Happy Birthday, Karen Black!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, KAREN BLACK!

The most awesome actress in cinema history (no, not hyperbole, I FREAKIN' LOVE ME SOME KAREN BLACK) turns, umm, somewhere between 60 and 75, depending on which source you check. However many years young she is, she looks amazing, and never seems to stop working.  Karen has spent 40+ years entertaining her public: from the indie trenches to the heart of 70s Hollyweird, the numerous screenplays she wrote, the plays she has written and starred in, the one-woman shows...hell, she even did live narration on Guy Maddin's Brand Upon the Brain!  Case in point: Karen Black is cooler than you and me.

Celebrate this week by checking-out her latest flick to hit DVD (July 3rd, Anchor Bay), the acclaimed horror-comedy Some Guy Who Kills People.  Looks like Ms. Black has a pretty sizable role.  Even though she's made it clear that indie cinema is the format with which she is most artistically comfortable, I'm always hoping she'll get a role that gives her just a little more exposure again.  Jack Perez may not possess Tarantino's power to put an actress back on the pop culture radar, but if he could resurrect Deborah Gibson's career with Mega Shark vs Giant Octopus, anything is possible, right?  But really, Some Guy looks pretty damn good.  Here's the trailer...that look on her face just screams "this movie better be a science-fiction picture!"

And what the hell, here's some more light entertainment for the occasion.

That's quite an impressive CV:

One of the most entertaining Charlie Rose interviews you will ever see, from when Karen was promoting Invaders from Mars in 1986.  Proof that she knows how to show the audience a good time, even if interview questions aren't the most interesting. 

Part 1:

Part 2:

And some choice musical moments.  I don't even know what the heck this is, but I love it.  L7 + Karen Black, a match made in outer space.

From cool cat Cass McCombs' killer 2009 album Catacombs.  Love this collaboration and the music video.

Also, don't forget to check Ms. Black's blog, which is a great read.  She's a natural storyteller.  In her first post in over a year, she comes out as cancer survivor, indicating that she was battling the disease for much of 2011, and emerged cancer-free in Feb 2012.  Faster, Karen, Kill! Kill!  Here's to another year!