Biography for
Sissy Spacek More at IMDbPro »

Date of Birth

25 December 1949, Quitman, Texas, USA

Birth Name

Mary Elizabeth Spacek

Height

5' 2" (1.57 m)

Mini Biography

As a kid, Sissy Spacek climbed trees, rode horses, swam, and played in the woods. She was born Mary Elizabeth Spacek on December 25, 1949, in Quitman, Texas. Sissy attended Quitman High School and was homecoming queen, therefore popular, unlike her character in Carrie (1976). After graduating, Sissy embarked on an acting career, gaining interest in the profession through her cousin, actor Rip Torn. She relocated to New York, and through him, enrolled in the New York branch of the Actors Studio. She studied acting at the Lee Strasberg Institute while also pursuing work as a model and singer, appearing in West Village showcases such as the Bitter End for $10 a night. Sissy eventually broke into film and one of her first roles was as Holly in the classic Badlands (1973). The art director on that film was Jack Fisk, with whom she would marry in 1974 and ultimately collaborate on eight films. Sissy followed this landmark film with a star-making and Oscar nominated performance in Carrie (1976), in which she played a humiliated prom queen who goes postal with her telekinesis. Sissy has had an enduring and award winning career in movies and television, which includes an Oscar as Best Actress for Coal Miner's Daughter (1980). The parents of two grown daughters, Sissy and Jack live on a large horse ranch in the foothills of Virginia's Blue Ridge Mountains. Even though she continued to appear in film and television during the late 1980s and 1990s, Sissy devoted most of those years to her family. Then, in 2001, Sissy returned to the big screen in a major way with a powerful performance in In the Bedroom (2001), which not only earned her a sixth Best Actress Oscar nomination, but a win for Best Actress at the Golden Globes, Independent Spirit Awards, and numerous critics association awards.

IMDb Mini Biography By: kdhaisch@aol.com (original edit)

Spouse

Jack Fisk

(12 April 1974 - present) 2 children

Trivia

"Sissy" was a nickname that her brothers used to call her when she was growing up, and it stayed with her.

Not only did she win an Oscar for her performance in Coal Miner's Daughter (1980), but she was nominated for a Grammy for her rendition of the title song in the category Best Country Vocal Performance, Female.

Listed as one of twelve "Promising New Actors of 1976" in John Willis' Screen World, Vol. 28.

She appeared in the music video and sang in the choir on the song "Voices That Care."

Was the first choice to play the daughter in Terms of Endearment (1983).

Released a country LP titled Hangin' Up My Heart on Atlantic Records in 1983.

Decided to skip college after her older brother, Robbie, died at 18 years of age in 1967 from leukemia during her senior year in high school. She decided life was way too short to waste it in four years of college.

Lives on 300 acre farmland named "Beau Val" near Charlottesville, Virginia.

Brother Ed is a music industry consultant in Austin, Texas.

Measurements: 34B-24-35 (Source: Celebrity Sleuth magazine)

Was Homecoming Queen of her Senior Class in High School.

Godmother of Rebecca Taylor.

Her performance as Carrie White in Carrie (1976) is ranked #63 on Premiere Magazine's 100 Greatest Movie Characters of All Time.

Frequently works with Tommy Lee Jones, having appeared with him in Coal Miner's Daughter (1980), JFK (1991), and The Good Old Boys (1995) (TV). Separately, they have also each appeared in films in the Lonesome Dove series. Jones appeared in the original "Lonesome Dove" (1989), while Spacek appeared in "Streets of Laredo" (1995).

Is third cousin to actor Cillian De Ros.

She won an Oscar for playing Loretta Lynn in Coal Miner's Daughter (1980), making her one of twelve actors to win the Award for playing a real person who was still alive at the evening of the Award ceremony (as of 2007). The other ten actors and their respective performances are: Spencer Tracy for playing Father Edward Flanagan in Boys Town (1938), Gary Cooper for playing Alvin C. York in Sergeant York (1941), Patty Duke for playing Helen Keller in The Miracle Worker (1962), Jason Robards for playing Benjamin Bradlee in All the President's Men (1976), Robert De Niro for playing Jake La Motta in Raging Bull (1980), Susan Sarandon for playing Sister Helen Prejean in Dead Man Walking (1995), Geoffrey Rush for playing David Helfgott in Shine (1996), Julia Roberts for playing Erin Brockovich in Erin Brockovich (2000), Jim Broadbent for playing John Bayley in Iris (2001/I) and most recently Helen Mirren for playing Queen Elizabeth II in The Queen (2006).

Along with Linda Blair, Ellen Burstyn, Piper Laurie, Kathy Bates, Sigourney Weaver, Ruth Gordon, Toni Collette, Patty McCormack, Eileen Heckart, Nancy Kelly and Jodie Foster, Sissy, for her role in Carrie (1976), is one of the few actresses to have been nominated for an Oscar for a performance in a horror movie.

In 1969, under the pseudonym "Rainbo," she recorded a novelty song about John Lennon titled, "John, You've Gone Too Far This Time.".

She was inducted into the Texas Film Hall of Fame in March 2001 in Austin, Texas.

During her audition for Carrie (1976), she wore a dress that her mother forced her to wear to a party when she was in the seventh grade.

Actress with the most New York Film Critics Circle Awards: 3 Women (Best Supporting Actress, 1977), Coal Miner's Daughter (Best Actress, 1980), Crimes of the Heart (Best Actress, 1986), and In the Bedroom (Best Actress, 2001).

Personal Quotes

[about her daughter Schuyler Fisk becoming an actress] "The business has been good to me. I would be a hypocrite if I tried to convince her not to do this."

"I had a dozen years to act before starting a family then found that motherhood dwarfed everything else. Once or twice a year, I take a project that appeals to me for its redeeming social value." - Parade, April 1, 2001

[on why she didn't want to appear in The Rage: Carrie 2 (1999)] "I asked if they could use some backflashes instead. I enjoyed the sequel, but hated my role in the first film. I was awful."

My cousin, Rip Torn, persuaded me not to change my name. You shouldn't change what you are in the search for success.

There's a real danger in trying to stay king of the mountain. You stop taking risks, you stop being as creative, because you're trying to maintain a position. Apart from anything else that really takes the fun out of it.

When I started out in independent films in the early 70s, we did everything for the love of art. It wasn't about money and stardom. That was what we were reacting against. You'd die before you'd be bought.

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