Carrie Snodgress (
October 27, 1946 -
April 1 2004) was an
American actress.
Snodgress was born
Caroline Snodgress in
Park Ridge, Illinois. (Two other sources cite
Chicago and
Barrington, Illinois as her birthplace.) She attended
Northern Illinois University before leaving to act. 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), garnered her a nomination for
Academy Award for Best Actress and two
Golden Globe wins, as Best Actress in a Comedy or a Musical (an odd category, given the dramatic nature of the film) and New Female Star of the Year. She left acting soon after in order to live with
rock musician Neil Young and care for their son Zeke, who was born with
cerebral palsy, but returned in
1978 in
The Fury. She and Neil Young split up about 1975. 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."
Later she and film score composer
Jack Nitzsche became lovers. The relationship ended in his arrest for a violent assault on her in 1979.
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,
The Boor, all at the Goodman Theatre, Chicago, IL; and
Curse of the Starving Class at the Tiffany Theatre,
Los Angeles.
Other films include
Murphy's Law,
White Man's Burden,
Pale Rider, and
Blue Sky.
She was hospitalized awaiting a liver transplant when she died suddenly at age 57 of heart and liver failure in
Los Angeles, California. 
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