Shirley Knight obit

Shirley Knight, Adventurous Actress and Two-Time Oscar Nominee, Dies at 83

She was not on the list.

A winner of a Tony and three Emmys, the Kansan was memorable in 'The Dark at the Top of the Stairs,' 'Sweet Bird of Youth,' 'Dutchman' and 'A Streetcar Named Desire.'

Shirley Knight, the daring actress and darling of Tennessee Williams who received Oscar nominations for her work in her third and fourth films, The Dark at the Top of the Stairs and Sweet Bird of Youth, has died. She was 83.

Knight died Wednesday of natural causes at the home of her daughter, actress Kaitlin Hopkins, in San Marcos, Texas.

Knight was known for taking bold chances during her career — as when she portrayed a promiscuous woman who confronts a young black male (Al Freeman Jr.) on the New York subway in the incendiary 1966 independent film Dutchman (1966) or when she played a pregnant Long Island housewife who gets involved with an ex-football player (James Caan) in The Rain People (1969), a film Francis Ford Coppola wrote just for her.

The Kansas native received a Tony Award in 1976 for her turn as an alcoholic actress who channels Marilyn Monroe in Kennedy's Children, and she was nominated again in 1997 for portraying the sorrowful wife of a Houston businessman (Rip Torn) in Horton Foote's Pulitzer Prize-winning The Young Man From Atlanta.

In Delbert Mann's The Dark at the Top of the Stairs (1960) — an adaptation of another Pulitzer Prize-winning play, this one written by Kansan William Inge and directed on Broadway by Elia Kazan — Knight made her first big splash as Reenie, the conflicted teenage daughter of a laid-off salesman (Robert Preston) and his wife (Dorothy McGuire) in 1920s Oklahoma.

She landed her first supporting actress nom for that, then received another one for her next film, Richard Brooks' gripping Sweet Bird of Youth (1962), in which she portrayed Heavenly Finley, the daughter of the crooked town boss (Oscar winner Ed Begley) and childhood sweetheart of a Hollywood wannabe, Chance Wayne (Paul Newman). The film was based on a 1959 play by Williams that was directed on Broadway by Kazan as well.

At the height of her powers in 1964, Knight asked for and was granted a release from her contract at Warner Bros. so she could move to New York to study acting with Lee Strasberg at the Actors Studio. "When I was doing Sweet Bird of Youth, Geraldine Page and Paul and the whole cast were so experienced," she said in 2014. "I felt like there's something they knew that I didn't."

One of her favorite stage personas was Blanche DuBois in A Streetcar Named Desire: "I was absolutely born to play that role," she said in a 2010 interview for the Classic TV blog. After one performance, she recalled, "Tennessee came backstage and said, 'Finally, I have my Blanche. My perfect Blanche.'" He then wrote A Lovely Sunday at Creve Coeur for her.

Talking about the actress in a 1982 interview with James Grissom, Williams said: "People talk about talent, but everybody has some talent. Everybody also has a heart. But talent, like one's heart, is almost always badly or rarely used. You don't take a talent or a heart out for a walk or an adventure without a great deal of courage, and I look for courage.

"There are talented people — brilliant people — who have courage, and those you want to keep around you … Shirley Knight has incredible courage: She'll take her talent wherever it needs to go to get the job done well, and she has no fear about sharing it with anyone ready for it. I like daring people, bold people. Shirley is daring and bold."

She was born on July, 5, 1936, in Goessel, Kansas, the daughter of an oil-company executive. Raised in nearby Mitchell, a town with 13 houses, a two-room schoolhouse and a church, Knight began training at age 11 to be an opera singer.

When director Josh Logan brought Picnic (1956), an adaptation of another Inge play, to film at Sterling Lake, Knight, her sister, brother and mom served as extras for a day on the film, watching William Holden and Kim Novak at work.

After her junior year at Wichita State University, Knight came to Southern California for a six-week summer acting course at the Pasadena Playhouse. That led to her getting a role as a 15-year-old unwed mother opposite Michael Landon in NBC Matinee Theater in 1957.

"I guess I had kind of natural talent," she said. "I looked very young; I was 19 but looked 15."

Knight wasn't going back to Kansas. She enrolled at UCLA and took acting lessons from Jeff Corey (her classmates included former child stars Robert Blake and Dean Stockwell, Jack Nicholson, Sally Kellerman and Millie Perkins) and while in a play was spotted by Ethel Winant, the famed head of casting at CBS.

"Ethel really was the person who, more than anyone else, championed my career," she said. "She would put me in everything. Anything she could possibly put me in that was at CBS, she did. She also was responsible for my going with the Kurt Frings Agency. If you don't know who that is, he was the most important Hollywood agent for women. He handled Elizabeth Taylor, Audrey Hepburn, Grace Kelly, Eva Marie Saint. Every star at that time was his client.

"I was taken in to meet him, and I was this skinny little thing with glasses. He took one look at me and said to the agent who brought me in, 'Why do we want her?' And the agent said, 'Well, she's really good.' This is with me in the room. And he said, 'Well, OK.'"

Knight landed a contract ($400 for six months) at Warner Bros. and wound up appearing on the studio's TV dramas like Bourbon Street Beat, 77 Sunset Strip, Hawaiian Eye and Maverick.

She also portrayed a woman whose husband was killed during World War II on a live October 1958 episode of CBS' Playhouse 90 that was directed by Mann. He had her in mind when he was searching for someone to portray Reenie in The Dark at the Top of the Stairs.

In 1963, Knight starred with Martin Landau on "The Man Who Was Never Born," a memorable episode of The Outer Limits. (Landau and his wife, actress Barbara Bain, stood up for her at her first wedding, to Broadway producer Gene Persson.)

At the Academy Awards, Knight lost to Shirley Jones of Elmer Gantry and then to Patty Duke of The Miracle Worker. "My father was my date for my first Oscar nomination," she said in the 2014 interview. "When I didn't win, Dad said, 'You know, you can always come home.' I think he thought that the fact I didn't win meant that was [the end of] it."

Knight did Dutchman onstage and then starred in and produced the film version, directed by Anthony Harvey. The movie won a critics prize at the Cannes Film Festival, and she took the best actress honor at the Venice festival.

Coppola was at Cannes with You're a Big Boy Now when Dutchman was there. "He came up to me and said, 'Look, I really want to write a film for you,'" Knight recalled in her Classic TV conversation. "At the time, people often said that sort of thing, but you never really took it totally seriously.

"I was living in London, in a little cottage in Hampstead, and six months later he was on my doorstep with the script. He said, 'Do you mind if I stay here while you read it?' So I gave him some food and read the script and I said, 'Let's do it.'"

Knight collected two Emmys in 1995, one for playing Peggy Buckley, the real-life owner of a daycare center who's tried for child molestation, in the telefilm The McMartin Trial, the other for a guest stint on NYPD Blue. She picked up a third Emmy in 1988 for playing the mother of Mel Harris on Thirtysomething and was nominated eight times during her career.

Knight also portrayed the meddling mother-in-law of Marcia Cross on Desperate Housewives and Faith Ford's small-town mom on the short-lived 1998-99 comedy Maggie Winters. She could have played the wife of J.R. Ewing on Dallas but turned that down. (The part, of course, wound up going to Linda Gray.)

On the big screen, Knight was the mother of Kevin James in the two Paul Blart: Mall Cop films and also appeared in The Group (1966), Petulia (1968), The Counterfeit Killer (1968), Secrets (1971), Juggernaut (1974), Endless Love (1981) — as Brooke Shields' mom — Color of Night (1994), Diabolique (1996), As Good as It Gets (1997), Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood (2002), Grandma's Boy (2006), Our Idiot Brother (2011), Redwood Highway (2013) and Mercy (2014).

She was married to Persson (You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown) from 1959 until their 1969 divorce and to British writer-playwright John R. Hopkins from 1969 until his death in 1998.

She also is survived by daughter Sophie Jacks, a screenwriter, and a stepdaughter, Justine. Her daughter Kaitlin said Knight in recent years had been working on a memoir, traveling with her family and doting over her rescue dog, Minnie.

A memorial service will be held in early 2021 in Los Angeles. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that contributions be made to The Shirley Knight Memorial Fund at Texas State University.

Knight was admired for her craft but never really famous. "Well, I have a whole theory about fame," she said in a 2012 interview.

"I always say [fame] isn't really something to aspire to in the sense that many, many people who are very famous are ridiculous. I mean, look at the Kardashians. There are people walking around who don't know who The Beatles were.

"So something I [say], 'If you think your food is you want to be famous, you're going to starve to death.' Your food has to be that you want to do good work and you want to become better at what you do."

Filmography

Film

Year       Title       Role       Notes

1959      Five Gates to Hell             Sister Maria       

1960      Ice Palace            Grace Kennedy

1960      The Dark at the Top of the Stairs                Reenie Flood      Nominated—Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress

Nominated—Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress – Motion Picture

Nominated—Golden Globe Award for New Star of the Year – Actress

1962      The Couch           Terry Ames        

1962      Sweet Bird of Youth        Heavenly Finley                 Nominated—Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress

Nominated—Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress – Motion Picture

1962      House of Women             Erica Hayden     

1964      Flight from Ashiya            Caroline Gordon/Stevenson       

1966      The Group           Polly Andrews Ridgeley

1966      Dutchman           Lula        Volpi Cup for Best Actress

1968      The Counterfeit Killer     Angie Peterson

1968      Petulia Prudence "Polo" Bollen Laurel Award for Best Female Supporting Performance

1969      The Rain People                Natalie Ravenna              

1971      Secrets Beatrice              

1974      Juggernaut          Barbara Bannister           

1979      Beyond the Poseidon Adventure               Hannah Meredith           

1981      Prisoners             Virginia                

1981      Endless Love       Ann Butterfield Nominated—Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Supporting Actress

1982      The Sender         Jerolyn

1994      The Secret Life of Houses              Aunt Fergie        

1994      Benders               Donna  

1994      Color of Night    Edith Niedelmeyer         

1995      Stuart Saves His Family Mrs. Smalley     

1996      Diabolique          Edie Danziger    

1996      Somebody Is Waiting      Irma Cill               

1997      As Good as It Gets            Beverly Connelly               Nominated—Satellite Award for Best Supporting Actress – Motion Picture

1997      Little Boy Blue   Doris Knight       

2000      75 Degrees in July            Jo Beth Anderson            

2001      Angel Eyes           Elanora Davis    

2002      The Salton Sea   Nancy Plummer               

2002      P.S. Your Cat Is Dead       Aunt Claire         

2002      Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood    Necie Rose Kelleher       

2003      A House on a Hill              Mercedes Mayfield        

2005      Sexual Life           Joanna

2006      Grandma's Boy Bea       

2006      Open Window   Ann       

2006      Thanks to Gravity             Lea        

2008      The Other Side of the Tracks        Helen   

2008      Not Fade Away Diane   

2009      Paul Blart: Mall Cop         Margaret Blart  

2009      The Private Lives of Pippa Lee     Dot Nadeau       

2010      Listen to Your Heart        Grandma Sam   

2011      Elevator               Jane Redding     

2011      Our Idiot Brother              Ilene Rochlin     

2011      The Melancholy Fantastic             Mor      

2013      Redwood Highway           Marie Vaughn   

2014      Mercy   Mercy  

2015      Paul Blart: Mall Cop 2     Margaret Blart  

2015      The Missing Girl                Mrs. Colvins       

2016      Doll in the Dark Mor (voice)        

2018      Periphery            Leanne Cross      Final film appearance

Television

Year       Title       Role       Notes

1958–1959          Buckskin               Mrs. Newcomb 20 episodes

1960      77 Sunset Strip Mari Ellen Taylor              Episode: "Fraternity of Fear"

1961      Maverick              Nancy Powers    Episode: "The Ice Man"

1961      The Roaring 20s                Ellie Hollis            Episode: "Big Town Blues"

1962      Naked City          Kathy Meigs       Episode: "Five Cranks for Winter... Ten Cranks for Spring"

1962, 1965          The Virginian      Susan Morrow / Clara Malone    2 episodes

1963      The Outer Limits               Noel Anderson Episode: "The Man Who Was Never Born"

1964      The Fugitive        Janice Pruitt       Episode: "The Homecoming"

1965      The Fugitive        Mona Ross          Episode: "A.P.B."

1966      The Fugitive        Jane Washburn Episode: "Echo of a Nightmare"

1967      The Invaders      Margaret Cook Episode: "The Watchers"

1967      The Outsider      Peggy Leydon    TV movie

1968      Shadow Over Elveron     Joanne Tregaskis              TV movie

1973      The Streets of San Francisco        Mary Rae Dortmunter    Episode: "A Room With a View"

1973      Circle of Fear      Beth       Episode: "Legion of Demons"

1973      The Lie Anna      TV movie

1973      Orson Welles Great Mysteries    Margot Brenner                Episode: "The Power of Fear"

1974      The Country Girl               Georgie Elgin      TV movie

1974      Nakia     Faye Arnold        Episode: "Pete"

1975      Barnaby Jones   Kay Lewiston      Episode: "Fantasy of Fear"

1975      Friendly Persuasion         Eliza Birdwell      TV movie

1975      Medical Story     Phyllis Lenahan TV movie

1976      Return to Earth Joan Aldrin          TV movie

1976      21 Hours at Munich         Anneliese Graes               TV movie

1978      The Defection of Simas Kudirka Genna Kudirka   TV movie

1979      Champions: A Love Story               Barbara Harlich TV movie

1979      A Last Cry for Help           Joan Muir            TV movie

1980      Playing for Time                Frau Lagerfuhrerin Maria Mandel              TV movie

Nominated—Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Miniseries or a Movie

1982      Kennedy's Children         Carla      TV movie

1982      Nurse    Sylvia Dennis      Episode: "Euthanasia"

1982      Tales of the Unexpected               Elizabeth Bourdon           Episode: "A Woman's Help"

1984      Hammer House of Mystery and Suspense             Ann Fairfax Denver          Episode: "The Sweet Scent of Death"

1984      With Intent to Kill             Edna Reinecker TV movie

1985–1987          Spenser: For Hire              Katie Quirk          2 episodes

1987–1990          Thirtysomething               Ruth Murdoch   2 episodes

Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series

Nominated—Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series

1989      Murder, She Wrote         Grace Fenton     Episode: "Smooth Operators"

1989      The Equalizer     Kay         Episode: "Time Present, Time Past"

Nominated—Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series

1990      Murder, She Wrote         Grace Lambert Episode: "Always a Thief"

1990      Matlock                Phyllis Todd        Episode: "The Mother"

1991      Bump in the Night            Katie      TV movie

1991      Shadow of a Doubt          Mrs. Potter         TV movie

1991      To Save a Child Rinda Larson      TV movie

1991      Law & Order       Melanie Cullen Episode: "The Wages of Love"

Nominated—Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series

1993      L.A. Law                Belinda Collins   Episode: "Hello and Goodbye"

1993      When Love Kills: The Seduction of John Hearn     Edna Larson        TV movie

1993      Angel Falls           Edie Wren Cox   Television series

1993      A Mother's Revenge       Bess Warden      TV movie

1994      Baby Brokers      Sylvia     TV movie

1995      Children of the Dust        Aunt Bertha        TV movie

1995      Fudge    Mrs. A   Episode: "Fudge-a-mania"

1995      NYPD Blue           Agnes Cantwell Episode: "Large Mouth Bass"

Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series

1995      Indictment: The McMartin Trial Peggy Buckey     TV movie

Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress – Series, Miniseries or Television Film

Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Miniseries or a Movie

1996      Stolen Memories: Secrets from the Rose Garden                Sally Ann              TV movie

1996      Cybill     Loretta Episode: "Romancing the Crone"

1996      If These Walls Could Talk               Mary Donnelly   TV movie

1998–1999          Maggie Winters                Estelle Winters 16 episodes

1998      The Wedding     Gram     Nominated—Satellite Award for Best Supporting Actress – Motion Picture

1998      Significant Others             Mrs. Callaway    2 episodes

1998      A Father for Brittany       Donna Minkowitz             TV movie

2001      The Fugitive        Delores Dalkowski            Episode: "Past Perfect"

2001      Law & Order: Special Victims Unit             Dr. Wharton       Episode: "Repression"

2001      My Louisiana Sky              Jewel Ramsey    TV movie

2002      Ally McBeal         Helen Apple        Episode: "Homecoming"

2002      ER           Mrs. Burke          Episode: "Insurrection"

2003      Law & Order: Special Victims Unit             Rose Granville   Episode: '"Tragedy"

2004      Crossing Jordan                 Frances Littleton               Episode: "Most Likely"

2005      House   Georgia Adams Episode: "Poison"

2005–2007          Desperate Housewives Phyllis Van De Kamp       5 episodes

Nominated—Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series

2009      Drop Dead Diva                 Millie Carlson     Episode: "Dead Model Walking"

2010      Hot in Cleveland               Loretta Episode: "Meet the Parents"

2012      The Mob Doctor               Ann Wilson         Episode: "Turf War"