Offscreen Notes
Karen Black RIP (1939-2013)
Karen Black has died of cancer at the age of 74 on August 7. I’ll always remember Black as an actress who always gave it her all regardless of the film and who managed to emit a larger than life AND raw to the bone presence. Folks of my generation will always remember her for her turn in one of the most harrowing moments of TV horror, the Zuni doll episode from Dan Curtis’ Trilogy of Terror. Many forget that Black actually played three different roles in that film, appearing in each episode of the trilogy. Black worked non-stop since then and struck me again in another dual role, playing Sandra and Eleanor in teh much under-rated Steve Balderson 2005 film Firecracker. Black’s iconic presence in only a handful of horror roles (House of 1000 Corpses being another recent horror film she appeared in) led to her name being adopted as the stage name for glam rock, burlesque shock performer, The Voluptuous Horror of Karen Black.
