Trivia

Wrote the songs "Memphis" and "Rolling Stone" which she performed in character as country singer Connie White in the movie Nashville (1975). As a result she was nominated for a Grammy Award for Album of Best Original Score Written for a Motion Picture or Television Series.

It was revealed posthumously that Karen Black had a daughter with Robert Benedetti, Diane Koehnemann Bay, who was born March 4, 1959, when Karen was a 19-year-old divorcée studying at Northwestern. Diane was adopted at birth by Don and Joan Koehnemann. On August 7, 2012, Diane got in touch with Karen through Facebook after the state of Illinois unsealed its adoption records; ironically, Karen had disclosed the secret of Diane's existence to her own family just a few months earlier. Diane's memoir, "Finding Karen Black," came out August 8, 2022.

Was married to actor Robert Burton at the time they filmed the cult TV-movie Trilogy of Terror (1975). Ms. Black initially turned the role down but eventually accepted when Robert was selected for a lead role in one of the three segments. Karen plays an English teacher and he plays an obsessed college student. The couple was already divorced after only little more than a year by the time the TV-movie premiered in March of 1975.

Diagnosed with ampullary cancer in November 2010 and had a third of her pancreas immediately removed. Though declared cancer-free in 2011, had relapsed and underwent two operations in 2012.

Launched her career as a playwright in May 2007 with the opening of "Missouri Waltz" in Los Angeles; Black starred in the play as well. The piece is conceived as a play with music, rather than a musical.

She has appeared in three films that have been selected for the National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically or aesthetically" significant: Easy Rider (1969), Five Easy Pieces (1970) and Nashville (1975).

Attended Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois, for two years before moving to New York, where she studied with Lee Strasberg at the Actor's Studio and appeared in a number of Off-Broadway productions.

Came five votes shy of getting a Best Actress Oscar nomination for The Day of the Locust (1975).

Godmother of Dylan M. McKnight. His mother, Lee Purcell, is the godmother of Karen's children, Hunter Carson and Celine Eckelberry.

She adopted a daughter, Celine Eckelberry, with her husband Stephen Eckelberry.

Elliott Gould, Lee Purcell, Rick Overton, Tanna Frederick, Karyn Rachtman, Lainie Kazan, Paul Sorvino, Julia Garcia Combs, Juliette Lewis, Russell Brown, Alan Cumming, older sister Gail Brown and widower Stephen Eckelberry all delivered eulogies at her memorial service. (September 17, 2013)

Made her Broadway debut in 1965's "The Playroom", which ran less than a month. She received great reviews, however, and was nominated for a Drama Circle Critics Award for Best Actress.

Considers Kris Kristofferson to be the most attractive male star she has ever worked with. She especially liked his voice.

Is the highest ranked actress on the "Oracle of Bacon" website (and 21st overall), which uses the Internet Movie Database to determine which actors can be linked by the highest number of other actors in the "Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon" trivia game.

The second daughter of Norman and Elsie Ziegler, her mother, who went by her maiden name of Elsie Reif, was a writer of several prize-winning children's novels; her paternal grandfather was Arthur Ziegler, a classical musician and the first violinist for the Chicago Symphony Orchestra.

Turned down the female lead in Support Your Local Gunfighter (1971) that went to Suzanne Pleshette.

She is of German, Bohemian (Czech), and Norwegian descent.

Studied ballet from age of 6 to mid-teens.

For her work in The Great Gatsby (1974), she's one of only 4 actresses to win the Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actress in a motion picture without receiving an Oscar nomination for the same performance. The other 3 are, in chronological order: Katy Jurado in High Noon (1952), Hermione Gingold in Gigi (1958) and Katharine Ross in Voyage of the Damned (1976).

Her role in Easy Rider (1969) was originally offered to Lana Wood.

Went to Maine Township High School East, Des Plaines, IL, for the 9th grade, the same high school attended by Hillary Clinton and Harrison Ford.

Has a cult glam-punk band named after her. Called The Voluptous Horror of Karen Black, Kembra Pfahler is the American performance artist and singer/rock musician who fronts it. She is known for the often sexual nature of her pieces.

Mother of Hunter Carson with L.M. Kit Carson.

Is interred at Eternal Hills Memorial Park in Oceanside, Calif.

Guitarist Abby Normal featured a song, titled "Scream Karen Black", on his solo project album, "Midnight Creature Feature Picture Show".

Father wanted her to be a teacher.

Appeared in three films directed by Ivan Passer: Born to Win (1971), Law and Disorder (1974) and Crime and Passion (1975).

Turned down the role of Nina Franklin in The Stunt Man (1980), which later went to Barbara Hershey.

Dated Henry Jaglom, Peter Kastner, Omar Sharif and Paul Williams.

Turned down Valerie Perrine's role in W.C. Fields and Me (1976).

She and her husband, Stephen Eckelberry, are active in the Church of Scientology.

Sister of Gail Brown.

Brother Peter Ziegler married the daughter of Maryland Governor Theodore R. McKeldin. Nephew, Bryan McKeldin Ziegler (1979-2022) was a prosecutor for San Diego County and ran for city council in 2012 and 2014.

Attended Lafayette Jefferson High School in Lafayette, Indiana.

Engaged to Michael Raeburn. (1981)

Aunt of Erick Ziegler.

Engaged to music manager Peter Rachtman. (1972)

Daughter-in-law of Renee Duke and Tener Eckelberry.

Her maternal grandmother's never-married siblings, Mary and John Shimon, operated a wealthy milk farm outside Reifs Mills, Wisconsin.

Parents had a vacation home in Puerta Vallarta, Mexico and were among the first Americans to build a house there.

Sister-in-law of Avis Hope and Marc Eckelberry.

Ex-sister-in-law of Annie Carradine.