RONEE BLAKLEY

American and British Academy Award Nominee, Grammy, and Golden Globe Nominated American Actress, Singer, Songwriter, Composer, Publisher, Producer, Director.

Variety called Ronee Blakley "The Joan Didion of Rock"; The LA Times called her "This Generation's Gene Tierney who can Sing"; Robert Altman said "She's more like Bob Dylan"; Amazon says "One of the Best Singer Songwriters ever, Check It Out!".

Ronee Blakley was born in Nampa, Idaho, daughter of civil engineer Ronald Blakley and his wife Carol. Blakley's early years were spent in the Pacific Northwest where she was selected as Idaho's representative to Girl's Nation while in high school and played her first professional engagement in Sun Valley at 16. Ronee began in New York improvising vocally with Moog synthesizers in Carnegie Hall, A first, to music by Gershon Kingsley. Blakley's first soundtrack was composed for the 20th Century Fox Film "Wecome Home Soldier Boys" and earned her a spot in "Who's Who in America."

In 1972, the folk-rock album "Ronee Blakley" debuted on Elektra RecoSelf Addressed Self Stamped Enveloperds. The album featured Blakley's original songs, accompanied by her talent on the piano. Blakley also made the musical arrangements. The song "Bluebird" featured a duet with Linda Rondstat. Ronee's songs were published by her own company, Sawtooth Music. Amazon reviews is as “Simply Amazing...Simply Beautiful”.

Blakley's second album, "Welcome" was released on Warner Bros. in 1975. It was produced by Jerry Wexler and recorded at the legendary Muscle Shoals Sound Studio in Alabama. The Los Angeles Herald Examiner wrote it was a "near perfect album." Blakley may be most widely known now for her performance as country superstar Barbara Jean in Robert Altman's 1975 film "Nashville (film)." The breakdown scene of Barbara Jean was written by Ronee, as were many of the songs on the film sung by others.

In "Nashville" Blakley performs her own songs in character, including "Tapedeck In His Tractor," "Dues" and "My Idaho Home." In her famous review for The New Yorker, film critic Pauline Kael wrote: "This is Ronee Blakley's first movie, and she puts most movie hysteria to shame. She achieves her effects so simply, I wasn't surprised when somebody sitting beside me started to cry. Perhaps for the first time on the screen, one gets the sense of an artist being consumed by their gift."

Blakley was nominated for an Academy Award in the category Best Supporting Actress. Blakley was also nominated for A Grammy, two Golden Globes and British Academy Awards, and won the National Board of Review award for Best Supporting Actress. Ronee was featured on the covers of Newsweek, American Cinematographer and Andy Warhols Interview Magazine.

Throughout her career, Blakley has worked with some of the top directors: Walter Hill in "The Driver, Wes Craven in "A Nightmare on Elm Street", Bob Dylan in "Renaldo and Clara," Wim Wenders in “Hammett” and “Lightning Over Water”, and Henry Jaglom in “Someone To Love”. She recorded the radio show of “Hammett” with Sam Shepard, and Victoria Mudd in “Even Cowgirls Get The Blues” for AFI.

She performed a duet with Dylan on the epic "Hurricane" from his Desire album and toured with him on the Rolling Thunder Review, also featuring Joan Baez, Joni Mitchell and Ramblin' Jack Elliott, Bobby Neuwirth and Tbone Burnett nad Mick Ronson. On that tour they shot Dylan's film “Renaldo and Clara”, in which ronee played Mrs. Dylan and performd her song “New Sun”. She also recorded with Leonard Cohen on “Death of a Ladies Man”, Hoyt Axton, John Wesley Harding, and America. Her songs have been covered by Jonathan Richman, Bette Midler, Spanky and our Gang and appeared in many soundtracks. She composed for the Theater, creating and recording the music for “Heat” and the title song for Elizabeth Ashley in “Legend” on Broadway.

Blakley starred in several Movies for Television: "Desperate Women," "Ladies in Waiting," "Oklahoma City Dolls" and the "Ford 75th Anniversary Special" introduced by Tennessee Williams and co-starring John Ritter, as Laura in "The Glass Menagerie." Her guest starring roles include "Vegas," "The Love Boat," "Highway to Heaven," Trapper John," "Hotel," "The Runaways," "Beyond Westworld" and "Tales from the Darkside."

In 1977, she starred in the film "She Came to the Valley" with Dean Stockwell and Scott Glenn, Freddie Fender. THEN In 1980, Ronee starred in "The Baltimore Bullet" with James Coburn, Omar Sharif and Bruce Boxleitner. In 1982 Ronee set house records on Broadway in "Pump Boys and Dinettes" with Loudon Wainwright III and starred Off Broadway with Tammy Grimes in 1983 in “Sunset”. She starred in Somerset Maughm's "Rain" for the Indiana Repertory Theater, toured as Ms. Mona in the “Best Little Whorehouse in Texas”. The Washington Shakespeare festival invited her to direct “The Taming of the Shrew”.

In 1985, she produced, wrote, starred in, and directed her own feature music docudrama titled "I Played It for You" which debuted at the Venice Film Festival and has appeared at ten festivals worldwide, including a recent screening at the Silver Lake Film Festival and soon at Paso Robles Festival. Sheila Benson of the Los Angeles Times called "I Played It For You" "passionate and brave, an absorbing work." FX Feeney of the LA Weekly called it "a valuable document." Blakley's voice comes not much from her as through her”.

Blakley's new CD; “Ronee Blakley Live at the Mint” has just been released on CDBaby. Also, in 2008 Blakley released the film "I Played It for You" on DVD, bundled with the CD soundtrack on CDBaby, reviewed there as, .... “An amazing experience...One of the most gifted singer songwriters ever”, plus the new spoken word poetry album titled “Freespeak”, with electronic musical interludes.

All are available through her website or cdbaby.com and filmbaby.com. “Lightning Over Water," Ronee's soundtrack for the Wim Wenders/Nicholas Ray film in which she also starred, is set for release in late 2008 as is a new album, "The River Nile".

Blakley was married to German filmmaker Wim Wenders from 1979 to 1986.

She has one child, a daughter Sarah born in 1988.

Throughout her career, Blakley has performed on behalf of political candidates and social causes she supports, as an Activist for civil rights and equal rights for women.

During the 1976 presidential campaign, she toured performing before the speeches of Jerry Brown and later performed at the final Los Angeles rally of Walter Mondale with Kris Kristofferson in1984.

She completed a master's degree at California State University in 2002.

Discography

"Ronee Blakley" (1972) - Elektra (re-released by Collector's Choice 2006)
"Nashville" Soundtrack - MCA,Grammy Nominee Best Original Score
"Welcome" (1975) - Warner Bros. (re-released by Collector's Choice 2006)
"I Played It for You" (2007) - RBPI (CDBaby.com)
"Freespeak" (2008 - RBPI (CDBaby.com)
"Lightning Over Water" Soundtrack (2008) - RBPI (CDBaby.com)
"Ronee Blakley Live at the Mint" (2008) - RBPI (CDBaby.com)

Filmography

Murder by Numbers (1990)
Someone to Love (1987)
Student Confidential (1987)
A Return to Salem's Lot (1987)
A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984)
The Baltimore Bullet (1980)
Good Luck, Miss Wyckoff (1979)
She Came to the Valley (1979)
The Driver (1978)
Renaldo and Clara (1978)
The Private Files of J. Edgar Hoover (1977)
Three Dangerous Ladies (1977) (segment "The Mannikin")
The Mannikin (1977)
Nashville (1975)
Wilbur and the Baby Factory (1970)
Lightning Over Water (1980)
I Played It For You (1984)
Even Cowgirls Get The Blues

Television

"Hotel" (1 episode, 1988) : Double Take (1988) TV episode
"ABC Afterschool Specials" Sherman (1 episode, 1987) : Divorced Kids' Blues (1987)
"Tales from the Darkside" (1 episode, 1985) : The False Prophet (1985)
"Trapper John, M.D." (1 episode, 1985) : So Little, Gone (1985)
"Highway to Heaven" (1 episode, 1984) : Song of the Wild West (1984)
The Oklahoma City Dolls (1981)
"Beyond Westworld" (1 episode, 1980) : Sound of Terror (1980)
"The Love Boat" (1 episode, 1979) : Doc's Ex' Change/Gift, The/Making the Grade (1979)
Ladies in Waiting (1979)
"Vega$" (1 episode, 1978) : Second Stanza (1978)
Desperate Women (1978)
The Glass Menagerie: Ford 75th Anniversary Special

As Composer

I Played It For You (1984)
Lightning Over Water (1980)
Nashville (1975)
Welcome Home, Soldier Boys (1972)

Soundtrack

Renaldo and Clara (1978) (writer: "Need a New Sun Rising") (performer: "Need a New Sun Rising")
Nashville (1975) (writer: "Bluebird", "Tapedeck in His Tractor", "Dues", "My Idaho Home") (music: "Down to the River") (lyrics: "Down to the River") (performer: "Tapedeck in His Tractor", "Dues", "My Idaho Home", "One, I Love You", "Down to the River")

Theater

Pump Boys and Dinettes, The Princess Theater, Broadway, New York
Sunset, Off Broadway with Tammy Grimes
Best Little Whorehouse in Texas, National Tour
Heat, Los Angeles Equity Waiver
Rain, Indiana Repertory Theater
Swee Charity, The Stephen Slade Theaters, Hyannis/Cohassett
Half a Sixpence
Heat Los Angeles

As Director

I Played It For You (1984)
The Taming of the Shrew, Washington Shakespeare Festival

As Writer

I Played It For You (1984)

As Producer

I Played It For You (1984) (producer)

As herself

Never Sleep Again: The Making of 'A Nightmare on Elm Street' (2006) (V)
I Played It For You (1984)
Lightning Over Water (1980)
A Salute to American Imagination (1978) (TV)
Documentary on Robert Altman, FOX
Documentary on Lenoard Cohen, BBC
Documentary on The Rolling Thunder Review

Archive Footage

A Conversation with Robert Altman (2000) (V) (uncredited)