जीवनी

According to her commentary on the DVD of Coal Miner's Daughter (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 (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 (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.

[on her daughter Schuyler Fisk becoming an actress] The business has been good to me. I would be a hypocrite if I tried to convince her not to do this.

[Parade magazine, April 1, 2001] I had a dozen years to act before starting a family then found that motherhood dwarfed everything else. Once or twice a year, I take a project that appeals to me for its redeeming social value.

[on why she did not want to appear in The Rage: Carrie 2 (1999)] I asked if they could use some backflashes instead. I enjoyed the sequel, but hated my role in the first film. I was awful.

My cousin, Rip Torn, persuaded me not to change my name. You shouldn't change what you are in the search for success.

There's a real danger in trying to stay king of the mountain. You stop taking risks, you stop being as creative, because you're trying to maintain a position. Apart from anything else that really takes the fun out of it.