Lisa Suzanne Blount (July 1, 1957 – October 25, 2010) was an American actress and film producer. She was nominated for the Golden Globe Award for New Star of the Year for her performance in ''

An Officer and a Gentleman ''An Officer and a Gentleman'' is a 1982 American romantic drama film directed by Taylor Hackford from a screenplay by Douglas Day Stewart, and starring Richard Gere, Debra Winger, and Louis Gossett Jr. It tells the story of Zack Mayo (Gere ...

'' (1982), and later won an

Academy Award for Best Live Action Short Film The Academy Award for Best Live Action Short Film is an award presented at the annual Academy Awards ceremony. The award has existed, under numerous names, since 1957. From 1936 until 1956 there were two separate awards, ''Best Short Subject, On ...

for producing ''The Accountant'' (2001).

Early life

Blount was born in Fayetteville, Arkansas, to Margaret Louise Martin and Glen Roscoe Blount, and was raised in

Jacksonville, Arkansas Jacksonville is a city in Pulaski County, Arkansas, United States, and a suburb of Little Rock, Arkansas, Little Rock. As of the 2010 United States Census, 2010 census, the population of the city was 28,364. It is part of the Little Rock-North Li ...

. She attended Jacksonville High School, but dropped out before graduating. She nonetheless studied theatre at the

University of Arkansas at Little Rock The University of Arkansas at Little Rock (UA Little Rock, UALR) is a Public university, public research university in Little Rock, Arkansas, United States. Established as Little Rock Junior College by the Little Rock School District in 1927, the ...

, and

Valdosta State University Valdosta State University (VSU or Valdosta State) is a public university in Valdosta, Georgia, United States. Founded in 1906, it launched in 1913 as an all-girls college. VSU is one of the four comprehensive universities in the University System ...

in Georgia.

Career

After several small television roles and in films like '' September 30, 1955'' and '' Dead & Buried,'' Blount received a

Golden Globe The Golden Globe Awards are awards presented for excellence in both international film and television. It is an annual award ceremony held since 1944 to honor artists and professionals and their work. The ceremony is normally held every Januar ...

nomination for New Star of the Year for her performance as Lynette Pomeroy, in ''

'' (1982)''.'' She subsequently appeared in several "

scream queen A scream queen (a wordplay on ''screen queen'') is an actress who is prominent and influential in horror films, either through a notable appearance or recurring roles. Scream king is the equivalent for men. Notable scream queen examples include ...

" horror film roles, including '' What Waits Below'' (1984, dir.

Don Sharp Donald Herman Sharp (19 April 192114 December 2011) was an Australian film director. His best known films were made for Hammer Film Productions, Hammer in the 1960s, and included ''Kiss of the Vampire (film), Kiss of the Vampire'' (1963) and ' ...

), '' Cut and Run'' (1985, dir.

Ruggero Deodato Ruggero Deodato (; 7 May 1939 – 29 December 2022) was an Italian film director, screenwriter, and actor. His career spanned a wide-range of genres including Sword-and-sandal, peplum, Comedy film, comedy, Drama (film and television), drama, P ...

), '' Nightflyers'' (1987, dir. and most notably)

John Carpenter John Howard Carpenter (born January 16, 1948) is an American filmmaker, composer, and actor. Most commonly associated with horror film, horror, action film, action, and science fiction film, science fiction films of the 1970s and 1980s, he is ...

's 1987 cult classic '' Prince of Darkness.'' Another role was that of Jim Profit's stepmother Bobbi Stakowski in the television series ''

Profit Profit may refer to: Business and law * Profit (accounting), the difference between the purchase price and the costs of bringing to market * Profit (economics), normal profit and economic profit * Profit (real property), a nonpossessory inter ...

''. She appeared in season two of '' Moonlighting'' in the episode "Sleep Talkin' Guy" (1986). Blount returned to college in 1986, this time at

San Francisco State University San Francisco State University (San Francisco State, SF State and SFSU) is a Public university, public research university in San Francisco, California, United States. It was established in 1899 as the San Francisco State Normal School and is ...

(SFSU), where she completed her degree in Theater Arts and spent the 1986/1987 academic year competing on SFSU's Forensics (Speech and Debate) Team. In the fall of 1987, she was cast as the female lead in the

American Conservatory Theater The American Conservatory Theater (ACT) is a nonprofit theater company in San Francisco, California, United States, that offers both classical and contemporary theater productions. It also has an attached acting school. History The American ...

's revival of the musical ''Hair''. Blount later became a producer, and with her husband Ray McKinnon, won the Academy Award in 2001 for best live action short film for the film '' The Accountant''. That film also credits her as wardrobe mistress. Blount produced and acted in '' Chrystal'', which starred

Billy Bob Thornton Billy Bob Thornton (born August 4, 1955) is an American actor, filmmaker, singer and songwriter. He received international attention after writing, directing and starring in the independent film, independent Drama (film and television), drama f ...

and was directed by McKinnon Her last acting role was in the film ''

Randy and the Mob ''Randy and the Mob'' is a 2007 American crime comedy film written, directed by and starring Ray McKinnon. It also stars Lisa Blount, Walton Goggins and Bill Nunn, with a cameo by Burt Reynolds. ''Randy and the Mob'' was filmed in August 2005 ...

,'' which she also produced and was directed by McKinnon.

Death

Blount was found dead in her home in

Little Rock, Arkansas Little Rock is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Arkansas, most populous city of the U.S. state of Arkansas. The city's population was 202,591 as of the 2020 census. The six-county Central Arkan ...

by her mother on October 25, 2010. The coroner told the ''

Arkansas Democrat-Gazette The ''Arkansas Democrat-Gazette'' is the newspaper of record in the U.S. state of Arkansas, printed in Little Rock with a northwest edition published in Lowell. It is distributed for sale in all 75 of Arkansas's counties. By virtue of one ...

'' that Blount appeared to have died two days earlier. No foul play was suspected, according to the Pulaski County coroner. Although the coroner did not release an official cause of death, Blount's mother told RadarOnline.com that her daughter had had

idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura Immune thrombocytopenic purpura (ITP), also known as idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura or immune thrombocytopenia, is an Autoimmunity, autoimmune primary disorder of hemostasis characterized by a low platelet count in the absence of other cause ...

(ITP), in which low levels of platelets keep blood from clotting and lead to bleeding and bruising. "I think that might have been part of the problem when she passed away because when I found her she had a purple look on her neck that looked like blood on the surface".

Filmography

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Blount, Lisa 1957 births 2010 deaths Jacksonville High School (Arkansas) alumni People from Fayetteville, Arkansas American film actresses Film producers from Arkansas American television actresses Actresses from Little Rock, Arkansas Valdosta State University alumni Directors of Live Action Short Film Academy Award winners 20th-century American actresses 21st-century American actresses Deaths from blood disease American women film producers San Francisco State University alumni