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...
She didn't rest on the laurels that came with those two career-making good girl parts and stepped into more daring roles. She headlined Frances Ford Coppola's The Rain People (1969) about a pregnant housewife reevaluating her choices and took a controversial turn in Dutchman (1966) a race drama about a promiscuous girl who seduces a black man. The result of the latter? A prestigious Volpi Cup win at Venice.
with Robert Duvall in "The Rain People"
Though her leading lady years may have been brief, not lasting beyond the 1960s, she worked steadily ever afterwards in supporting and guest roles. Her career accolades include eight Emmy nominations (with three wins), and two Tony nominations (with one win). Sweet Bird of Youth remains her most famous film (it helps to have Paul Newman and Geraldine Page as co-stars and Tennessee Williams language to guide you!) but other noteworthy or hit films followed over the decades including Petulia (1968), The Rain People (1969), Beyond the Poseidon Adventure (1979), Endless Love (1981), As Good As It Gets (1997), Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood (2002) and Paul Blart: Mall Cop (2009).
Do you have a favourite Shirley Knight performance?