Wissenswertes

According to her commentary on the DVD of Nashville Lady (1980), she initially aspired to be a singer and auditioned for Decca Records. The label liked her but told her she was too similar to another artist they had on their label. That artist was Loretta Lynn.

During her audition for Carrie: Des Satans jüngste Tochter (1976), she wore a dress that her mother forced her to wear to a party when she was in the seventh grade.

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.

Her Best Actress Oscar nomination for Carrie: Des Satans jüngste Tochter (1976) is notable in that performances in horror films are rarely recognized by the academy.

"Sissy" is a nickname given by her brothers when she was growing up.

Not only did she win an Oscar for her performance in Nashville Lady (1980), but she was nominated for a Grammy for her rendition of the title song in the category Best Country Vocal Performance, Female.

She is the 22nd great granddaughter of King Edward I.

In 1969, under the pseudonym of "Rainbo", she recorded a novelty song about John Lennon titled, "John, You've Gone Too Far This Time".

Was Homecoming Queen of her Senior Class in High School.

Her performance as Carrie White in Carrie: Des Satans jüngste Tochter (1976) is ranked #63 on Premiere magazine's 100 Greatest Movie Characters of All Time.

She has appeared in five films that have been nominated for the Best Picture Oscar: Nashville Lady (1980), Vermisst (1982), JFK: Tatort Dallas (1991), In the Bedroom (2001) and The Help (2011).

When she was told that she did not have the role in Herzschläge (1980), she broke a glass of wine in her hands. The producer was so impressed by the gesture, that he ultimately gave Spacek the role. He handed her a piece of shattered glass and said "this clinched the deal".

She was inducted into the Texas Film Hall of Fame in March 2001 in Austin, Texas.

Acting protégée of Piper Laurie.

Was the first choice for the role of Emma Greenway in Zeit der Zärtlichkeit (1983), which went to Debra Winger.

She auditioned for Princess Leia in Star Wars: Episode IV - Eine neue Hoffnung (1977). George Lucas and Brian De Palma were holding joint auditions for Star Wars and Carrie: Des Satans jüngste Tochter (1976) and Carrie Fisher auditioned for Carrie White. They wound up getting each other's roles.

Her father was of three quarters Moravian (Czech) and one quarter German ancestry. Her mother had English and Irish ancestry.

Lives on 300 acre farmland named "Beau Val" near Charlottesville, Virginia.

She has won four New York Film Critics Circle Awards, second to Meryl Streep, who's won the most with five. Sissy's wins are for Drei Frauen (1977), Best Supporting Actress; Nashville Lady (1980), Best Actress; Verbrecherische Herzen (1986), Best Actress; and In the Bedroom (2001), Best Actress.

Gave birth to her second child at age 38, a daughter Madison Fisk on September 21, 1988. Child's father is her husband, Jack Fisk.

Is first cousin to actor Rip Torn and third cousin to actor Cillian De Ros.

She auditioned for the role of Thelma Dickinson in Thelma & Louise (1991), but after reading the script, she thought it was "awful".

She was awarded a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6834 Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood, California on August 1, 2011.

Her surname pronounced as "SH:pah-chek".

Was replaced by Debra Winger in three movies: Urban Cowboy (1980), Zeit der Zärtlichkeit (1983) and Der Chor - Stimmen des Herzens (2014).

Was replaced by Debra Winger in Der Chor - Stimmen des Herzens (2014) and Molly Shannon in Other People (2016) due to her commitment to the first and second seasons of Bloodline (2015).

Sissy's paternal grandparents' last names are both the names of birds in their native Czech: Spacek (pronounced "shPAH-chek," which means "Starling") and Cervenka (pronounced "chair-VENK-ah," which means "Robin").

Frequently works with Tommy Lee Jones, having appeared with him in Nashville Lady (1980), JFK: Tatort Dallas (1991), and Einmal Cowboy, immer ein Cowboy (1995). Separately, they have also each appeared in films in the Lonesome Dove series. Jones appeared in the original Der Ruf des Adlers (1989), while Spacek appeared in Der letzte Ritt (1995).

Was David Cronenberg's first choice to play Rose in Rabid - Der brüllende Tod (1977).

Gave birth to her first child at age 32, a daughter Schuyler Fisk on July 8, 1982. Child's father is her husband, Jack Fisk.

Is one of 15 actresses to have won both the Best Actress Academy Award and the Best Actress in a Comedy/Musical Golden Globe for the same performance; hers being for Nashville Lady (1980). The others, in chronological order, are: Judy Holliday for Die ist nicht von Gestern (1950), Julie Andrews for Mary Poppins (1964), Barbra Streisand for Funny Girl (1968), Liza Minnelli for Cabaret (1972), Glenda Jackson for Mann, bist du Klasse! (1973), Diane Keaton for Der Stadtneurotiker (1977), Cher for Mondsüchtig (1987), Jessica Tandy for Miss Daisy und ihr Chauffeur (1989), Helen Hunt for Besser geht's nicht (1997), Gwyneth Paltrow for Shakespeare in Love (1998), Reese Witherspoon for Walk the Line (2005), Marion Cotillard for La Vie En Rose (2007), Jennifer Lawrence for Silver Linings (2012), and Emma Stone for La La Land (2016).

Her brother, Edwin Spacek, is a music industry consultant in Austin, Texas.

Was considered for the role of Leah in Das grenzt an Liebe (2014), but dropped out later. The role eventually went to Diane Keaton.

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: Badlands - Zerschossene Träume (1973), Carrie: Des Satans jüngste Tochter (1976) and Nashville Lady (1980).

She was considered for Jessica Lange's roles in Wenn der Postmann zweimal klingelt (1981) and Frances (1982).

She won an Oscar for playing Loretta Lynn in Nashville Lady (1980), making her one of 18 actors to win the Award for playing a real person who was still alive at the evening of the Award ceremony (as of 2021). The other eighteen actors and their respective performances are: Spencer Tracy for playing Father Edward Flanagan in Teufelskerle (1938), Gary Cooper for playing Alvin C. York in Sergeant York (1941), Patty Duke for playing Helen Keller in Licht im Dunkel (1962), Jason Robards for playing Ben Bradlee in Die Unbestechlichen (1976), Robert De Niro for playing Jake La Motta in Wie ein wilder Stier (1980), Jeremy Irons for playing Claus Von Bullow in Die Affäre der Sunny von B. (1990), Susan Sarandon for playing Sister Helen Prejean in Dead Man Walking - Sein letzter Gang (1995), Geoffrey Rush for playing David Helfgott in Shine - Der Weg ins Licht (1996), Julia Roberts for playing Erin Brockovich in Erin Brockovich (2000), Jim Broadbent for playing John Bayley in Iris (2001), Jennifer Connelly for playing Alicia Nash in A Beautiful Mind: Genie und Wahnsinn (2001), Helen Mirren for playing Queen Elizabeth II in Die Queen (2006), Sandra Bullock for playing Leigh Anne Tuohy in Blind Side - Die große Chance (2009), Melissa Leo for playing Alice Eklund-Ward in The Fighter (2010), Christian Bale for playing Dickie Eklund in The Fighter (2010), Meryl Streep for playing Margaret Thatcher in Die Eiserne Lady (2011), Eddie Redmayne for playing Stephen Hawking in Die Entdeckung der Unendlichkeit (2014) and Will Smith for playing Richard Williams in King Richard (2021).

Her career has several connections to Robert Duvall. She and Duvall both appear in Mein Schatz, unsere Familie und ich (2008) and Am Ende des Weges (2009). Sissy starred in Der letzte Ritt (1995), a sequel to Der Ruf des Adlers (1989), starring Duvall. Further, her nephew Stephen Spacek appeared with Duvall in Gods and Generals (2003). Finally, Sissy narrates an audiobook version of Wer die Nachtigall stört (1962), which was Duvall's first film.

Listed as one of twelve "Promising New Actors of 1976" in John Willis' Screen World, Vol. 28.

She auditioned for the role of Phoenix in Das Phantom im Paradies (1974). She worked as set dresser for this film to assist her boyfriend, Jack Fisk, who was the film's production designer. According to Spacek, she did her job so poorly that she ruined a day's worth of filming.

She was considered for the role of Jacy Farrow in Die letzte Vorstellung (1971) that went to Cybill Shepherd.

She was considered for the role of Hattie in Pretty Baby (1978) that went to Susan Sarandon.

Was the 85th actress to receive an Academy Award: she won the Best Actress Oscar for Nashville Lady (1980) at 53rd Annual Academy Awards (1981) on March 31, 1981.

She was considered for the role of Kathryn Murphy in Angeklagt (1988) that went to Kelly McGillis.

Mother of Schuyler Fisk and Madison Fisk.

She has Celtic, German, Nordic and Slavic ancestry.

Was the original choice for the role of Milena Flaherty in Blackout - Anatomie einer Leidenschaft (1980), but the production's start date eventually coincided with her work on another film.

She was considered for the role of Gillian Bellaver in Teufelskreis Alpha (1978) that went to Amy Irving, her costar from Carrie: Des Satans jüngste Tochter (1976). Both films were directed by Brian De Palma.

Three Pulitzer Prize winning stage productions written by women have been adapted into feature films. Spacek stars in two of these films: Verbrecherische Herzen (1986), written by Beth Henley, and 'Nacht Mutter (1986), written by Marsha Norman. The third adaptation in which she does not appear is Verlorene Träume (1995), written by Wendy Wasserstein.

She was originally cast as Lee Wakefield Lacker in Marvins Töchter (1996), but dropped out. Meryl Streep replaced her.

She read for the part of Myra in Rettet den Tiger (1973), which in the end was cast with newcomer Laurie Heineman.