Shirley Knight

Shirley Knight
Knight in 1963
Born	Shirley Enola Knight (1936-07-05)July 5, 1936 Goessel, Kansas, U.S.
Died	April 22, 2020(2020-04-22) (aged 83) San Marcos, Texas, U.S.
Alma mater	Phillips University Wichita State University HB Studio
Occupation	Actress
Years active	1955–2018
Spouses	Gene Persson ​ ​ (m. 1959; div. 1969)​ John Hopkins ​ ​ (m. 1969; died 1998)​
Children	2, including Kaitlin Hopkins
Awards	See below

Shirley Enola Knight Hopkins (née Knight; July 5, 1936 – April 22, 2020) was an American actress, active in theatre, film, and television from the 1960s through the 2010's. She was a two-time Oscar nominee, a three-time Primetime Emmy Award winner, and a Golden Globe and Tony Award winner, among other accolades.

She was nominated twice for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress: for The Dark at the Top of the Stairs (1960) and Sweet Bird of Youth (1962).^[1] In the 1960s, she had leading roles in a number of Hollywood films such as The Couch (1962), House of Women (1962), The Group (1966), The Counterfeit Killer (1968), and The Rain People (1969). She received the Volpi Cup for Best Actress for her role in the British film Dutchman (1966).

In 1976, Knight won a Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Play for her performance in Kennedy's Children, a play by Robert Patrick. In later years, she played supporting roles in many films, including Endless Love (1981), As Good as It Gets (1997), Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood (2002), and Grandma's Boy (2006).

Knight was born in Goessel, Kansas, the daughter of Virginia (née Webster; 1916-1977) and Noel Johnson Knight (1913-1985), an oil company executive.^{[citation needed]} She had a brother and a sister. She spent her young life in Mitchell, Kansas, and later lived in Lyons, Kansas, where she graduated from high school. She began studying to be an opera singer at age 11.^{[citation needed]}

At the age of 14, she wrote a short story that was published in a national magazine. Knight later attended Phillips University and Wichita State University. After studying at the Pasadena Theatre School she began her film career in 1959. She then went to New York and began her theatre career. She trained in acting with Jeff Corey, Erwin Piscator, Lee Strasberg, and Uta Hagen at HB Studio.^[2][3][4]

Knight's feature films include The Group (1966), The Dutchman (1967), Petulia (1968), The Rain People (1969), Secrets (1971), Juggernaut (1974), Beyond the Poseidon Adventure (1979), Endless Love (1981), Angel Eyes (2001), Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood (2002), Paul Blart: Mall Cop (2009), Our Idiot Brother (2011) and Elevator (2011), in which she plays one of several people trapped in a Wall Street elevator with a bomber.

Knight was cast in 1958 and 1959 as Mrs. Newcomb in 20 of the 29 episodes of the television series Buckskin, with Tom Nolan, Sally Brophy, and Mike Road. She became a Warner Brothers Television contract star who while on breaks from filming feature films appeared in television series such as Maverick, Bourbon Street Beat, Sugarfoot, Cheyenne, and The Roaring 20s.^[5]

A life member of The Actors Studio,^[6] Knight's stage credits include Three Sisters (1964), We Have Always Lived in the Castle (1966), Kennedy's Children (1975), which earned her the Tony Award for Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Play,^[7] and A Lovely Sunday for Creve Coeur (1979).

She was nominated for the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Actress in a Play twice, for Landscape of the Body and The Young Man from Atlanta, for which she received another Tony nomination.^[7] She also appeared in Come Back, Come Back, Wherever You Are (2009), an original play by Arthur Laurents.

Her television credits include Target: The Corruptors!, The Eleventh Hour, The Outer Limits ("The Man Who Was Never Born"), The Reporter, The Fugitive, The Invaders, The Virginian, Murder, She Wrote, Thirtysomething, Law & Order, L.A. Law, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, Maggie Winters, ER, House M.D., Crossing Jordan, Cold Case, and Hot in Cleveland, among others.^{[citation needed]}

She appeared in various television films, including Playing For Time and Indictment: The McMartin Trial. For the latter, she won both the Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Miniseries or a Movie and the Golden Globe Award for Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in a Series, Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for Television. Her guest performance in thirtysomething earned her a 1988 Emmy for Best Guest Performer in a Drama Series. She won an Emmy in 1995 for her guest performance in the NYPD Blue episode "Large Mouth Bass".^[8]

She appeared in the first segment of If These Walls Could Talk. She also had a recurring role on Desperate Housewives.^[9]

Knight was married to American actor and producer Gene Persson from 1959 until their divorce in 1969. They had one child, actress Kaitlin Hopkins (born February 1, 1964).^[10]

Her second marriage was to English writer John Hopkins from 1969 until his death in 1998. They had one child, elementary school teacher Sophie C. Hopkins.

One month after suffering a fall at an assisted living facility, Knight died on April 22, 2020, at age 83, at her daughter Kaitlin Hopkins's home in San Marcos, Texas.^[11]

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1959	Five Gates to Hell	Sister Maria
1960	Ice Palace	Grace Kennedy
	The Dark at the Top of the Stairs	Reenie Flood
1962	The Couch	Terry Ames
	Sweet Bird of Youth	Heavenly Finley
	House of Women	Erica Hayden
1964	Flight from Ashiya	Caroline Gordon
1966	The Group	Polly Andrews Ridgeley
	Dutchman	Lula
1968	The Counterfeit Killer	Angie Peterson
	Petulia	Prudence "Polo" Bollen
1969	The Rain People	Natalie Ravenna
1971	Secrets	Beatrice
1974	Juggernaut	Barbara Bannister
1979	Beyond the Poseidon Adventure	Hannah Meredith
1981	Endless Love	Ann Butterfield
1982	The Sender	Jerolyn
	Prisoners	Virginia
1994	Benders	Donna
	Color of Night	Edith Niedelmeyer
	The Secret Life of Houses	Aunt Fergie
1995	Stuart Saves His Family	Mrs. Smalley
1996	Diabolique	Edie Danziger
	Somebody Is Waiting	Irma Cill
1997	As Good as It Gets	Beverly Connelly
	Little Boy Blue	Doris Knight
2000	75 Degrees in July	Jo Beth Anderson
2001	A House on a Hill	Mercedes Mayfield
	Angel Eyes	Elanora Davis
2002	The Salton Sea	Nancy Plummer
	P.S. Your Cat Is Dead	Aunt Claire
	Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood	Necie Rose Kelleher
2005	Sexual Life	Joanna
2006	Grandma's Boy	Bea
	Open Window	Dr. Ann Monohan
	Thanks to Gravity	Lea
2008	The Other Side of the Tracks	Helen
	Not Fade Away	Diane
2009	Paul Blart: Mall Cop	Margaret Blart
	The Private Lives of Pippa Lee	Dot Nadeau
2010	Listen to Your Heart	Grandma Sam
2011	Our Idiot Brother	Ilene Rochlin
	The Melancholy Fantastic	Mor (voice)
	Elevator	Jane Redding
2013	Redwood Highway	Marie Vaughn
2014	Mercy	Mercy
2015	Paul Blart: Mall Cop 2	Margaret Blart
	The Missing Girl	Mrs. Colvins
2016	Doll in the Dark	Mor (voice)
2018	Periphery	Leanne Cross

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1958–59	Buckskin	Mrs. Newcomb	20 episodes
1959	The Restless Gun		Episode: "Better Than a Cannon"
1960	77 Sunset Strip	Mari Ellen Taylor	Episode: "Fraternity of Fear"
1961	Lawman		Episode: "The Trial"
	Maverick	Nancy Powers	Episode: "The Ice Man"
	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"
1964–66	The Fugitive	Janice Pruitt, Mona Ross, Jane Washburn,	3 episodes
1967	The Invaders	Margaret Cook	Episode: "The Watchers"
1973	The Streets of San Francisco	Mary Rae Dortmunter	Episode: "A Room With a View"
	Circle of Fear	Beth	Episode: "Legion of Demons"
	Orson Welles Great Mysteries	Margot Brenner	Episode: "The Power of Fear"
1974	Nakia	Faye Arnold	Episode: "Pete"
1975	Barnaby Jones	Kay Lewiston	Episode: "Fantasy of Fear"
	Medical Story	Phyllis Lenahan	Pilot episode
1982	Nurse	Sylvia Dennis	Episode: "Euthanasia"
	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"
1985, 1987	Spenser: For Hire	Katie Quirk	2 episodes
1987, 1990	Thirtysomething	Ruth Murdoch	2 episodes
1989	Murder, She Wrote	Grace Fenton	Episode: "Smooth Operators"
	The Equalizer	Kay	Episode: "Time Present, Time Past"
1990	Murder, She Wrote	Grace Lambert	Episode: "Always a Thief"
	Matlock	Phyllis Todd	Episode: "The Mother"
1991	Law & Order	Melanie Cullen	Episode: "The Wages of Love"
1993	L.A. Law	Belinda Collins	Episode: "Hello and Goodbye"
	Angel Falls	Edie Wren Cox	Television series
1995	Fudge	Mrs. A	Episode: "Fudge-a-mania"
	NYPD Blue	Agnes Cantwell	Episode: "Large Mouth Bass"
1996	Cybill	Loretta	Episode: "Romancing the Crone"
1998–99	Maggie Winters	Estelle Winters	16 episodes
1998	Significant Others	Mrs. Callaway	2 episodes
2001	The Fugitive	Delores Dalkowski	Episode: "Past Perfect"
	Law & Order: Special Victims Unit	Dr. Wharton	Episode: "Repression"
2002	Ally McBeal	Helen Apple	Episode: "Homecoming"
	ER	Mrs. Burke	Episode: "Insurrection"
2003	Law & Order: Special Victims Unit	Rose Granville	Episode: '"Tragedy"
2004	Crossing Jordan	Frances Littleton	Episode: "Most Likely"
	Cold Case	Dottie	Episode: "Factory Girls"
2005	House	Georgia Adams	Episode: "Poison"
2005–07	Desperate Housewives	Phyllis Van de Kamp	5 episodes
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"

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1967	The Outsider	Peggy Leydon
1968	Shadow Over Elveron	Joanne Tregaskis
1973	The Lie	Anna
1974	The Country Girl	Georgie Elgin
1975	Friendly Persuasion	Eliza Birdwell
1976	Return to Earth	Joan Aldrin
	21 Hours at Munich	Anneliese Graes
1978	The Defection of Simas Kudirka	Genna Kudirka
1979	Champions: A Love Story	Barbara Harlich
	A Last Cry for Help	Joan Muir
1980	Playing for Time	Frau Lagerfuhrerin Maria Mandel
1982	Kennedy's Children	Carla
1984	With Intent to Kill	Edna Reinecker
1991	Bump in the Night	Katie
	Shadow of a Doubt	Mrs. Potter
	To Save a Child	Rinda Larson
1993	When Love Kills: The Seduction of John Hearn	Edna Larson
	A Mother's Revenge	Bess Warden
1994	Baby Brokers	Sylvia
1995	Children of the Dust	Aunt Bertha
	Indictment: The McMartin Trial	Peggy Buckey
1996	Stolen Memories: Secrets from the Rose Garden	Sally Ann
	A Promise to Carolyn	Jolene Maggart
	If These Walls Could Talk	Mary Donnelly
1998	The Wedding	Caroline "Gram" Shelby
	A Father for Brittany	Donna Minkowitz
2001	My Louisiana Sky	Jewel Ramsey

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1963	Journey to the Day	Katherine
1964	Three Sisters	Irina Sergeyevna Prozorova
1966	Rooms	Jenny Zubitsky
	We Have Always Lived in the Castle	Constance Blackwood
1969	The Watering Place	Janet
1975–76	Kennedy's Children	Carla
1977	Happy End	Lt. Lillian Holiday
	Landscape of the Body	Betty
1979	A Lovely Sunday for Creve Coeur	Dorothea
	Losing Time	Ruth
1984	Come Back, Little Sheba	Lola Delaney
1997	The Young Man from Atlanta	Lily Dale Kidder
1999	The Vagina Monologues	—N/a
2002	Necessary Targets	J.S.
2005	Cycling Past the Matterhorn	Esther
2009	Love, Loss, and What I Wore	—N/a
2012	In Masks Outrageous and Austere	Babe Foxworth

Institution	Year	Category	Work	Results	Ref.
Academy Awards	1960	Best Supporting Actress	The Dark at the Top of the Stairs	Nominated	[12]
	1962		Sweet Bird of Youth	Nominated	[13]
CableACE Awards	1995	Supporting Actress in a Movie or Miniseries	Indictment: The McMartin Trial	Nominated	[14]
Drama Desk Awards	1978	Outstanding Actress in a Play	Landscape of the Body	Nominated	[15]
	1997		The Young Man from Atlanta	Nominated	[16]
Gold Derby TV Awards	2006	Comedy Guest Actress	Desperate Housewives	Nominated	[17]
Golden Globe Awards	1960	Most Promising Newcomer – Female	The Dark at the Top of the Stairs	Nominated	[18]
		Best Supporting Actress – Motion Picture		Nominated
	1962		Sweet Bird of Youth	Nominated
	1995	Best Supporting Actress in a Series, Miniseries or Motion Picture Made for Television	Indictment: The McMartin Trial	Won
Golden Raspberry Awards	1981	Worst Supporting Actress	Endless Love	Nominated	[19]
High Falls Film Festival	2006	The Susan B. Anthony "Failure is Impossible" Award	—N/a	Won
Laurel Awards	1968	Top Female Supporting Performance	Petulia	5th Place
Online Film & Television Association Awards	2005	Best Guest Actress in a Comedy Series	Desperate Housewives	Nominated	[20]
Primetime Emmy Awards	1981	Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Limited Series or a Special	Playing for Time	Nominated	[21]
	1988	Outstanding Guest Performer in a Drama Series	Thirtysomething (Episode: "The Parents Are Coming")	Won
	1989	Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series	The Equalizer (Episode: "Time Present, Time Past")	Nominated
	1990		Thirtysomething (Episode: "Arizona")	Nominated
	1992	Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series	Law & Order (Episode: "The Wages of Love")	Nominated
	1995	Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Miniseries or a Special	Indictment: The McMartin Trial	Won[a]
		Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series	NYPD Blue (Episode: "Large Mouth Bass")	Won
	2006	Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series	Desperate Housewives	Nominated
Satellite Awards	1997	Best Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy	As Good as It Gets	Nominated	[22]
	1998	Best Supporting Actress in a Series, Miniseries or Motion Picture Made for Television	The Wedding	Nominated	[23]
Stinkers Bad Movie Awards	1981	Worst On-Screen Couple	Endless Love	Nominated
Tony Awards	1976	Best Featured Actress in a Play	Kennedy's Children	Won	[24]
	1997	Best Leading Actress in a Play	The Young Man from Atlanta	Nominated	[25]
Venice Film Festival	1967	Best Actress	Dutchman	Won	[26]

• List of American actresses
• List of actors with Academy Award nominations
• List of actors with more than one Academy Award nomination in the acting categories
• List of Primetime Emmy Award winners
• List of Golden Globe winners

• Shirley Knight at IMDb 
• Shirley Knight at the Internet Broadway Database
• Shirley Knight at the Internet Off-Broadway Database (archived)
• Shirley Knight at the Wisconsin Historical Society's Actors Studio audio collection, 1956-1969
• Shirley Knight at the TCM Movie Database (archived)
• TheaterMania.com
• Shirley Knight discography at Discogs