Karen Black

Karen Black (born July 1, 1939) is an American actress, screenwriter, singer, and songwriter. She is noted for appearing in such films as  Easy Rider,  Five Easy Pieces,  The Great Gatsby, Rhinoceros,  The Day of the Locust,  Nashville,  Airport 1975, and  Alfred Hitchcock's final film,  Family Plot. Over the course of her career, she won two  Golden Globe Awards (out of three nominations), and an  Academy Award nomination in 1970 for  Best Supporting Actress, among numerous other honors.

Early life
Black was born as Karen Blanche Ziegler in Park Ridge, Illinois, in suburban Chicago, the daughter of Elsie Mary (née Reif), a writer of several prize-winning children's novels, and Norman Arthur Ziegler. Her paternal grandfather was Arthur Charles Ziegler, a classical musician and the first violinist for the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. Her sister is actress Gail Brown. Black is of German, Bohemian (Czech), and Norwegian descent. She attended Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois, for two years, having commenced university studies in 1954, aged 15. She then moved to New York where she appeared in a number of Off-Broadway productions.

ersonal life
Black has been married four times:


 * Charles Black, from 1955 to 1962.
 * Robert Burton, an actor (who appeared alongside Black in Trilogy of Terror, from April 18, 1973 to October 1974.
 * L. M. Kit Carson, an actor/screenwriter, on July 4, 1975. They subsequently divorced. Their son is actor Hunter Carson.
 * Stephen Eckelberry, from September 27, 1987 to the present. They have an adopted daughter, Celine. The couple are active Scientologists.