Sondra Locke R.I.P.

Sondra Locke, who appeared in such films as The Heart is a Lonely Hunter (1968), Willard (1971), andThe Outlaw Josey Wales (1976), died on November 3 2018 at the age of 74. The cause was a heart attack related to brain and bone cancer.

Sondra Locke was born Sandra Louise Smith in Madison County, Alabama. Her father had left before she was even born. She grew up in Shelbyville, Tennessee. She took the surname "Locke" from her stepfather, Alfred Locke. She attended Middle Tennessee State University in Murfreesboro, although she did not graduate from there. Sondra Locke worked for WSM-TV in Nashville for a few years. Miss Locke also did some modelling and acted in community theatre. Eventually she changed the spelling of her name to "Sondra" as she disliked being called "Sandy".

It was in 1967 that she won a nationwide talent search for the role of Mick Kelly in the screen adaptation of the Carson McCullers novel The Heart is a Lonely Hunter. For her role in the film she ultimately received an Academy Award nomination for Best Actress in a Supporting Role. Her next film was Cover Me Babe (1970).

In the Seventies Sondra Locke appeared in the films Willard (1971), A Reflection of Fear (1972), The Second Coming of Suzanne (1974), The Outlaw Josey Wales (1976), Death Game (1977), The Shadow of Chikara (1977), The Gauntlet (1977),  Every Which Way But Loose (1978), Bronco Billy (1978), and Any Which Way You Can (1980). She made her television debut in a segment of Night Gallery in 1972. She guest starred on the TV shows The F.B.I., Kung Fu, Planet of the Apes, Barnaby Jones, Cannon, and Joe Forrester. She played the title role in the TV movie Rosie: The Rosemary Clooney Story.

In the Eighties Sondra Locke made her directorial debut with the film Ratboy (1986). The same decade she directed the film Impulse (1990). She appeared in the films Sudden Impact (1983) and Ratoby (1986). She guest starred on the TV shows Tales of the Unexpected and Amazing Stories.

In the Nineties Miss Locke directed the film Trading Favours (1997). She also directed the TV movies Death in Small Doses, which aired in 1995. In 2000 she returned to acting in the films Clean and Narrow (2000) and The Prophet's Game (2000). Her last appearance on film was in the film Ray Meets Helen (2017).

Sondra Locke was certainly a very talented actress. This was obvious from her debut as the classic music-loving Mick in The Heart is a Lonely Hunter. Over the years she would play a variety of roles, from Willard's friend and assistant Joan in Willard to the mousey daughter of an elderly Kansas settler in The Outlaw Josey Wales to a female vigilante in Sudden Impact. It must be pointed out that Sondra Locke directed feature films at a time when there were even fewer female directors than there are now. While neither her acting nor her directorial careers were very long, she displayed a good deal of talent in those years.