As a kid, Sissy Spacek 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. She attended Quitman High School and was homecoming queen (therefore popular, unlike her character in Carrie). After graduating, Sissy decided on an acting career, having gotten interested in the profession through her cousin, 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 Theatre Institute, and also tried modeling and singing, appearing in West Village showcases such as the Bitter End for $10 a night. The petite (5'2") Sissy finally broke into films, one of her first being Badlands, art direction by Jack Fisk, with whom she would make eight films and marry in 1974. Her breakout role was in another film she worked on with Fisk, Carrie, in which she played the humiliated prom queen who goes postal with her telekinesis. Sissy had a long career in TV and movies, winning the Oscar for Best Actress for Coal Miner's Daughter; she seems to take it all in stride. Sissy and Jack and their two daughters, Schuyler Fisk and Madison Fisk, live on a large horse ranch in the foothills of Virginia's Blue Ridge Mountains. 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.



"Sissy" was a nickname that her brothers used to call her when she was growing up, and it stayed with her. Listed as one of twelve "Promising New Actors of 1976" in John Willis' Screen World, Vol. 28. Was the first choice to play the daughter in Terms of Endearment (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. Brother Ed is a music industry consultant in Austin, Texas. Was Homecoming Queen of her Senior Class in High School. Her performance as Carrie White in Carrie (1976) is ranked #63 on Premiere Magazine's 100 Greatest Movie Characters of All Time. Is third cousin to actor Cillian De Ros. Sissy's Best Actress Oscar nomination for Carrie (1976) is notable in that performances in horror films are rarely recognized by the academy. She was inducted into the Texas Film Hall of Fame in March 2001 in Austin, Texas. Sissy and Meryl Streep have each won four New York Film Critics Circle Awards, the most of any other actress. Sissy's wins are for 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).