Sondra Locke received an Academy Award nomination for her screen acting debut in the 1968 drama film The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter, in which she plays Mick Kelly, a teenage girl who befriends a deaf and mute man, played by Alan Arkin. Subsequent roles in the films A Reflection of Fear, The Second Coming of Suzanne, and Willard revealed Locke to be an adventurous young actress who possessed uncommon range and versatility.