Actress Lisa Blount 1957-2010

[Zoneboy]

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Lisa Blount, the Oscar-winning Fayetteville native and actress most famous as Debra Winger's best friend in the film "An Officer and a Gentleman," has died. She was 53.

Blount's mother found her in her Little Rock home on Wednesday. The cause of death is not known.


Blount was married to actor and screenwriter Ray McKinnon, who appeared on HBO's "Deadwood" and most recently as a high school football coach in the Sandra Bullock film, "The Blind Side." She and McKinnon won a 2002 best short feature Oscar for the film "The Accountant."

McKinnon had been out of town this week.

On Sept. 9, Blount was inducted into the Arkansas Entertainers Hall of Fame.

She was born in Fayetteville in 1957 and raised near Pine Bluff. She grew up in Jacksonville and graduated from Jacksonville High School in 1975.

Smart and determined to act, she left high school at an early age to begin college at the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville. Although she didn’t have a high school diploma, she says she "acted" her way in, claiming her diploma must have gotten lost in the mail. By the time school officials caught on to her, she was on the dean's list.

Her film career included 1982's memorable "An Officer and a Gentleman," co-starring Richard Gere. She also acted in a number of thrillers and action movies that required a great deal of physical strength.

"At that time in my life, I was very fit," she told Little Rock Soiree in a June 2009 cover story. "I was looking for something new to do, and I started boxing. I got into it, and I really enjoyed it."

It was one of those horror films that she injured herself.

"I hurt myself, and I didn't pay much attention to it. I just thought, 'That’s life, and that’s just how it is with athletics. You do hurt, and that’s just part of it.'"

But when she finally saw a doctor, he discovered that her body had begun an auto immune response to injury, creating internal scar tissue that squeezed against her nerves and left her with immense chronic pain. The condition was only made worse by surgeries, which caused the development of more scar tissue.

"Initially, I was still able to work, but I could see that unless I got better, this was going to diminish my ability to work as an actress," she said.

It was on another horror film, 1993's "Needful Things," based on the Stephen King novel, that she met her future husband, McKinnon. They married in 1998.

After living 28 years in Los Angeles, Blount and McKinnon had recently moved back to Arkansas. One reason: to make great Southern movies.

"They think the accents are right, but we all know different," she said.

Among the films the two collaborated on and shot in Arkansas was 2004's "Chrystal," in which she starred with McKinnon and fellow Arkansan Billy Bob Thornton.

The immersion in Arkansas culture and community allowed Blount and McKinnon both to step away from the spotlight a bit and focus on their writing and producing.

"You can only rely on memories for so long. You need life experiences that are current if you're going to tell stories about what you know," she said. "This is where we need to be."

[Marvo301]

Lisa Blount

[catlover79]

[dlemond]

That sucks.

Rest in Peace.

[80sTrivia]

Such sad, sad news...

[70s show watcher]

how sad i enjoyed her work r i p lisa