Sissy Spacek

3.5 stars

Sissy Spacek grew up in rural Texas (Quitman) with two older brothers. She was a tomboy and wanted to be a singer. She loved her life growing up, but she did leave to see if she could become a musician. She initially stayed in New York with her actor uncle Rip Torn for a while and eventually made her way to Los Angeles. We all know she became a very well-respected actor, highlights included “Carrie” and “Coal Miner’s Daughter” (at least, these are the two I think of show more first!).

I liked this. She seems to be really down to earth. She and her husband chose to live on a farm in Virginia to raise their two daughters in a rural area like she’d been raised herself. I like that she grew up in a town about the same size as the town I grew up in. I love that she loves animals (though I wasn’t excited to read about the hunting – though both her brothers cried when they first shot something). She did talk about filming some of the movies she did, including “Carrie” and “Coal Miner’s Daughter”, as well as a few others. This also makes me want to rewatch “Coal Miner’s Daughter” just a little bit! show less

Excellent autobiography of current film star. Told with such voice that her growing up in Quitman, TX comes to life. She is an amazing actress, and a very down-to-earth person dedicated to her family, her small town roots, honing her craft, and her animals. Feels like a personal conversation.

???1/2 rounded up to 4 (memoirs/autobios are not my thing, so I’m reading out of my box) ?


From a small town in Texas to Hollywood fame to her current life in between Virginia and the movies, this is the life of Sissy Spacek. She grew up as a tap dancing, baton twirling tomboy following her older brothers around in the days when children grew up more free range. She pursued music, convinced she had no acting talent because she never landed a role in a school play, but, as most of us know, show more she finally ended up as an A list actor for many years. And whatever else you say about Sissy Spacek, she is one of the most brilliant actors of the latter half of the twentieth century, and she was wise enough to get a professional author to write this with her.

I was prepared to like this given her one time connection and kindness to my brother, and some of it I loved, but some of it I only liked, and some got rather repetitive. I was happy to learn about her experiences making a few movies that had a powerful impact on me many years ago, and to learn how she got there and kept herself grounded and out of living and believing the Hollywood hype all the time. In some places, though, she’d lost off a number of names I have never heard of that I didn’t necessarily need to know, and I’d have liked to hear a bit more about her children growing up and a bit less about all of her pets. I also thought that even though she did mention some of the tragedies their family experience, she idealized her childhood quite a bit.

I don’t know if I’d have liked this as much had I read it rather than listened to it. show less

Very readable and light memoir/bio on a fascinating and refreshingly honest and open person. Makes me want to go back and watch some of her movies--and I suspect the season will make me watch CARRIE first.