With her memorable red dress and flair-filled moves, Karen Lynn Gorney danced her way into our hearts opposite John Travolta in Saturday Night Fever, released nearly five decades ago. The dazzling drama helped propel her to stardom, but many fans have wondered what became of the actress in the years that followed.
From her early years starring in a soap opera to her triumphant return to Hollywood, we’re taking a look at what Karen’s been up to since the disco decade – and what she’s shared about the hit film.
Karen's dad was a famous composer
Creative upbringing
Born to an artistic family – her father composed the popular Great Depression-era song “Brother, Can You Spare a Dime? – Karen grew up dancing and painting, later attending the High School of Performing Arts before earning both a Bachelors and Masters in Fine Arts.
Following film roles in the likes of The Magic Garden of Stanley Sweetheart (1970), the actress joined the original cast of the long-running soap opera All My Children in 1970; she left four years later, telling the Times Square Chronicles, “I like taking risks. That’s why I left AMC, they wanted me to do the same thing over and over.”
Karen wanted to make her character "understandable"
Saturday Night Fever
Karen’s risk paid off, as she later was cast in the biggest role of her career – Stephanie in Saturday Night Fever (1977). She told the New York Times she began dance training two months before production began, and worked on her Brooklyn accent by writing down the vowel and consonant sounds.
“I tried to make her understandable,” she added. “I tried to show her as a woman who was really wiped out at the beginning of the film, to one who is finally coming together.”
The actress was catapulted to fame for her role opposite John Travolta, forever immortalised as the red-dress icon on the film’s legendary poster.
“We shot me in every colour dress under the sun,” Karen revealed to Media Mikes. “They kept dyeing them until they settled on what you see.”
Karen went on to manage an art gallery
Stepping away
Following her blockbuster role, Karen opted to take a lengthy break from Hollywood, spending her time managing an art gallery in Manhattan. The actress has since spoken candidly about typecasting, telling the Los Angeles Times that, “People didn’t know what to do with Stephanie Mangano”.
“People thought I was that person in the movie, and I became that – instead of someone who was stable and whole and had some sense of herself,” the actress shared, adding that she’d felt “vulnerable” at the time.
Alongside gallery management, Karen produced her took on a variety of theatre roles, from Dracula to Richard III.
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Karen (right) with Olivia Newton-John and John Travolta in 2002
Return to Hollywood
While continuing her theatre career into the 90s, Karen opted to dip her toes back in Hollywood’s waters, returning to All My Children in a 1995 cameo and guest-starring on popular shows like The Sopranos and Law & Order.
According to her website, Karen also married Mark Toback, a New York City-based musician, in July 1995.
While she keeps a low public profile, the actress has continued to act sporadically since the 2000s; among her most recent roles were Mrs. McKinley in the live-action Clifford the Big Red Dog (2021) alongside Jack Whitehall, and a guest appearance in Hulu’s Michelle Williams-led series Dying for Sex (2025).
Karen, pictured here in 2019, made film history with her hit role
Legacy
While she forever remains associated with Saturday Night Fever, Karen’s career spans decades of work across film, TV, theatre, and art, and the actress has never been one to shy away from risks.
Speaking to Roll the Credits with Chris & Wayne in 2020, Karen reflected on her multiple career shifts, sharing that “How do you know what it is until you know what it’s not, right?”