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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
Movies and shows, newest first
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2027
The Catch
Movie
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2026
Love Letter to Texas
Movie Narrator
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2025
Die My Love
Movie Pam
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2025
Dying for Sex
TV show Gail
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2025
Henry Fonda for President
Movie Self (archive footage)
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2022
Sam & Kate
Movie Tina
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2022
Night Sky
TV show Irene York
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2021
Without Getting Killed or Caught
Movie Narrator / Voice of Susanna Clark (voice)
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2018
Homecoming
TV show Ellen Bergman
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2018
The Old Man & the Gun
Movie Jewel
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2018
Castle Rock
TV show Ruth Deaver
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2018
GQ Presents: Iconic Characters
TV show Self
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2016
HyperNormalisation
Movie Self (archive footage)
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2016
River of Gold
Movie Narrator
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2016
Loretta Lynn: Still a Mountain Girl
Movie Self / Loretta Lynn
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2015
Bloodline
TV show Sally Rayburn
More credits
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2014
Off Camera with Sam Jones
TV show Self
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2013
Making Badlands
Movie Self
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2012
Deadfall
Movie June
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2011
A Night at the Movies: The Horrors of Stephen King
Movie Self (archive footage)
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2011
The Help
Movie Missus Walters
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2010
Get Low
Movie Mattie Darrow
- 2009
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2008
Four Christmases
Movie Paula
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2008
Lake City
Movie Maggie
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2007
Pictures of Hollis Woods
Movie Josie Cahill
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2007
Hot Rod
Movie Marie Powell
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2007
Gray Matters
Movie Dr. Sydney
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2006
Big Love
TV show Marilyn Densham
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2005
Nine Lives
Movie Ruth
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2005
An American Haunting
Movie Lucy Bell
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2005
The Ring Two
Movie Evelyn
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2005
North Country
Movie Alice Aimes
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2004
A Home at the End of the World
Movie Alice Glover
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2003
Absence of Malick
Movie Self
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2003
A Decade Under the Influence
Movie Self
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2002
Tuck Everlasting
Movie Mae Tuck
- 2002
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2002
Last Call
Movie Zelda Fitzgerald
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2001
In the Bedroom
Movie Ruth Fowler