Sissy Spacek
Biography
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.
Known For

Saturday Night Live

The View

Great Performances

The Waltons

The Rookies

The Merv Griffin Show

Big Love

Castle Rock
All Movies (73)
- Love Letter to Texas2026 · as Narrator
- Die My Love2025 · as Pam
- Henry Fonda for President2025 · as Self (archive footage)
- Sam & Kate2022 · as Tina
- Without Getting Killed or Caught2021 · as Narrator / Voice of Susanna Clark (voice)
- The Old Man & the Gun2018 · as Jewel
- HyperNormalisation2016 · as Self (archive footage)
- River of Gold2016 · as Narrator
- Loretta Lynn: Still a Mountain Girl2016 · as Self / Loretta Lynn
- Making Badlands2013 · as Self
- Deadfall2012 · as June
- The Help2011 · as Missus Walters
- Get Low2010 · as Mattie Darrow
- Four Christmases2008 · as Paula
- Lake City2008 · as Maggie
- Pictures of Hollis Woods2007 · as Josie Cahill
- Hot Rod2007 · as Marie Powell
- Gray Matters2007 · as Dr. Sydney
- Nine Lives2005 · as Ruth
- An American Haunting2005 · as Lucy Bell
- The Ring Two2005 · as Evelyn
- North Country2005 · as Alice Aimes
- A Home at the End of the World2004 · as Alice Glover
- Absence of Malick2003 · as Self
- A Decade Under the Influence2003 · as Self
- Tuck Everlasting2002 · as Mae Tuck
- Rosy-Fingered Dawn: A Film on Terrence Malick2002 · as Self
- Last Call2002 · as Zelda Fitzgerald
- In the Bedroom2001 · as Ruth Fowler
- Acting 'Carrie'2001 · as Self
- Visualizing 'Carrie'2001 · as Self (archive footage)
- Midwives2001 · as Sibyl Danforth
- Songs In Ordinary Time2000 · as Marie Fermoyle
- The Straight Story1999 · as Rose
- The Rage: Carrie 21999 · as Carrie White (archive footage) (uncredited)
- Blast from the Past1999 · as Helen
- Affliction1998 · as Margie Fogg
- The Grass Harp1996 · as Verena Talbo
- If These Walls Could Talk1996 · as Barbara Barrows
- Beyond the Call1996 · as Pam O'Brien
- The Good Old Boys1995 · as Spring Renfro
- A Place for Annie1994 · as Susan Lansing
- Trading Mom1994 · as Mommy / Mama / Mom / Natasha
- Beyond JFK: The Question of Conspiracy1993 · as Self
- A Private Matter1992 · as Sherri Finkbine
- Hard Promises1992 · as Christine Ann Coalter
- Fonda on Fonda1992 · as Self - The 53rd Annual Academy Awards (archive footage)
- JFK1991 · as Liz Garrison
- The Talking Eggs1991 · as Narrator (voice)
- Voices That Care1991 · as Self - Choir Member
- The Long Walk Home1990 · as Miriam Thompson
- Crimes of the Heart1986 · as Babe Magrath
- 'night, Mother1986 · as Jessie Cates
- Violets Are Blue1986 · as Augusta "Gussie" Sawyer
- Marie: A True Story1985 · as Marie Ragghianti
- The River1984 · as Mae Garvey
- The Man with Two Brains1983 · as Anne Uumellmahaye (uncredited) (voice)
- Missing1982 · as Beth Horman
- Raggedy Man1981 · as Nita
- Heart Beat1980 · as Carolyn Cassady
- Coal Miner's Daughter1980 · as Loretta Lynn
- Verna: USO Girl1978 · as Verna Vane
- Rolling Stone Magazine: The 10th Anniversary1977 · as Self
- 3 Women1977 · as Mildred "Pinky" Rose
- Welcome to L.A.1976 · as Linda Murray
- Carrie1976 · as Carrie
- Katherine1975 · as Katherine Alman
- Ginger in the Morning1974 · as Ginger Brown
- The Migrants1974 · as Wanda Trimpin
- Badlands1974 · as Holly Sargis
- The Girls of Huntington House1973 · as Sara
- Prime Cut1972 · as Poppy
- A Woman in the Sun—
All TV Shows (24)
- Dying for Sex2025 · as Gail
- Night Sky2022 · as Irene York
- Homecoming2018 · as Ellen Bergman
- Castle Rock2018 · as Ruth Deaver
- GQ Presents: Iconic Characters2018 · as Self
- Bloodline2015 · as Sally Rayburn
- Off Camera with Sam Jones2014 · as Self
- Appalachia: A History of Mountains and People2009
- Big Love2006 · as Marilyn Densham
- The View1997 · as Self
- The Rosie O'Donnell Show1996 · as Self - Guest
- Streets of Laredo1995 · as Lorena
- Thomas Jefferson: A View from the Mountain1995 · as Martha Jefferson Randolph (voice)
- Inside the Actors Studio1994 · as Self
- Shelley Duvall's Bedtime Stories1992 · as Narrator (voice)
- Seitenblicke1987 · as self
- Saturday Night Live1975 · as Self - Host
- Les Rendez-vous du dimanche1975 · as Self
- The Waltons1972
- The Rookies1972
- Great Performances1971 · as Verna Vane
- The Merv Griffin Show1962 · as Self
- The Oscars1953 · as Self
- Hallmark Hall of Fame1951 · as Susan Lansing