Carrie (novel)
Encyclopedia
Carrie is American
author Stephen King
's first published novel
, released in 1974. It revolves around the eponymous Carrie
, a shy high-school girl, who uses her newly discovered telekinetic powers to exact revenge on those who tease her. King has commented that he finds the work to be "raw" and "with a surprising power to hurt and horrify." It is one of the most frequently banned books in United States
schools. Much of the book is written in an epistolary
structure, through newspaper clippings, magazine articles, letters, and excerpts from books.
Several adaptations of Carrie have been released, including a 1976 feature film, a 1988 Broadway musical
, a 1999 feature film sequel
, and a 2002 television movie
.
The book is dedicated to King's wife Tabitha
: "This is for Tabby, who got me into it – and then bailed me out of it."
, on a portable typewriter (on which he also wrote Misery) that belonged to his wife Tabitha
. It began as a short story intended for Cavalier
magazine, but King tossed the first three pages of his work in the garbage. Of King's published short stories at the time, he recalled,
His wife fished the pages out of the garbage and encouraged him to finish the story; he followed her advice and expanded it into a novel. King said, "I persisted because I was dry and had no better ideas… my considered opinion was that I had written the world's all-time loser."
Carrie is based on a composite of two girls Stephen King went to school with.
King says he wondered what it would have been like to have been raised by such a mother, and based the story itself on a reversal of the Cinderella
fairy tale
. He also told biographer George Beahm that the girl later "married a man who was as odd as her, had kids, and eventually killed herself."
Carrie’s telekinesis resulted from King’s earlier reading about this topic. King also did a short stint as a high school English
teacher at Hampden Academy
, a job he eventually quit after receiving the payment for the paperback publishing sale of Carrie.
At the time of publication, King was working as a teacher at Hampden Academy and barely making ends meet. To cut down on expenses, King had the phone company remove the telephone from his house. As a result, when King received word that the book was chosen for publication, his phone was out of service. Doubleday editor William Thompson (who would eventually become King's close friend), sent a telegram to King's house which read: "Carrie Officially A Doubleday Book. $2,500 Advance Against Royalties. Congrats, Kid - The Future Lies Ahead, Bill." It has been presumed that King drew inspiration from his time as a teacher. New American Library bought the paperback rights for $400,000, which, according to King's contract with Doubleday, was split between them. King eventually quit the teaching job after receiving the publishing payment. The hardback sold a mere 13,000 copies, the paperback, released a year later, sold over 1 million copies in its first year.
King recalls, "Carrie was written after Rosemary's Baby
, but before The Exorcist
, which really opened up the field. I didn't expect much of Carrie. I thought who'd want to read a book about a poor little girl with menstrual
problems? I couldn't believe I was writing it." In a talk at the University of Maine at Orono, King said of Carrie, "I'm not saying that Carrie is shit and I'm not repudiating it. She made me a star, but it was a young book by a young writer. In retrospect it reminds me of a cookie baked by a first grader — tasty enough, but kind of lumpy and burned on the bottom."
, a teenager from Chamberlain, Maine. In 1979, she caused one of the biggest disasters in world history.
For years, Carrie has been abused
at home by her unstable Christian fundamentalist mother, Margaret
. She does not fare much better at Ewen High School; since first grade, everyone bullies her for her strange, religious ways, her outdated clothing and her unattractive appearance. At the beginning of the novel Carrie has her first period
while showering after gym class. Carrie is terrified, having no concept of menstruation; her mother never spoke to her about it, and she has been a social outcast throughout high school.
The thought that this could be Carrie's first period never occurs to her classmates; instead of sympathizing with the frightened Carrie, they use it as an opportunity to make fun of her, throwing tampons and sanitary napkins at her. Gym teacher Rita Desjardin
sees what is going on and immediately tries to help a badly frightened Carrie while the girls sneak away. At first Miss Desjardin is angry at Carrie for freaking out, but soon realizes that Carrie has no idea what is happening to her. Suddenly, a light bulb in the shower burns out.
As punishment, the girls involved must serve a week's detention in the gym. Chris Hargensen
, who helped instigate the shower episode, refuses to attend, and as a result is suspended for three days and banned from the prom.
Carrie gradually discovers that she has telekinetic powers. She tries to keep them under control, even though she is continually pressed to the limit. Meanwhile, Sue Snell
, one of the girls who had earlier teased Carrie, begins to feel bad for her participation in the locker room antics and offers to become Carrie's friend. With prom fast approaching, Sue sets Carrie up with her boyfriend, Tommy Ross
a hunk and jock, but also an academic. Carrie's mother tries to force her not to go, but Carrie uses her powers to help stand up for herself.
Chris and her boyfriend, Billy Nolan, a hard core thug, hatch a plan to humiliate Carrie in front of the entire school. Chris has Billy fill two buckets with pig blood and rigs them over the stage on a rafter hidden out of sight. On prom night Carrie is tormented by her mother begging for her not to leave the house. Carrie leaves anyway and arrives with Tommy. Carrie is nervous at first, but everyone begins treating her equally. Soon Carrie begins enjoying herself and Tommy begins to become attracted to her. Meanwhile, Sue continually worries about what's happening at the prom—and at the same time worries if she's pregnant.
Carrie and Tommy are elected prom king and queen after Chris' henchwoman, Tina Blake, exchanges fake ballots for the real ones. Once on stage Chris drenches Carrie and Tommy with the pig blood. Everyone begins pointing and laughing. A bucket knocks Tommy unconscious and Carrie runs out of the gym. She is tripped, gets back up, and rushes outside. Contemplating her life in solitary confinement, she remembers her power and goes back to exact revenge on everyone who tormented her. She locks the doors and turns on the sprinkler system. But after viewing two kids die of electrocution, her mind finally snaps; she decides to set fire to the gym. She leaves the prom-goers and chaperones to die in the fire, including Tommy. Miss Desjardin and a few other students manage to survive the destruction by fleeing through the fire escape. Carrie leaves the school and begins to destroy Chamberlain, blowing up a gas station, and setting her entire neighborhood on fire. She also destroys the town's fire hydrants, preventing any attempt at putting out the fires. Notably, Carrie goes to a cathedral, where she prays, all the while manipulating a series of power lines outside, killing several civilians surveying the event. Sue rushes to the school and watches it explode, which destroys a portion of the town.
Carrie makes her way home and confronts her mother, who has now gone completely mad, and tells Carrie of the night she was raped and conceived her before stabbing her in the shoulder with a carving knife. In retaliation, Carrie kills her mother by stopping her heart. Mortally wounded, Carrie then makes her way to the local roadhouse where her father got drunk and raped her mother the night she was conceived. Chris and Billy, who happened to be making love inside, receive word from Billy's friend of what has happened to Chamberlain, and Billy plans on leaving town with Chris. They exit the roadhouse just as Carrie arrives, and attempt to run her down with Billy's car, but Carrie telekinetically sends the car crashing into the roadhouse, killing Chris and Billy. Carrie then collapses in the parking lot from blood loss.
Sue then goes to the roadhouse where she finds Carrie in the parking lot. Carrie talks telepathically with Sue and blames her for the prank, but after scanning Sue's brain, she finds out that Sue had no idea of the prank and that she had set her up with Tommy to apologize for the gym shower incident. Carrie does not forgive Sue, but believes her and then cries out for her mother before dying from the stab wound in her shoulder. Terror-stricken, Sue runs away from the roadhouse and after distancing herself from it, she collapses and has her period, meaning that she miscarried
if pregnant.
A month later, Chamberlain is now basically a ghost town, and the 'Black Prom' incident has hit the nation harder than the assassination of John F. Kennedy
. After interviewing the survivors of that night, science actually begins to take telekinesis seriously. Miss Desjardin, consumed with guilt over not being able to help Carrie, retires from teaching. Sue writes a memoir of her experience entitled My Name is Susan Snell, which warns the reader not to forget about the events that took place in Chamberlain, otherwise something like it may happen again. The book closes with a letter written by a woman in Tennessee
whose niece is developing telekinetic powers.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
author Stephen King
Stephen King
Stephen Edwin King is an American author of contemporary horror, suspense, science fiction and fantasy fiction. His books have sold more than 350 million copies and have been adapted into a number of feature films, television movies and comic books...
's first published novel
Novel
A novel is a book of long narrative in literary prose. The genre has historical roots both in the fields of the medieval and early modern romance and in the tradition of the novella. The latter supplied the present generic term in the late 18th century....
, released in 1974. It revolves around the eponymous Carrie
Carrie White
Carietta "Carrie" N. White is a fictional character created by Stephen King who has the power of telekinesis.In every adaptation and portrayal of Carrie, she is shown as an outcast, loathed and taunted by her fellow students and constantly scolded by her mother, Margaret White, an abusive, mentally...
, a shy high-school girl, who uses her newly discovered telekinetic powers to exact revenge on those who tease her. King has commented that he finds the work to be "raw" and "with a surprising power to hurt and horrify." It is one of the most frequently banned books in United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
schools. Much of the book is written in an epistolary
Epistolary novel
An epistolary novel is a novel written as a series of documents. The usual form is letters, although diary entries, newspaper clippings and other documents are sometimes used. Recently, electronic "documents" such as recordings and radio, blogs, and e-mails have also come into use...
structure, through newspaper clippings, magazine articles, letters, and excerpts from books.
Several adaptations of Carrie have been released, including a 1976 feature film, a 1988 Broadway musical
Carrie (musical)
Carrie: The Musical is a musical with a book by Lawrence D. Cohen, lyrics by Dean Pitchford, and music by Michael Gore. Adapted from Stephen King's novel Carrie, it focuses on an awkward teenage girl with telekinetic powers whose lonely life is dominated by an oppressive religious fanatic mother...
, a 1999 feature film sequel
The Rage: Carrie 2
The Rage: Carrie 2 is the 1999 sequel to the 1976 horror film classic Carrie. Directed by Katt Shea, the film starred Emily Bergl, Mena Suvari, Jason London and Amy Irving.-Plot:...
, and a 2002 television movie
Carrie (2002 film)
Carrie is a 2002 horror television film based on the novel Carrie by Stephen King, originally intended as a pilot for a TV series in which Carrie moves to Florida to help others with telekinetic problems, which never materialized...
.
The book is dedicated to King's wife Tabitha
Tabitha King
Tabitha King is an American author and activist. She is married to writer Stephen King.-Family:King met her husband, author Stephen King, in college through her work-study job in the Fogler Library. Their daughter Naomi Rachel was born in 1970. They married on January 2, 1971...
: "This is for Tabby, who got me into it – and then bailed me out of it."
Publication history
Carrie was actually King's fourth novel but the first to be published. It was written while he was living in a trailer in Hermon, MaineHermon, Maine
Hermon is a town in Penobscot County, Maine, United States. The population was 5,416 at the 2010 census.-Geography:According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of , of which, of it is land and of it is water....
, on a portable typewriter (on which he also wrote Misery) that belonged to his wife Tabitha
Tabitha King
Tabitha King is an American author and activist. She is married to writer Stephen King.-Family:King met her husband, author Stephen King, in college through her work-study job in the Fogler Library. Their daughter Naomi Rachel was born in 1970. They married on January 2, 1971...
. It began as a short story intended for Cavalier
Cavalier (magazine)
Cavalier is an American magazine that was launched by Fawcett Publications in 1952 and has continued for decades, eventually evolving into a Playboy-style men's magazine...
magazine, but King tossed the first three pages of his work in the garbage. Of King's published short stories at the time, he recalled,
His wife fished the pages out of the garbage and encouraged him to finish the story; he followed her advice and expanded it into a novel. King said, "I persisted because I was dry and had no better ideas… my considered opinion was that I had written the world's all-time loser."
Carrie is based on a composite of two girls Stephen King went to school with.
King says he wondered what it would have been like to have been raised by such a mother, and based the story itself on a reversal of the Cinderella
Cinderella
"Cinderella; or, The Little Glass Slipper" is a folk tale embodying a myth-element of unjust oppression/triumphant reward. Thousands of variants are known throughout the world. The title character is a young woman living in unfortunate circumstances that are suddenly changed to remarkable fortune...
fairy tale
Fairy tale
A fairy tale is a type of short story that typically features such folkloric characters, such as fairies, goblins, elves, trolls, dwarves, giants or gnomes, and usually magic or enchantments. However, only a small number of the stories refer to fairies...
. He also told biographer George Beahm that the girl later "married a man who was as odd as her, had kids, and eventually killed herself."
Carrie’s telekinesis resulted from King’s earlier reading about this topic. King also did a short stint as a high school English
English studies
English studies is an academic discipline that includes the study of literatures written in the English language , English linguistics English studies is an academic discipline that includes the study of literatures written in the English language (including literatures from the U.K., U.S.,...
teacher at Hampden Academy
Hampden Academy
Hampden Academy is a public high school located on 1 Main Road North in Hampden, Maine. The school is a part of M.S.A.D. 22, and approximately 738 students from Hampden, Newburgh, and Winterport attend for grades 9–12...
, a job he eventually quit after receiving the payment for the paperback publishing sale of Carrie.
At the time of publication, King was working as a teacher at Hampden Academy and barely making ends meet. To cut down on expenses, King had the phone company remove the telephone from his house. As a result, when King received word that the book was chosen for publication, his phone was out of service. Doubleday editor William Thompson (who would eventually become King's close friend), sent a telegram to King's house which read: "Carrie Officially A Doubleday Book. $2,500 Advance Against Royalties. Congrats, Kid - The Future Lies Ahead, Bill." It has been presumed that King drew inspiration from his time as a teacher. New American Library bought the paperback rights for $400,000, which, according to King's contract with Doubleday, was split between them. King eventually quit the teaching job after receiving the publishing payment. The hardback sold a mere 13,000 copies, the paperback, released a year later, sold over 1 million copies in its first year.
King recalls, "Carrie was written after Rosemary's Baby
Rosemary's Baby
Rosemary's Baby is a 1967 best-selling horror novel by Ira Levin, his second published book. Major elements of the story were inspired by the publicity surrounding the Church of Satan of Anton LaVey which had been founded in 1966.-Plot summary:...
, but before The Exorcist
The Exorcist
The Exorcist is a novel of supernatural suspense by William Peter Blatty, published by Harper & Row in 1971. It was inspired by a 1949 case of demonic possession and exorcism that Blatty heard about while he was a student in the class of 1950 at Georgetown University, a Jesuit school...
, which really opened up the field. I didn't expect much of Carrie. I thought who'd want to read a book about a poor little girl with menstrual
Menstruation
Menstruation is the shedding of the uterine lining . It occurs on a regular basis in sexually reproductive-age females of certain mammal species. This article focuses on human menstruation.-Overview:...
problems? I couldn't believe I was writing it." In a talk at the University of Maine at Orono, King said of Carrie, "I'm not saying that Carrie is shit and I'm not repudiating it. She made me a star, but it was a young book by a young writer. In retrospect it reminds me of a cookie baked by a first grader — tasty enough, but kind of lumpy and burned on the bottom."
Plot summary
The book uses fictional documents to frame the story of Carrie (Carietta) WhiteCarrie White
Carietta "Carrie" N. White is a fictional character created by Stephen King who has the power of telekinesis.In every adaptation and portrayal of Carrie, she is shown as an outcast, loathed and taunted by her fellow students and constantly scolded by her mother, Margaret White, an abusive, mentally...
, a teenager from Chamberlain, Maine. In 1979, she caused one of the biggest disasters in world history.
For years, Carrie has been abused
Child abuse
Child abuse is the physical, sexual, emotional mistreatment, or neglect of a child. In the United States, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Department of Children And Families define child maltreatment as any act or series of acts of commission or omission by a parent or...
at home by her unstable Christian fundamentalist mother, Margaret
Margaret White
Margaret White is a fictional character created by Stephen King in his first published novel, Carrie. She was the abusive, mentally ill, fanatically religious mother of Carrie White, who has the power of telekinesis...
. She does not fare much better at Ewen High School; since first grade, everyone bullies her for her strange, religious ways, her outdated clothing and her unattractive appearance. At the beginning of the novel Carrie has her first period
Menstrual cycle
The menstrual cycle is the scientific term for the physiological changes that can occur in fertile women for the purpose of sexual reproduction. This article focuses on the human menstrual cycle....
while showering after gym class. Carrie is terrified, having no concept of menstruation; her mother never spoke to her about it, and she has been a social outcast throughout high school.
The thought that this could be Carrie's first period never occurs to her classmates; instead of sympathizing with the frightened Carrie, they use it as an opportunity to make fun of her, throwing tampons and sanitary napkins at her. Gym teacher Rita Desjardin
Rita Desjardin
Miss Rita L. Desjardin is a fictional character created by Stephen King for his horror novel Carrie. In the film versions, she was portrayed by Betty Buckley and Rena Sofer. She was portrayed in the musical by Darlene Love .-Novel:In the book, she at first feels the same disgust everyone feels...
sees what is going on and immediately tries to help a badly frightened Carrie while the girls sneak away. At first Miss Desjardin is angry at Carrie for freaking out, but soon realizes that Carrie has no idea what is happening to her. Suddenly, a light bulb in the shower burns out.
As punishment, the girls involved must serve a week's detention in the gym. Chris Hargensen
Chris Hargensen
Christine "Chris" Hargensen is a fictional character created by Stephen King. She is the main antagonist in his first published novel, Carrie....
, who helped instigate the shower episode, refuses to attend, and as a result is suspended for three days and banned from the prom.
Carrie gradually discovers that she has telekinetic powers. She tries to keep them under control, even though she is continually pressed to the limit. Meanwhile, Sue Snell
Sue Snell
Susan "Sue" D. Snell is a fictional character created by Stephen King. She was one of the main characters in his first published novel entitled Carrie....
, one of the girls who had earlier teased Carrie, begins to feel bad for her participation in the locker room antics and offers to become Carrie's friend. With prom fast approaching, Sue sets Carrie up with her boyfriend, Tommy Ross
Tommy Ross
Thomas "Tommy" Everett Ross is one of the main characters in the horror novel Carrie by Stephen King.In both of the two film adaptations, as in the book, Tommy is asked by his girlfriend Sue Snell to take Carrie White to the prom instead of her. Susan feels guilty for taunting Carrie in the showers...
a hunk and jock, but also an academic. Carrie's mother tries to force her not to go, but Carrie uses her powers to help stand up for herself.
Chris and her boyfriend, Billy Nolan, a hard core thug, hatch a plan to humiliate Carrie in front of the entire school. Chris has Billy fill two buckets with pig blood and rigs them over the stage on a rafter hidden out of sight. On prom night Carrie is tormented by her mother begging for her not to leave the house. Carrie leaves anyway and arrives with Tommy. Carrie is nervous at first, but everyone begins treating her equally. Soon Carrie begins enjoying herself and Tommy begins to become attracted to her. Meanwhile, Sue continually worries about what's happening at the prom—and at the same time worries if she's pregnant.
Carrie and Tommy are elected prom king and queen after Chris' henchwoman, Tina Blake, exchanges fake ballots for the real ones. Once on stage Chris drenches Carrie and Tommy with the pig blood. Everyone begins pointing and laughing. A bucket knocks Tommy unconscious and Carrie runs out of the gym. She is tripped, gets back up, and rushes outside. Contemplating her life in solitary confinement, she remembers her power and goes back to exact revenge on everyone who tormented her. She locks the doors and turns on the sprinkler system. But after viewing two kids die of electrocution, her mind finally snaps; she decides to set fire to the gym. She leaves the prom-goers and chaperones to die in the fire, including Tommy. Miss Desjardin and a few other students manage to survive the destruction by fleeing through the fire escape. Carrie leaves the school and begins to destroy Chamberlain, blowing up a gas station, and setting her entire neighborhood on fire. She also destroys the town's fire hydrants, preventing any attempt at putting out the fires. Notably, Carrie goes to a cathedral, where she prays, all the while manipulating a series of power lines outside, killing several civilians surveying the event. Sue rushes to the school and watches it explode, which destroys a portion of the town.
Carrie makes her way home and confronts her mother, who has now gone completely mad, and tells Carrie of the night she was raped and conceived her before stabbing her in the shoulder with a carving knife. In retaliation, Carrie kills her mother by stopping her heart. Mortally wounded, Carrie then makes her way to the local roadhouse where her father got drunk and raped her mother the night she was conceived. Chris and Billy, who happened to be making love inside, receive word from Billy's friend of what has happened to Chamberlain, and Billy plans on leaving town with Chris. They exit the roadhouse just as Carrie arrives, and attempt to run her down with Billy's car, but Carrie telekinetically sends the car crashing into the roadhouse, killing Chris and Billy. Carrie then collapses in the parking lot from blood loss.
Sue then goes to the roadhouse where she finds Carrie in the parking lot. Carrie talks telepathically with Sue and blames her for the prank, but after scanning Sue's brain, she finds out that Sue had no idea of the prank and that she had set her up with Tommy to apologize for the gym shower incident. Carrie does not forgive Sue, but believes her and then cries out for her mother before dying from the stab wound in her shoulder. Terror-stricken, Sue runs away from the roadhouse and after distancing herself from it, she collapses and has her period, meaning that she miscarried
Miscarriage
Miscarriage or spontaneous abortion is the spontaneous end of a pregnancy at a stage where the embryo or fetus is incapable of surviving independently, generally defined in humans at prior to 20 weeks of gestation...
if pregnant.
A month later, Chamberlain is now basically a ghost town, and the 'Black Prom' incident has hit the nation harder than the assassination of John F. Kennedy
John F. Kennedy
John Fitzgerald "Jack" Kennedy , often referred to by his initials JFK, was the 35th President of the United States, serving from 1961 until his assassination in 1963....
. After interviewing the survivors of that night, science actually begins to take telekinesis seriously. Miss Desjardin, consumed with guilt over not being able to help Carrie, retires from teaching. Sue writes a memoir of her experience entitled My Name is Susan Snell, which warns the reader not to forget about the events that took place in Chamberlain, otherwise something like it may happen again. The book closes with a letter written by a woman in Tennessee
Tennessee
Tennessee is a U.S. state located in the Southeastern United States. It has a population of 6,346,105, making it the nation's 17th-largest state by population, and covers , making it the 36th-largest by total land area...
whose niece is developing telekinetic powers.
Adaptations
- The first adaptation of Carrie was a feature film of the same name, released in 1976. ScreenwrittenScreenwritingScreenwriting is the art and craft of writing scripts for mass media such as feature films, television productions or video games. It is a freelance profession....
by Lawrence D. CohenLawrence D. CohenLawrence D. Cohen is an American screenwriter and producer, best known for his work on Brian De Palma's Carrie , an adaptation of Stephen King's novel. Following this he scripted a simplified film adaptation of Peter Straub's novel Ghost Story in 1981...
and directedFilm directorA film director is a person who directs the actors and film crew in filmmaking. They control a film's artistic and dramatic nathan roach, while guiding the technical crew and actors.-Responsibilities:...
by Brian De PalmaBrian De PalmaBrian Russell De Palma is an American film director and writer. In a career spanning over 40 years, he is probably best known for his suspense and crime thriller films, including such box office successes as the horror film Carrie, Dressed to Kill, Scarface, The Untouchables, and Mission:...
, the film starred Sissy SpacekSissy SpacekSissy Spacek is an American actress and singer. She came to international prominence for her for role as Carrie White in Brian De Palma's 1976 horror film Carrie for which she earned her first Academy Award nomination...
as Carrie, along with Piper LauriePiper LauriePiper Laurie is an American actress of stage and screen known for her roles in the television series Twin Peaks and the films The Hustler, Carrie, and Children of a Lesser God, all of which brought her Academy Award nominations...
as Margaret, Amy IrvingAmy IrvingAmy Davis Irving is an American actress, known for her roles in the films Crossing Delancey, The Fury, Carrie, and Yentl as well as acclaimed roles on Broadway and Off-Broadway. She has been nominated for an Academy Award, two Golden Globes, and has won an Obie award...
as Sue, Nancy AllenNancy Allen (actress)Nancy Anne Allen is a Golden Globe nominated American actress and cancer activist.Allen began an acting and modelling career as a child, and from the mid-1970s appeared in small film roles, most notably the anchor of Robert Zemeckis's ensemble comedy I Wanna Hold Your Hand...
as Chris, John TravoltaJohn TravoltaJohn Joseph Travolta is an American actor, dancer and singer. Travolta first became known in the 1970s, after appearing on the television series Welcome Back, Kotter and starring in the box office successes Saturday Night Fever and Grease...
as Billy, Betty BuckleyBetty BuckleyBetty Lynn Buckley is an American theater, film and television actress and singer. She is a Tony Award winner and Grammy Award nominee.-Early life:...
as Miss Desjardin a.k.a. Miss Collins, and William KattWilliam KattWilliam Theodore Katt is an American film and television actor, best known as the star of The Greatest American Hero. He is also known for playing Tommy Ross, the ill-fated prom date of Carrie White in the film version of Carrie and Paul Drake Jr. in the Perry Mason TV movies...
as Tommy. It is regarded as a watershed film of the horror genre and one of the best film adaptations of a Stephen King work. Sissy Spacek and Piper Laurie received Academy Award nominations for their performances. - In 1988, a Broadway musical of the same nameCarrie (musical)Carrie: The Musical is a musical with a book by Lawrence D. Cohen, lyrics by Dean Pitchford, and music by Michael Gore. Adapted from Stephen King's novel Carrie, it focuses on an awkward teenage girl with telekinetic powers whose lonely life is dominated by an oppressive religious fanatic mother...
starring Betty BuckleyBetty BuckleyBetty Lynn Buckley is an American theater, film and television actress and singer. She is a Tony Award winner and Grammy Award nominee.-Early life:...
, Linzi HateleyLinzi HateleyLinzi Hateley is an English stage actress who is currently starring as one of the leads in the West End production of the musical Mamma Mia!. Her performance as Donna started on 5 March 2007....
, and Darlene LoveDarlene LoveDarlene Love is an American popular music singer and actress. She gained prominence in the 1960s for the song "He's a Rebel," a #1 American single in 1962, and was part of the Phil Spector stable that produced a celebrated Christmas album in 1963....
closed after only five performances and 16 previews, leading to it being viewed as one of the biggest BroadwayBroadway theatreBroadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
flops of all time. - A sequel titled The Rage: Carrie 2The Rage: Carrie 2The Rage: Carrie 2 is the 1999 sequel to the 1976 horror film classic Carrie. Directed by Katt Shea, the film starred Emily Bergl, Mena Suvari, Jason London and Amy Irving.-Plot:...
was released in 1999, based on the premise was that Carrie's father had numerous affairs and had another daughter with telekinetic powers. Sue Snell, the only survivor of the prom, also appears, now a school counselor. The film was both a commercial and critical failure. - In 2002, a made-for-television movie of the same nameCarrie (2002 film)Carrie is a 2002 horror television film based on the novel Carrie by Stephen King, originally intended as a pilot for a TV series in which Carrie moves to Florida to help others with telekinetic problems, which never materialized...
was released, starring Angela BettisAngela BettisAngela Marie Bettis is an American actress, film producer and director best known for her lead roles in the 2002 TV remake of the Stephen King film Carrie, the title character in May , and in Girl, Interrupted as the anorexic girl Janet Webber.-Early life:Bettis was born in Austin, Texas to Mary...
, Emilie de RavinEmilie de RavinEmilie de Ravin born 27 December 1981)is an Australian actress. She is commonly associated with her roles as Tess Harding on Roswell and Claire Littleton on the ABC drama Lost....
and Patricia ClarksonPatricia ClarksonPatricia Davies Clarkson is an American actress. After studying drama on the East Coast, Clarkson launched her acting career in 1985, and has worked steadily in both film and television. She twice won the Emmy for Outstanding Guest Actress in Six Feet Under...
. However, in this version, Carrie survives the end of the story, which was supposed to have led to a television series. - Playwright Erik Jackson acquired King's consent to stage a non-musical spoof, which premiered Off-BroadwayOff-BroadwayOff-Broadway theater is a term for a professional venue in New York City with a seating capacity between 100 and 499, and for a specific production of a play, musical or revue that appears in such a venue, and which adheres to related trade union and other contracts...
in 2006 with female impersonator Keith Levy (also known as Sherry Vine) in the lead role. - In 2011, MGM and Screen GemsScreen GemsScreen Gems is an American movie production company and subsidiary company of Sony Pictures Entertainment's Columbia TriStar Motion Picture Group that has served several different purposes for its parent companies over the decades since its incorporation....
gained rights to make a new film version with Roberto Aguirre-SacasaRoberto Aguirre-SacasaRoberto Aguirre-Sacasa is an American playwright, screenwriter and comic-book writer best known for his work for Marvel Comics and for the HBO drama series Big Love.-Biography:...
's hand at the screenplay. The film is said to be "less a remake of the De Palma film and more a re-adaptation of the original text".
External links
- Official website for Carrie the Musical
- Identification characteristics for first edition copies of Carrie!
- Full Length Commentary on Carrie