Carrie Snodgress, the talented actress who earned a Best Actress Oscar® nomination for her performance as the frustrated suburbanite in Diary of a Mad Housewife (1970), died of heart failure on April 1 at UCLA Medical Center while awaiting a liver transplant. She was 57.

Born on October 27, 1946 in Park Ridge, Illinois, Snodgress attended Northern Illinois University and began acting in Chicago, where she studied at the Goodman School of Drama. She developed enough confidence in her craft to make the move to Hollywood in the late '60s. She soon found roles in such on television such as The Virginian, Marcus Welby and Medical Center.

After a small role in Peter Fonda's cult picture Easy Rider (1969) - and a more prominent one opposite James Caan in Rabbit, Run (1970) - Snodgress came into her own in the role of a housewife driven to adultery by an unsympathetic family in the probing dark comedy Diary of a Mad Housewife (1970). Snodgress garnered an Oscar® nomination, plus two Golden Globe awards for Best Actress and Best Newcomer.

Among Snodgress' newfound fans, was the popular singer-songwriter, Neil Young. She soon began a long relationship with the singer, bore him a son Zeke in 1972, and in a stunning career move, turned her back on Hollywood.

After their relationship ended in 1977, Snodgress, who had a son to support (Zeke suffered from cerebral palsy) found herself looking for acting jobs again. Brian De Palma gave her a small role in The Fury (1978) with Kirk Douglas, but for the most part, Snodgress found steady employment with guest spots on television: Quincy, Murder, She Write, Friday the 13th: The Series, and several other series.

Clint Eastwood offered her a fine role as a loyal homesteader in his Western, Pale Rider (1985) and she played a homicidal cop up against Charles Bronson in Murphy's Law (1986); but after that it was back to television: The X-Files, ER, Judging Amy, and The West Wing were among the most prominent of her guest appearances.

Only recently did Snodgress cut her teeth in some meaty film roles: she scored critical raves as serial killer Ed Gein's evil mother in In the Light of the MoonBartleby (2001); and was recently featured in the popular vampire flick, The Forsaken (2002). Snodgress is survived by her son Zeke.

by Michael T. Toole