US actress Carrie Snodgress dies

Carrie Snodgress with one of her two Golden Globe awards in 1971

Actress Carrie Snodgress, nominated for an Oscar for the 1970 film Diary of a Mad Housewife, has died aged 57.

Snodgress suffered heart failure on 1 April while awaiting a liver transplant in Los Angeles, her manager said.

Her son Zeke, by rock star Neil Young, was at her side at the University of California Medical Center, he said.

Snodgress made her big screen debut in Rabbit, Run in 1970 before comedy-drama Diary of a Mad Housewife, which also won her two Golden Globe awards.

But she left Hollywood in 1971 to live with Young and gave birth to Zeke, who had cerebral palsy.

She said it was hard to resume her career when she returned to acting in the late 70s, but did not regret the move.

Murder attempt

"I was never really a career woman, you see," she told the Los Angeles Times in 1986.

"When I got nominated for Diary of a Mad Housewife, I didn't think, 'Aah, now I'll get more money'. My dream had always just been to do my works well, fall in love and build a life for myself."

She returned to Hollywood with a role opposite Kirk Douglas in 1978's The Fury, and had a relationship with songwriter Jack Nitzsche.

In 1979, he was charged with threatening to kill her after beating her with a handgun. He pleaded guilty and received three years' probation.

In the 1980s, she appeared in Pale Rider with Clint Eastwood and Murphy's Law with Charles Bronson, and had more recent supporting roles in teen thrillers Wild Things and The Forsaken.