Acting · Quitman, Texas, USA · Born December 25, 1949
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.
The Catch
2027
MovieLove Letter to Texas
2026
as Narrator
MovieDie My Love
2025
as Pam
TVDying for Sex
2025
as Gail
MovieHenry Fonda for President
2025
as Self (archive footage)
MovieSam & Kate
2022
as Tina
TVNight Sky
2022
as Irene York
MovieWithout Getting Killed or Caught
2021
as Narrator / Voice of Susanna Clark (voice)
TVHomecoming
2018
as Ellen Bergman
MovieThe Old Man & the Gun
2018
as Jewel
TVCastle Rock
2018
as Ruth Deaver
TVGQ Presents: Iconic Characters
2018
as Self
MovieHyperNormalisation
2016
as Self (archive footage)
MovieRiver of Gold
2016
as Narrator
MovieLoretta Lynn: Still a Mountain Girl
2016
as Self / Loretta Lynn
TVBloodline
2015
as Sally Rayburn
TVOff Camera with Sam Jones
2014
as Self
MovieMaking Badlands
2013
as Self
MovieDeadfall
2012
as June
MovieThe Help
2011
as Missus Walters
MovieGet Low
2010
as Mattie Darrow
TVAppalachia: A History of Mountains and People
2009
MovieFour Christmases
2008
as Paula
MovieLake City
2008
as Maggie
MoviePictures of Hollis Woods
2007
as Josie Cahill
MovieHot Rod
2007
as Marie Powell
MovieGray Matters
2007
as Dr. Sydney
TVBig Love
2006
as Marilyn Densham
MovieNine Lives
2005
as Ruth
MovieAn American Haunting
2005
as Lucy Bell
MovieThe Ring Two
2005
as Evelyn
MovieNorth Country
2005
as Alice Aimes
MovieA Home at the End of the World
2004
as Alice Glover
MovieAbsence of Malick
2003
as Self
MovieA Decade Under the Influence
2003
as Self
MovieTuck Everlasting
2002
as Mae Tuck
MovieRosy-Fingered Dawn: A Film on Terrence Malick
2002
as Self
MovieLast Call
2002
as Zelda Fitzgerald
MovieIn the Bedroom
2001
as Ruth Fowler
MovieActing 'Carrie'
2001
as Self
MovieVisualizing 'Carrie'
2001
as Self (archive footage)
MovieMidwives
2001
as Sibyl Danforth
MovieSongs In Ordinary Time
2000
as Marie Fermoyle
MovieThe Straight Story
1999
as Rose
MovieThe Rage: Carrie 2
1999
as Carrie White (archive footage) (uncredited)
MovieBlast from the Past
1999
as Helen
MovieAffliction
1998
as Margie Fogg
TVThe View
1997
as Self
MovieThe Grass Harp
1996
as Verena Talbo
MovieIf These Walls Could Talk
1996
as Barbara Barrows
MovieBeyond the Call
1996
as Pam O'Brien
TVThe Rosie O'Donnell Show
1996
as Self - Guest
TVStreets of Laredo
1995
as Lorena
TVThomas Jefferson: A View from the Mountain
1995
as Martha Jefferson Randolph (voice)
MovieThe Good Old Boys
1995
as Spring Renfro
TVInside the Actors Studio
1994
as Self
MovieA Place for Annie
1994
as Susan Lansing
MovieTrading Mom
1994
as Mommy / Mama / Mom / Natasha
MovieBeyond JFK: The Question of Conspiracy
1993
as Self
MovieA Private Matter
1992
as Sherri Finkbine
TVShelley Duvall's Bedtime Stories
1992
as Narrator (voice)
MovieHard Promises
1992
as Christine Ann Coalter
MovieFonda on Fonda
1992
as Self - The 53rd Annual Academy Awards (archive footage)
MovieJFK
1991
as Liz Garrison
The Talking Eggs
1991
as Narrator (voice)
MovieVoices That Care
1991
as Self - Choir Member
MovieThe Long Walk Home
1990
as Miriam Thompson
Seitenblicke
1987
as self
MovieCrimes of the Heart
1986
as Babe Magrath
Movie'night, Mother
1986
as Jessie Cates
MovieViolets Are Blue
1986
as Augusta "Gussie" Sawyer
MovieMarie: A True Story
1985
as Marie Ragghianti
MovieThe River
1984
as Mae Garvey
MovieThe Man with Two Brains
1983
as Anne Uumellmahaye (uncredited) (voice)
MovieMissing
1982
as Beth Horman
MovieRaggedy Man
1981
as Nita
MovieHeart Beat
1980
as Carolyn Cassady
MovieCoal Miner's Daughter
1980
as Loretta Lynn
MovieVerna: USO Girl
1978
as Verna Vane
MovieRolling Stone Magazine: The 10th Anniversary
1977
as Self
Movie3 Women
1977
as Mildred "Pinky" Rose
MovieWelcome to L.A.
1976
as Linda Murray
MovieCarrie
1976
as Carrie
TVSaturday Night Live
1975
as Self - Host
MovieKatherine
1975
as Katherine Alman
TVLes Rendez-vous du dimanche
1975
as Self
MovieGinger in the Morning
1974
as Ginger Brown
MovieThe Migrants
1974
as Wanda Trimpin
MovieBadlands
1974
as Holly Sargis
MovieThe Girls of Huntington House
1973
as Sara
TVThe Waltons
1972
TVThe Rookies
1972
MoviePrime Cut
1972
as Poppy
Film '72
1971
as Self
TVGreat Performances
1971
as Verna Vane
TVThe Merv Griffin Show
1962
as Self
TVThe Oscars
1953
as Self
TVHallmark Hall of Fame
1951
as Susan Lansing
A Woman in the Sun
