WE HAVE ALWAYS LIVED IN THE CRYPT
Popular actress Shirley Knight has died aged 83. Nominated twice for the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress – for The Dark at the Top of the Stairs and Sweet Bird of Youth – she had leading roles in many 60s flicks such as Sidney Lumet’s The Group and Francis Ford Coppola’s Rain People. She had a long career on stage, winning a Tony in 1976, was nominated for the Emmy 8 times, and won the Golden Globe. Only the Oscar itself eluded her EGOT quartet, beaten by Shirley Jones in 1960 and Patty Duke in 1962. (Although the latter is the year popular deadpool pick Angela Lansbury was robbed in the category for The Manchurian Candidate…).
She made a habit of taking on roles other actresses thought would be career killers, from alcoholics to promiscuous housewives. She also gave up a massive money contract in 1964 to go back to school and studying other actors to improve her own craft. Willing to appear in anything from The Outer Limits to Chekhov to even Thirtysomething, Shirley Knight had a lengthy and extensive 60 year acting career which has only been ended by dying in her sleep of natural causes. She was a unique hit for Theme Team Guest 50+.
Shirley Knight
5 July 1936 – 22 April 2020
unique hit