Biography
As a kid, Sissy climbed trees, rode horses, swam, and played in the
woods, (other than that, she gave no indication of one day becoming
an Oscar-winning actress). She was born Mary Elizabeth Spacek on
December 25, 1949 in Quitman, Texas. Sissy attended Quitman High
School; she was homecoming queen (therefore popular, unlike her
portrayal in "Carrie" later). After graduating, Sissy pursued an
acting career. Sissy had a cousin in show business, Rip Torn. She
relocated to New York, and through him, she enrolled in the N.Y.
Actors Studio. Sissy studied acting at the Lee Strasberg Theatre
Institute. Sissy also tried modeling and singing, appearing in West
Village showcases such as the Bitter End for $10 a night. The
petite (5'2") Sissy broke into movies; one of Sissy's first films
was "Badlands" (1973), art direction by Jack Fisk. Onscreen, Sissy
and Jack Fisk would do 8 collaborations (Sissy acting, Jack doing
film or art direction) together-- offscreen, one can consider
marriage a lifetime collaboration, they wed in 1974. Sissy's
breakout role was in their joint-venture movie "Carrie" (1976), in
which she played the humiliated prom queen who goes postal with her
telekinesis. Sissy had a long career in TV and movies, even winning
the Oscar for Best Actress for "Coal Miner's Daughter" (1980); she
seems to take it all in stride. Sissy and Jack and their 2
daughters, Schuyler and Madison, live on their large horse ranch in
the foothills of Virginia. For the last several years, the most
important thing for Sissy has just been creating a stable home life
for her family. And when Sissy isn't working on a movie, she can be
seen tooling around town in a pickup, being a mountain mom.
Biography courtesy of the Internet Movie Database (www.imdb.com).
|