Lisa Blount

Born in Fayetteville, AK, Blount's career began at age 17 when, as a college student, she was cast by director James Bridges as a James Dean-obsessed, Vampira-dressing girl in "September 30, 1955" (1977). She migrated to Hollywood a few years later and landed a small role in reshoots for "Sam's Song/The Swap" (filmed in 1969; re-edited with newly filmed scenes and re-released in 1979), starring Robert De Niro. Blount went on to play a psychopath who poses as nurse to lure men to their death in "Dead and Buried" (1981), the first of her many horror pictures. In 1982, came "An Officer and a Gentleman." Although she earned a Golden Globe nomination for her work and was considered a potential Oscar nominee for Best Supporting Actress, Blount was not among the final five.Coming off the massive success of "Gentleman," Blount should have moved on to quality, high-budget prestige projects, but instead began appearing in a string of low-budget horror movies including "Radioactive Dreams" (1986), in which she was disguised as a man throughout much of the film; "Cut and Run" (1986), which found her locked with a Jim Jones-type coke dealer in the jungles of South America; and John Carpenter's "Prince of Darkness" (1987), in which she jumped through a mirror to save humankind from Satan. Outside the horror/action/suspense genres, Blount was Winona Ryder's mother in the Jerry Lee Lewis biopic, "Great Balls of Fire" (1989). On television, Blount tried to land a series, but with limited success. She was the younger second wife of the family patriarch in the short-lived "Sons and Daughters" (CBS, 1991). "Profit" (Fox, 1996-97) was pulled after only four airings, but Blount's scenery-chewing character was the fodder from which TV legends could have been born had the show been given a chance to catch on with viewers. She has also appeared a few TV movies, starting with "Mickey Spillane's Mike Hammer: Murder Me, Murder You" (CBS, 1983), and as the victim in "Murder Between Friends" (NBC, 1994). With the dawning of the 21st Century, a now dark-haired Blount moved into a different stage in her career. Married in 1998 to actor and filmmaker Ray McKinnon, she collaborated with her husband on the well-received short film "The Accountant" (2001), which earned that year's Academy Award as Best Live-Action Short Film. In 2002, she guest-starred on an episode of "Judging Amy" (CBS, 1999-2005) and both produced and starred in a few films written and directed by her husband, including the Billy Bob Thornton crime drama "Chrystal" (2004) and "Randy and the Mob" (2007). Blount had just filmed the pilot for FX's "Outlaw Country," when on Oct. 27, 2010, the 53-year-old actress-producer was found dead in her Little Rock, AK home by her mother. According to the County Coroner, Blount had likely been dead for a few days before being discovered. He also said there were no signs of foul play.