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Ronee Blakley | |
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 Blakley in 1976 | |
| Born | Ronnie Sue Blakley (1945-08-24)August 24, 1945 (age 80) Nampa, Idaho, U.S. |
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| Website | roneeblakley |
Ronee Sue Blakley[1] (born August 24, 1945[2]) is an American actress, singer-songwriter, composer, producer and director.
She is perhaps best known for her role as the fictional country superstar Barbara Jean inRobert Altman'sNashville (1975), for which she won a National Board of Review Award for Best Supporting Actress and was nominated for anAcademy Award. She also performed roles inWalter Hill'sThe Driver (1978) andWes Craven'sA Nightmare on Elm Street (1984).
Blakley was born inNampa, Idaho,[3][4] one of four children born to Ronald Blakley, a civil engineer, and his wife Carol (née Brown), who became a gay rights activist in support of Blakley's brother, Stephen.[5][6] In addition to Stephen, Blakley had a brother John and a sister Marthetta.[7]
Blakley released her self-titled debut album onElektra Records in 1972. The album featured Blakley's original songs, self-accompanied on piano. Blakley also made the musical arrangements. The song "Bluebird" featured a duet withLinda Ronstadt. Blakley's songs were published by her own company, Sawtooth Music.
Her second album,Welcome—produced byJerry Wexler and recorded atMuscle Shoals Sound Studio in Alabama—was released on Warner Bros. in 1975.
That same year, Blakley appeared in what may be her most widely known performance inNashville. Her character, Barbara Jean, looked similar to country starLoretta Lynn, though Blakley stated that the character was based onLynn Anderson.[8] Blakley performed her own songs in character, including "Tapedeck In His Tractor," "Dues" and "My Idaho Home." In her review forThe New Yorker, film criticPauline Kael wrote:
This is Ronee Blakley's first movie, and she puts most movie hysteria to shame. She achieves her gifts so simply, I wasn't surprised when somebody sitting beside me started to cry. Perhaps, for the first time on the screen, one gets the sense of an artist being destroyed by her gifts.[9]
Blakley's performance inNashville was nominated for anAcademy Award for Best Supporting Actress,Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress – Motion Picture and forBest Acting Debut in a Motion Picture (Female),BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role and theGrammy Award for Album of Best Original Score Written for a Motion Picture or Television Special, and won theNational Board of Review award for Best Supporting Actress.[10] She was featured on the covers ofNewsweek,American Cinematographer andInterview magazines.
She toured inBob Dylan's travelingRolling Thunder Revue, singing a set of solo original songs accompanying herself on piano. She also sang with Dylan and other headlining musicians on the tour, released onThe Bootleg Series Vol. 5: Bob Dylan Live 1975, The Rolling Thunder Revue. She recorded backup vocals on"Hurricane" on Dylan's albumDesire. Blakley has also recorded withLeonard Cohen andHoyt Axton.
Blakley starred in the 1977 filmShe Came to the Valley. She also appeared in several TV movies includingDesperate Women,Ladies in Waiting,Oklahoma City Dolls and theFord 75th Anniversary Special presentation ofThe Glass Menagerie. Her guest starring roles in television series includeVega$,The Love Boat,Highway to Heaven,Trapper John,Hotel,The Runaways,Beyond Westworld andTales from the Darkside.
Blakley starred inThe Baltimore Bullet in 1980. She appeared on Broadway in 1982'sPump Boys and Dinettes and starred inRain for theIndiana Repertory Theatre. Blakley played the role of Marge Thompson in the 1984 horror filmA Nightmare on Elm Street.
She wrote, produced, directed and starred in her own feature music docudrama,I Played It for You, in 1985. The movie debuted at theVenice Film Festival and was screened at several other film festivals around the world. Sheila Benson of theLos Angeles Times called it "passionate and brave, an absorbing work." FX Feeney ofLA Weekly called it "a valuable document." The film was released on DVD in 2008, bundled with the soundtrack on CD and a new spoken word poetry album titledFreespeak.
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Throughout her career, Blakley has performed on behalf of several political and social causes, with an emphasis on civil rights and equal rights for women.
Her 2009 album,River Nile, was inspired by a trip she made to Egypt. In October 2010, she appeared on stage at New York'sBitter End for the first time in 20 years.[11] She wrote, produced and directed the 2012 filmOf One Blood, her first foray into films in over 20 years. Her daughter appeared with her in the film.[12] She was featured in the pseudodocumentaryRolling Thunder Revue: A Bob Dylan Story by Martin Scorsese (2019).
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1970 | Wilbur and the Baby Factory | ||
| 1975 | Nashville | Barbara Jean | |
| 1977 | Three Dangerous Ladies | Simone Maglore | Segment "The Mannikin" |
| The Private Files of J. Edgar Hoover | Carrie DeWitt | ||
| 1978 | Renaldo and Clara | Mrs. Dylan | |
| The Driver | The Connection | ||
| 1979 | She Came to the Valley | Willy Westall | |
| Good Luck, Miss Wyckoff | Betsy | ||
| 1980 | The Baltimore Bullet | Carolina Red | |
| Lightning Over Water | Herself | Documentary | |
| 1984 | A Nightmare on Elm Street | Marge Thompson | |
| 1985 | Cinématon | ||
| 1987 | A Return to Salem's Lot | Sally | |
| Student Confidential | Jenny Selden | ||
| Someone to Love | Attendee | ||
| 1990 | Murder by Numbers | Faith | |
| 2019 | Rolling Thunder Revue: A Bob Dylan Story by Martin Scorsese | The Ingénue |
Anne Archer, actor, 74;Ronee Blakley, actor, singer and songwriter, 76; Dame Antonia 'AS' Byatt, novelist, 85See also:
Anne Archer, actress, 69; Kenny Baker, actor, 82; Paul Barker, writer and broadcaster, 81;Ronee Blakley, actress, singer and songwriter, 71; Dame Antonia Byatt, writer, 80
