Sissy Spacek
Acting • Born 1949-12-25
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.
Filmography
95 credits
The Straight Story
Movie • 1999
Rose
An American Haunting
Movie • 2005
Lucy Bell
JFK
Movie • 1991
Liz Garrison
Badlands
Movie • 1974
Holly Sargis
Hot Rod
Movie • 2007
Marie Powell
The Ring Two
Movie • 2005
Evelyn
In the Bedroom
Movie • 2001
Ruth Fowler
Acting 'Carrie'
Movie • 2001
Self
Carrie
Movie • 1976
Carrie
Blast from the Past
Movie • 1999
Helen
Affliction
Movie • 1998
Margie Fogg
Visualizing 'Carrie'
Movie • 2001
Self (archive footage)
Four Christmases
Movie • 2008
Paula
Prime Cut
Movie • 1972
Poppy
North Country
Movie • 2005
Alice Aimes
'night, Mother
Movie • 1986
Jessie Cates
Tuck Everlasting
Movie • 2002
Mae Tuck
If These Walls Could Talk
Movie • 1996
Barbara Barrows
Trading Mom
Movie • 1994
Mommy / Mama / Mom / Natasha
3 Women
Movie • 1977
Mildred "Pinky" Rose
Lake City
Movie • 2008
Maggie
Missing
Movie • 1982
Beth Horman
Nine Lives
Movie • 2005
Ruth
Get Low
Movie • 2010
Mattie Darrow
Voices That Care
Movie • 1991
Self - Choir Member
The River
Movie • 1984
Mae Garvey
Coal Miner's Daughter
Movie • 1980
Loretta Lynn
The Grass Harp
Movie • 1996
Verena Talbo
Crimes of the Heart
Movie • 1986
Babe Magrath
A Home at the End of the World
Movie • 2004
Alice Glover
The Help
Movie • 2011
Missus Walters
The Long Walk Home
Movie • 1990
Miriam Thompson
A Place for Annie
Movie • 1994
Susan Lansing
Welcome to L.A.
Movie • 1976
Linda Murray
Marie: A True Story
Movie • 1985
Marie Ragghianti
Raggedy Man
Movie • 1981
Nita
Deadfall
Movie • 2012
June
Hard Promises
Movie • 1992
Christine Ann Coalter
A Private Matter
Movie • 1992
Sherri Finkbine
Midwives
Movie • 2001
Sibyl Danforth
Songs In Ordinary Time
Movie • 2000
Marie Fermoyle
Last Call
Movie • 2002
Zelda Fitzgerald
Beyond the Call
Movie • 1996
Pam O'Brien
Ginger in the Morning
Movie • 1974
Ginger Brown
Rosy-Fingered Dawn: A Film on Terrence Malick
Movie • 2002
Self
Katherine
Movie • 1975
Katherine Alman
Violets are Blue
Movie • 1986
Augusta "Gussie" Sawyer
The Girls of Huntington House
Movie • 1973
Sara
Heart Beat
Movie • 1980
Carolyn Cassady
The Migrants
Movie • 1974
Wanda Trimpin
The Good Old Boys
Movie • 1995
Spring Renfro
Rolling Stone Magazine: The 10th Anniversary
Movie • 1977
Self
The Rage: Carrie 2
Movie • 1999
Carrie White (archive footage) (uncredited)
Pictures of Hollis Woods
Movie • 2007
Josie Cahill
HyperNormalisation
Movie • 2016
Self (archive footage)
Loretta Lynn: Still a Mountain Girl
Movie • 2016
Self / Loretta Lynn
Verna: USO Girl
Movie • 1978
Verna Vane
The Old Man & the Gun
Movie • 2018
Jewel
Die My Love
Movie • 2025
Pam
The Man with Two Brains
Movie • 1983
Anne Uumellmahaye (uncredited) (voice)
Absence of Malick
Movie • 2003
Self
Making Badlands
Movie • 2013
Self
Without Getting Killed or Caught
Movie • 2021
Narrator / Voice of Susanna Clark (voice)
Gray Matters
Movie • 2007
Dr. Sydney
River of Gold
Movie • 2016
Narrator
Beyond JFK: The Question of Conspiracy
Movie • 1993
Self
Fonda on Fonda
Movie • 1992
Self - The 53rd Annual Academy Awards (archive footage)
Sam & Kate
Movie • 2022
Tina
A Decade Under the Influence
Movie • 2003
Self
The Talking Eggs
Movie • 1991
Narrator (voice)
Henry Fonda for President
Movie • 2025
Self (archive footage)
Inside the Actors Studio
TV • 1994
Self
The Rookies
TV • 1972
The View
TV • 1997
Self
Night Sky
TV • 2022
Irene York
Big Love
TV • 2006
Marilyn Densham
Hallmark Hall of Fame
TV • 1951
Susan Lansing
The Waltons
TV • 1972
The Oscars
TV • 1953
Self
Appalachia: A History of Mountains and People
TV • 2009
Streets of Laredo
TV • 1995
Lorena
Saturday Night Live
TV • 1975
Self - Host
Bloodline
TV • 2015
Sally Rayburn
Thomas Jefferson: A View from the Mountain
TV • 1995
Martha Jefferson Randolph (voice)
Castle Rock
TV • 2018
Ruth Deaver
The Rosie O'Donnell Show
TV • 1996
Self - Guest
Shelley Duvall's Bedtime Stories
TV • 1992
Narrator (voice)
Les Rendez-vous du dimanche
TV • 1975
Self
Homecoming
TV • 2018
Ellen Bergman
Off Camera with Sam Jones
TV • 2014
Self
GQ Presents: Iconic Characters
TV • 2018
Self
Seitenblicke
TV • 1987
self
Great Performances
TV • 1971
Verna Vane
Dying for Sex
TV • 2025
Gail
The Merv Griffin Show
TV • 1962
Self