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| Five Easy Pieces (1970) |
I was saddened to read that Karen Black
passed away Thursday at the age of 74, after a battle with cancer. I met her once, many years ago, while I was working as an assistant manager at the
Gramercy Theater on 23rd Street in Manhattan. This was back in the early 90s when the Gramercy was still a movie theater. (It's now some kind of club or "music venue.") Even though the Gramercy was a second-run house back then, and generally regarded as a bit of a dump, we frequently had celebrities passing through due to the chain's policy of offering free passes to people "in the industry." But seeing Karen Black at the Gramercy was particularly meaningful to me because she had only recently shot
CHILDREN OF THE NIGHT, a horror film produced by Columbia TriStar, which was based on a screenplay I had written - my first professional sale.
I forget what film the Gramercy was running that night, but about midway through the 8 PM show, while our concession worker was on a break and I was filling in behind the stand, Ms Black came up and ordered a hot dog. As I prepared it, she hummed a little tune and made little dance-like movements in front of the stand, and gave every sign of being in good spirits. Perhaps she was wondering if anyone on the staff recognized her, but I don't think anyone did, other than myself.
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| Children of the Night (1991) |
Having heard stories from the set of how put out she had been by the ridiculous vampire makeup she had been forced to wear during the making of CHILDREN, I decided not to risk dampening her mood by revealing to her that I had played a small role in initiating that project. It might've spoiled her appetite to know that, after a long and distinguished career, she had been reduced to appearing in films written by the guy behind the candy stand in a run-down movie theater. So I said nothing, and she went away with her hot dog never knowing that the person who had served it to her had been, in part, responsible for her recent travails. I hope she enjoyed the hot dog at least.
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| Trilogy of Terror (1975) |
In later years Black sometimes complained about the reputation she had developed as a horror movie actress. I can understand her feelings. As someone who had given wonderful performances in a wide range of different types of films, including productions directed by
Hitchcock and
Altman, it must have been frustrating for her to be remembered for the relatively small number of horror films she had done. CHILDREN was probably a particular embarrassment to her because, unlike
TRILOGY OF TERROR or
BURNT OFFERINGS, it was a pretty lousy film.
In her
recent interview with Vice.com, she gives the best possible explanation for why her horror projects and in particular TRILOGY OF TERROR stand out in audiences' memories. "I think I was just really excellent in TRILOGY OF TERROR," she says. "It took me many years to figure that one out. You know, I thought it was the doll, I thought it was Dan (Curtis, the film's director), I thought it was this or that, but you know what? I'm really good in that..."
Having watched the film again recently, I can say I agree completely with her assessment and it's refreshing to hear her state it so directly, without any false modesty. Whatever the film's other strengths or weaknesses may be, her work is what makes it memorable. She was just "really good in that." Something that can certainly be said of many of the films and TV shows she appeared in during her long career.
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| The Great Gatsby (1974) |
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| Eli Kranski and Karen Black |
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Addendum: Eli Kranski, one of the cast members of my film DEMON RESURRECTION, also had an "encounter with Karen Black," though one of a more substantial kind. In 2011 he appeared with Black in the play MOSES SUPPOSES at the Zephyr Theatre in LA, and wrote a piece for Backstage about the experience: Talent Never Ages
#karenblack #childrenofthenight
