Oscar-nominated actress Sally Kirkland, best known for her unforgettable performance in the 1987 indie gem ‘Anna’, has passed away at the age of 84. The veteran performer took her last breath early Tuesday morning in Palm Springs, California.
Kirkland was in hospice care last week after a fall in October left her with injuries to her ribs and foot. Her health had already been fragile. She was battling a bone infection that had spread to her bloodstream and had also been diagnosed with dementia.
While many stars relied on big studios for fame, Sally Kirkland carved her own path. Her performance in ‘Anna’ as a Czech actress guiding a young immigrant actress played by Paulina Porizkova was a masterclass role. The role earned her an Academy Award nomination for Best Actress along with a Golden Globe and the Los Angeles Film Critics Award.
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Her rise to Oscar recognition was almost mythical. Long before social media campaigns and viral buzz, Kirkland launched her own grassroots Oscar push. She personally wrote letters to critics, reached out to friends in the art world, and even called in a favor from pop icon Andy Warhol, who gave her airtime on his talk show. A chance elevator meeting with film critic Rex Reed in Cannes also became legendary. He later wrote, “Sally Kirkland devours ‘Anna’ like a raw steak and emerges a major star.”
Beyond the big screen, Kirkland made her mark on television too. She appeared in popular shows like ‘Roseanne’, ‘Felicity’, ‘Days of Our Lives’, and ‘Valley of the Dolls’ often portraying bold layered women with a spark of rebellion that mirrored her real-life personality.
In a 2012 interview with ‘HuffPost’, Kirkland recalled her Oscar night with a smile: “At the Oscars, there were all these movie stars getting out of limos, and then there was me. I felt like Cinderella. The best part was being in the same category as women I admired: Meryl, Glenn, Holly Hunter, and Cher, who I used to roller-skate with in the ’70s.”