Editing Sissy Spacek (section)

===1976–1981: Rise to prominence===
Spacek's most prominent early role came in De Palma's supernatural horror film ''[[Carrie (1976 film)|Carrie]]'' (1976), playing [[Carrie White]], a shy, troubled high school senior with [[telekinetic]] powers.<ref name="tca" /> Spacek had to work hard to persuade De Palma to cast her in the role.<ref name=tca/> After rubbing [[Vaseline]] in her hair and donning an old [[sailor dress]] her mother had made for her as a child, she turned up at the audition with the odds against her, but won the part.<ref>{{citation |url=http://www.briandepalma.net/carrie/carrint.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070921090150/http://www.briandepalma.net/carrie/carrint.htm |title=Brian De Palma.net |archive-date=September 21, 2007 |url-status=dead }}</ref> Spacek's performance was critically acclaimed and led to a nomination for the [[Academy Award for Best Actress]]. [[Pauline Kael]] of ''[[The New Yorker]]'' wrote: "Though few actresses have distinguished themselves in gothics, Sissy Spacek, who is onscreen almost continuously, gives a classic chameleon performance. She shifts back and forth and sideways: a nasal, whining child; a chaste young beauty at the prom; and then a second transformation when her destructive impulses burst out and age her. Spacek uses her freckled pallor and whitish eyelashes to suggest a squashed, groggy girl who could go in any direction; at times, she seems unborn–a fetus. I don't see how this performance could be any better; she's touching, like [[Elizabeth Hartman]] in one of her victim roles, but she's also unearthly—a changeling."<ref>{{Cite magazine |last=Kael |first=Pauline |date=November 15, 1976 |title=Brian De Palma's "Carrie," Reviewed |url=https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/1976/11/22/the-curse |magazine=[[The New Yorker]]}}</ref>
[[File:LorettaLynn1960s.jpg|thumb|left|180px|Spacek portrayed [[Loretta Lynn]] ''(pictured above)'' in ''[[Coal Miner's Daughter (film)|Coal Miner's Daughter]]'', which earned her the [[Academy Award for Best Actress]]]]
After ''Carrie''{{'s}} success, Spacek played the role of housekeeper Linda Murray in [[Alan Rudolph]]'s drama musical romance film ''[[Welcome to L.A.]]'' (1976) and cemented her reputation in [[independent film]] with her performance as Pinky Rose in [[Robert Altman]]'s psychological drama ''[[3 Women]]'' (1977). A review in ''The New York Times'' said, "In this film Miss Spacek added a new dimension of eeriness to the waif she played so effectively in ''Carrie''."<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1977/04/11/archives/altmans-3-women-a-moving-film-shelley-duvall-in-memorable-role.html|title=Altman's '3 Women' a Moving Film; Shelley Duvall in Memorable Role|first=Vincent|last=Canby|date=April 11, 1977|website=[[The New York Times]]}}</ref> Altman was deeply impressed by her performance: "She's remarkable, one of the top actresses I've ever worked with. Her resources are like a deep well." De Palma said: "[Spacek is] a phantom. She has this mysterious way of slipping into a part, letting it take over her. She's got a wider range than any young actress I know."<ref>{{Cite magazine| url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,911902-1,00.html | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130120181330/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,911902-1,00.html | url-status=dead | archive-date=January 20, 2013 | magazine=Time | title=Show Business: Basic Spacek: Keeping Life Tidy | date=December 6, 1976 | access-date=May 23, 2010}}</ref> Spacek helped finance ''[[Eraserhead]]'' (1977), [[David Lynch]]'s [[List of directorial debuts|directorial debut]], and is thanked in the film's credits.

Spacek began the 1980s with an Academy Award for Best Actress for her performance in [[Michael Apted]]'s [[Biographical film|biographical]] musical ''[[Coal Miner's Daughter (film)|Coal Miner's Daughter]]'' (1980), in which she portrayed [[country music]] star [[Loretta Lynn]], who personally selected her for the role.<ref name=tca/> In addition to the Oscar, she also won the [[New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actress|New York Film Critics Circle Award]], [[Los Angeles Film Critics Association Award for Best Actress|Los Angeles Film Critics Association Award]], [[National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Actress|National Society of Film Critics Award]] and [[Golden Globe Award for Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Comedy or Musical|Golden Globe Award for Best Actress]]. Both Spacek and [[Beverly D'Angelo]], who played [[Patsy Cline]], sang their characters' vocals themselves in the film.<ref name=tca/> [[Roger Ebert]] credited the film's success to "the performance by Sissy Spacek as Loretta Lynn. With the same sort of magical chemistry she's shown before, when she played the high school kid in ''Carrie,'' Spacek at 29 has the ability to appear to be almost any age on screen. Here, she ages from about 14 to somewhere in her 30s, always looks the age, and never seems to be wearing makeup."<ref>{{Cite news |author=Ebert, Roger |author-link=Roger Ebert |date=January 1, 1980 |title=''Coal Miner's Daughter'' |work=Chicago Sun-Times |url=http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/19800101/REVIEWS/1010310/1023 |access-date=June 18, 2008}}</ref> [[Andrew Sarris]] of ''[[The Village Voice]]'' wrote: "Sissy Spacek—yes, I'm flabbergasted—is simple and faithful as Lynn. Spacek's face is no more of an actor's instrument than it ever was, but given a human being to play, given a director concerned with acting, she makes that woman exist. She sings the songs herself, nicely, and she has mastered the Appalachian accent."<ref>Andrew Sarris, ''Village Voice''. ''Coal Miner's Daughter'' review. March 10, 1980</ref> Spacek also was nominated for the [[Grammy Award for Best Female Country Vocal Performance]] for the film's [[soundtrack album]]. She followed this with her own country album, ''[[Hangin' Up My Heart]]'' (1983); spawning one [[Hit song|hit single]], "Lonely but Only for You," a song written by [[K. T. Oslin]], which reached No. 15 on the ''[[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]]'' [[Hot Country Songs]] chart.<ref>''Joel Whitburn's Music Yearbook (1983)'' {{ISBN|978-0-898-20163-5}} p. 154</ref>

In [[John Byrum]]'s romantic drama film ''[[Heart Beat (film)|Heart Beat]]'' (1980), Spacek portrayed [[Carolyn Cassady]], who&mdash;under the influence of [[Jack Kerouac]] ([[John Heard (actor)|John Heard]]) and [[Neal Cassady]] ([[Nick Nolte]])&mdash;slips into a combination of drudgery and debauchery.<ref>{{cite book|last= Cassady |first= Carolyn |author-link= Carolyn Cassady |title= Heartbeat: My Life with Jack and Neal |date= July 1976 |publisher= Creative Arts Book Company |isbn= 978-0916870034}}</ref><ref name="allmovie1">{{cite web|last=Brenner |first=Paul |url=https://allmovie.com/work/heart-beat-21876 |title=Heart Beat &gt; Overview |website=AllMovie |access-date=August 30, 2010}}</ref> Spacek was so adamant about getting the role that she pored through over 4,000 pages of research to prepare for her character. Byrum and producer Ed Pressman took her to dinner to advise her that she did not have the role. Spacek was so distraught at the news that she shattered a glass of wine in her hand. After that, Pressman walked up to her with a piece of shattered glass and told her she had the role. He said that Spacek breaking the glass clinched the deal, and they believed she ultimately would best suit the part.<ref>{{cite news|title=From a nymphette to weirdo|work=The Montreal Gazette|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=w2UxAAAAIBAJ&pg=3134%2C3920202|date=November 19, 1979|access-date=December 21, 2015}}</ref> The film was released on April 25, 1980, to mixed reviews.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/heart_beat/|title=Heart Beat (1980) at Rotten Tomatoes|work=[[Rotten Tomatoes]]|access-date=December 21, 2015}}</ref> Ebert called Spacek's performance "wonderfully played", and her scenes with Heard and Nolte "almost poetic".<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/heart-beat-1980|title=Heart Beat movie review & film summary (1980) |first=Roger|last=Ebert|website=Rogerebert.com}}</ref>