Sally Kirkland, the Oscar-nominated actress whose career spanned more than six decades across stage, screen, and television, has died at 84.
According to The Associated Press, her representative, Michael Greene, said Kirkland passed away Tuesday morning at a hospice in Palm Springs, California.
Friends had recently launched a GoFundMe campaign to help with her medical expenses after she suffered a string of serious injuries — including four neck fractures, a broken wrist, and a fractured hip. While recovering, she developed infections that required hospitalization and long-term rehabilitation.
Kirkland was best known for her acclaimed performance in the 1987 film Anna, in which she played a once-famous Czech actress trying to rebuild her life in America while mentoring a younger performer, played by Paulina Porizkova. The role earned her an Academy Award nomination for Best Actress and a Golden Globe win.
“Kirkland is one of those performers whose talent has been an open secret to her fellow actors but something of a mystery to the general public,” wrote a critic for the Los Angeles Times. “There should be no confusion about her identity after this blazing comet of a performance.”
Throughout her prolific career, Kirkland shared the screen with Hollywood icons including Paul Newman and Robert Redford in The Sting, Barbra Streisand in The Way We Were, Kevin Costner in Revenge, and Jim Carrey in Bruce Almighty. She also appeared in Oliver Stone’s JFK, Ron Howard’s EDtv, and Mel Brooks’ Blazing Saddles.
Her television work included guest roles on Criminal Minds, Roseanne, and Head Case, as well as recurring parts on Valley of the Dolls and Charlie’s Angels.
Born in New York City, Kirkland was the daughter of a Vogue and Life magazine fashion editor who introduced her to modeling at age five. She later studied acting under Philip Burton and Method acting pioneer Lee Strasberg, and made early appearances in Andy Warhol’s 13 Most Beautiful Women and Terrence McNally’s Sweet Eros.
“I don’t think any actor can really call him or herself an actor unless he or she puts in time with Shakespeare,” Kirkland told the Los Angeles Times in 1991.
Kirkland was also known for her bold personality and commitment to humanitarian causes. She volunteered for AIDS and cancer patients, fed the homeless through the Red Cross, and advocated for young prisoners.
Despite career ups and downs, including what one critic called “the worst film he had ever seen,” Kirkland’s artistic fearlessness and compassion left a lasting mark on Hollywood — and on those she helped off-screen.
