Horror veteran Karen Black debuted the role of Gloria "Mama" Firefly in Rob Zombie's House of 1000 Corpses, but didn't return for The Devil's Rejects. While Otis (Bill Moseley), Baby (Sheri Moon Zombie), and Captain Spaulding (Sid Haig) would go on to become the clear stars of Zombie's Firefly Family franchise, House of 1000 Corpses presented several more prominent family members. This included, Mama or Mother Firefly, the biological mom of Baby, and adoptive mom of Otis.
Mama Firefly loves to flirt with the family's eventual victims, and is very overtly sexual by nature, a trait clearly passed down to her daughter Baby. She conceived Baby with Spaulding, although the two characters never really got much screentime together. Mama Firefly, like the other members of her makeshift family, was extremely dangerous, and not to be messed with by anyone not looking to shuffle off this mortal coil in a brutally horrific way.
Horror genre mainstay Karen Black (Trilogy of Terror, Burnt Offerings) portrayed Mama Firefly in House of 1000 Corpses, and survived the film. However, while the character of the Firefly Family matriarch would return for 2005 sequel The Devil's Rejects, Black wouldn't reprise the role.
The Devil’s Rejects: Why Karen Black Didn’t Return As Mama Firefly
Mama Firefly plays an important role in The Devil's Rejects, choosing to stay behind with her dying son Rufus when the police attack the Firefly farmhouse at the beginning of the film. Otis and Baby escape, then meet up with Spaulding to go on the lamb. Mama intends to kill herself, but fails, and is taken into custody. She's later brutally murdered by Sheriff Wydell, as revenge for having killed his brother. During all this though, Mama Firefly is now played by actress Leslie Easterbrook, of Police Academy franchise fame.
It turns out Karen Black not returning to play Mama Firefly simply came down to money. Black wanted a sizeable pay raise to participate in The Devil's Rejects, and Rob Zombie didn't consider her desired rate workable under the film's limited budget. That said, there seemed to be no long-term bad blood between Zombie and Black. In fact, prior to Black's passing in 2013, Zombie and other members of the House of 1000 Corpses cast and crew publicly implored fans to donate to a Gofundme campaign designed to help the actress pay for expensive cancer treatments. While the campaign raised over $60,000, Black still sadly ended up succumbing to the illness a few months later. To horror fans though, she'll always have a place in history.