Karen Black died at age of 74

US, August 10 – Hollywood star Karen Black, who featured in cult films such as "Five Easy Pieces" and "Nashville", has died aged 74. Hugely prolific, the Illinois-born actress appeared in more than 100 movies over a career spanning 40 years.

 

She shot to fame in 1969, starring as a prostitute in Easy Rider opposite Peter Fonda and Dennis Hopper. She died at a clinic in Los Angeles, three years after she was diagnosed with cancer.

 

Her fourth husband, Stephen Eckelberry, posted the news on his Facebook page. "It is with great sadness that I have to report that my wife and best friend, Karen Black has just passed away, only a few minutes ago," he wrote.

 

Black, who was raised in a Chicago suburb, almost always played troubled, neurotic characters. She earned an Oscar nomination and a Golden Globe award for her role as Rayette Dipesto in 1970 film Five Easy Pieces, opposite Jack Nicholson, as a waitress who dates an upper-class dropout. She again starred with Nicholson a year later in Drive, He Said, which Nicholson also directed.

 

BBC