News

by Nathaniel R

Two-time Oscar nominee Shirley Knight has passed away at 83 years of age of natural causes. Knight began her enduring screen career with guest starring roles in TV series of the 1950s in her early twenties and by 1959 she'd made her credited big screen debut as a nun in the violent B movie Five Gates to Hell (1959). It didn't take her long to achieve the pinnacle of Hollywood accolades, though, with nominations for Best Supporting Actress for just her third and fourth movies (the family drama Dark at the Top of the Stairs in 1960 and the Tennessee Williams adaptation Sweet Bird of Youth in 1962...

Even more sad news is coming in this week as the Emmy and Tony-winning actress Shirley Knight has passed away. Known for her work in movies like The Dark at the Top of the Stairs and Sweet Bird of Youth, Knight was a veteran actress whose impressive performances have stuck with viewers for decades. Reportedly, Knight died on Wednesday due to "natural causes" at the San Marcos, Texas home of her daughter, actress Kaitlin Hopkins.She was 83 years old.

Shirley Knight was born in Goessel, Kansas, on July 5, 1936. Knowing very early in life she wanted to perform, Knight had begun studying to be an opera singer at the age of eleven. After graduating from high school, Knight attended Phillips University and Wichita State University, going on to study at the Pasadena Theatre School to train as an actress. She would make her movie debut in the 1959 movie Five Gates to Hell,...

Shirley Knight, who was twice Oscar nominated for best supporting actress, for “The Dark at the Top of the Stairs” (1960) and “Sweet Bird of Youth” (1962), and won a Tony and three Emmys, died on Wednesday of natural causes in San Marcos, Texas. She was 83.

Her daughter, actress Kaitlin Hopkins, paid tribute to Knight in a lengthy Facebook post.

Knight continued to work as she approached 80, reprising her role as Mom in “Paul Blart: Mall Cop 2” in 2015 after appearing in the 2009 original.

In 1997’s “As Good as It Gets,” starring Jack Nicholson and Helen Hunt, Knight played the mother of Hunt’s character; the New York Times called her performance “tenderly funny.”

Other film credits of recent vintage include Luis Mandoki’s “Angel Eyes” (2001), starring Jennifer Lopez; thriller “The Salton Sea” (2002); “Grandma’s Boy” (2006); Rebecca Miller’s “The Private Lives of Pippa Lee” (2009), with Robin Wright; “Our Idiot Brother” (2011), toplined by...