richard Thomas) takes a hike into the mountains. But peace and quiet is not on his schedule when he comes across his friend Sarah Simmonds (Sissy Spacek in her second series appearance), who has run away from her husband--and who is very pregnant and very, very ill. This chance meeting occurs not long after an earlier encounter between John-Boy and elderly mountain dweller Granny Ketchum (Frances Williams), who in repayment for a favor had supplied him with a home-made medicinal potion. When Sarah downs the potion, she suddenly goes into labor...and John-Boy is the only person within miles who can help her! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
"He wanted to die with me and I dreamed of being lost forever in his arms." A young couple goes on a Midwest crime spree in Terrence Malick's hypnotically assured debut feature, based on the 1950s Starkweather-Fugate murders. Fancying himself a rebel like James Dean, twentysomething Kit (Martin Sheen) takes off with teen baton-twirler Holly (Sissy Spacek) after shooting her father (Warren Oates) when he tries to split the pair up. Once bounty hunters discover their riverside hiding place, Kit and Holly head toward Saskatchewan, leaving dead bodies in their wake. As the law closes in, however, Holly gives herself up -- but Kit doesn't hold it against her, as he basks in his new status as a momentary folk hero. Inaugurating the use of voice-over narration that he would continue in Days of Heaven (1978) and The Thin Red Line (1998), Malick juxtaposes Holly's flat readings of her flowery romance-novel diary prose with the banal and surreal details of their journey. Singularly inarticulate with each other, Kit and Holly are more intrigued by mythic celebrity gestures, as Holly peruses her fan magazines and Kit commemorates key moments before orchestrating a properly dramatic capture for himself (complete with the right hat). The sublime visuals lend a dreamlike beauty to the couple's trip even as their actions are treated casually; Malick neither glamorizes Kit and Holly nor consigns them to the bloody end of their fame-fixated predecessors in Bonnie and Clyde (1967). With the couple's opaque dialogue and Holly's fanzine dream narration, Malick further denies an easy explanation for their crimes. Made for under 500,000 dollars, Badlands debuted at the 1973 New York Film Festival, along with Martin Scorsese's Mean Streets, and was released within months of two other outlaw-couple road movies, Steven Spielberg's The Sugarland Express and Robert Altman's Thieves Like Us. Although Badlands did not make an impression at the box office, its pictorial splendor and cool yet disquieting narrative established Malick as one of the most compelling artists to come out of early-'70s Hollywood. ~ Lucia Bozzola, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Martin Sheen, Sissy Spacek, (more)
- 1973
Made for television, Girls of Huntington House stars Shirley Jones as schoolteacher Anne Baldwin. Working at a school for unwed mothers, Anne finds she can't keep her professional life and personal life separate. With no children of her own, she becomes deeply involved in the trials and tribulations of her students. This leads to profound emotional difficulties for all concerned. Adapted from a novel by Blossom Elfman, The Girls of Huntington House first aired February 14, 1973, as an ABC Movie of the Week. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1973
In her first Waltons appearance, future Oscar winner Sissy Spacek) is cast as Sarah, the sheltered daughter of hyper-religious Widow Simmonds (Allyn Ann McLerie). In a desperate attempt to emerge from her shell, Sarah all but throws herself upon John-Boy (Richard Thomas). He gently resists her romantic overtures, whereupon Sarah takes up with a callow "townie" named Theodore Claypool Jr. (Nicholas Hammond]), the son of a wealthy businessman. Ultimately, Sarah and Theodore elope--and both her mother and his father hold John-Boy responsible for this catastrophe! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Michael Ritchie, better known for his gentle satires of American social institutions, enters Don Siegel territory in the unusual crime thriller Prime Cut. Lee Marvin is surly collection agent Nick Devlin, who is hired by Chicago racketeer Jake (Eddie Egan) to collect an overdue payment from Kansas cattle baron Mary Ann (yes, Mary Ann!) (Gene Hackman). When Devlin travels west to get Jake's money from Mary Ann, he finds the cattle king mixed up in complex drug deals and pimping wild women -- two of which are Poppy and Violet (Sissy Spacek and Janit Baldwin -- both in their film debuts). ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Lee Marvin, Gene Hackman, (more)
