Actress Karen Black passed away today after a long bout with ampulary cancer. She was 74.
The Chicago-born Black racked up an incredible resume. She made her breakthrough role in Easy Rider (1969) opposite Dennis Hopper, but it was her impressive turn as Jack Nicholson's long-suffering girlfriend in Five Easy Pieces (1970) that assured her stardom. Black subsequently appeared in a slew of successful films: The Great Gatsby (1974), The Day of the Locust, Nashville (both 1975), Family Plot (1976) and Capricorn One (1978). In later years her stardom faded a bit, appearing mostly in horror flicks like The Devil's Rejects, and like many celebrities dabbled in Scientology.
Black did her best work playing put-upon women eager to break into big things. Rayette in Five Easy Pieces, whose pathetic dreams contrast with the smug sophistication of Bobby Dupea's family, endures her man's condescension and philandering almost beyond belief. I'm extremely fond of her Myrtle Wilson in Gatsby: very little about that film works, but Black plays the character with the perfect mixture of desperation and cunning. Myrtle is Rayette with a spine, a social climber ruthlessly ambitious yet unable to escape intoTom Buchanan's world.
For those interested in learning more about Ms. Black, I commend you to my friend James Tate's interviews here and here. Rest in peace to a remarkable, under-appreciated talent.
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