Ronee Blakley

Ronee Blakley (born in Nampa, Idaho, on August 24, 1945) got worldwide recognition as the fictional country superstar Barbara Jean in Robert Altman’s cult-movie Nashville (1975). Blakley’s performance gained her an award from the National Board of Review for Best Supporting Actress, and nominations at the Academy Award, BAFTA, and the Golden Globes. At the Globes, in 1976, she was nominated twice for Nashville, as Best Supporting Actress – Motion Picture, and as New Star of the Year – Actress.

A singer before becoming an actress, Blakley sang background vocals for the seminal Bob Dylan’s song “Hurricane”. In 1978 she appeared as “Mrs. Bob Dylan” in Dylan’s film Renaldo and Clara, set during the Rolling Thunder Revue tour of 1975. In the movie she performs the song “I Need a New Sun Rising”. She also sang on Dylan’s 1976 album “Desire”.

As an actress she’s also known for The Baltimore Bullet (1980), A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984) and Of One Blood (2012). She featured, among her many film and television credits, in Desperate Women (1978 – TV Movie), She Came to the Valley (1979), the TV series Tales from the Darkside (1985), Student Confidential (1986), A Return to Salem’s Lot (1987), and Murder by Numbers (1989).