Carrie Snodgress Biography

Caroline "Carrie" Snodgress (October 27, 1945 " April 1, 2004) was an American actress.

Biography

Snodgress was born in Park Ridge, Illinois. She attended Maine Township High School East in Park Ridge then Northern Illinois University before leaving to pursue acting. Snodgress trained for the stage at the Goodman Theatre, in Chicago. After a number of minor TV appearances, her film debut was an uncredited appearance in Easy Rider in 1969 and a credited appearance in 1970 in Rabbit, Run opposite James Caan.

Her next film, Diary of a Mad Housewife (1970), earned her a nomination for Academy Award for Best Actress and two Golden Globe wins, as Best Actress in a Comedy or a Musical and New Star of the Year - Actress. She left acting soon after to live with musician Neil Young and care for their son Zeke, who was born with what was thought to be cerebral palsy, but which doctors later attributed to a slight brain aneurysm before birth. She returned to acting in 1978 in The Fury.

According to Sylvester Stallone,

The first choice for Adrian (in the movie Rocky) was a girl named Carrie Snodgress, who I wanted badly because, at the time, I wanted Adrian's family to be Irish and Harvey Keitel would be the brother. She said there wasn't enough money in it (we were getting paid $360 before taxes), so I said "I'll give you my share, I truly want you." She passed to do a part in Buffalo Bill and the Indians, which never happened for her.

Neil Young's song "A Man Needs a Maid" was inspired by Snodgress, featuring the lyric "I fell in love with the actress/she was playing a part that I could understand." The song "Motion Pictures" from On the Beach is also inspired by their relationship. Snodgress turned her back on Hollywood in 1971 to live with boyfriend Neil Young on his northern California ranch and care for their son, Zeke, who was born with cerebral palsy and other special needs. She and Young split up about 1975.

Later she and film score composer Jack Nitzsche became lovers. In 1979, Nitzsche was charged with threatening to kill her after he barged into her home and beat her with a handgun. He pled guilty to threatening her, was fined, and placed on three years' probation.

Her Broadway debut came in 1981 with A Coupla White Chicks Sitting Around Talking. She also appeared in All the Way Home, Oh! What a Lovely War, Caesar and Cleopatra, Tartuffe, The Balcony and The Boor (all at the Goodman Theatre, Chicago); and Curse of the Starving Class at the Tiffany Theatre (in Los Angeles). Other films include Murphy's Law, White Man's Burden, Pale Rider and Blue Sky.

Death

She had been hospitalized in Los Angeles awaiting a liver transplant when she died of heart and liver failure. She was 58 years old.

Filmography

Television

• Judd for the Defense (1 episode, 1969)
• The Virginian (1 episode, 1969)
• The Outsider (1 episode, 1969)
• The Whole World Is Watching (1969)
• Marcus Welby, M.D. (1 episode, 1969)
• Silent Night, Lonely Night (1969)
• The Forty-Eight Hour Mile (1970)
• Medical Center (1 episode, 1970)
• The Impatient Heart (1971)
• "Love's Dark Ride" (1978)
• Fast Friends (1979)
• The Solitary Man (1979)
• Quincy, M.E. (1 episode, 1982)
• ABC Afterschool Special (1 episode, 1983)
• Nadia (1984 film) (1984)
• Highway to Heaven (1 episode, 1984)
• A Reason to Live (1985)
• Friday the 13th: The Series (1 episode, 1988)
• Crossbow (1 episode, 1988)
• In the Heat of the Night (1 episode, 1989)
• The Rose and the Jackal (1990)
• Shades of L.A. (1 episode, 1990)
• Equal Justice (TV series) (1 episode, 1991)
• Mission of the Shark: The Saga of the U.S.S. Indianapolis (1991)
• Woman with a Past (1992)
• Civil Wars (1 episode, 1992)
• Reasonable Doubts (1 episode, 1992)
• The X-Files (1 episode, 1993)
• Murder, She Wrote (2 episodes, 1986"1993)
• Rise and Walk: The Dennis Byrd Story (1994)
• Phantom 2040 (Voice, 6 episodes, 1994"1995)
• Chicago Hope (1 episode, 1995)
• Sisters (1 episode, 1995)
• Death Benefit (1996)
• All She Ever Wanted (1996)
• ER (1 episode, 1998)
• Touched by an Angel (1 episode, 1998)
• Judging Amy (1 episode, 2002)
• The West Wing (1 episode, 2003)
• Iron Jawed Angels (2004)