Godspeed Sally Kirkland

Sally Kirkland, who appeared in such movies as The Way We Were (1973), Private Benjamin (1980), and Anna (1987), died on November 11, 2025, at the age of 84. She had been suffering from dementia and had entered hospice care only two days earlier.

Sally Kirkland was born in New York City on October 31, 1941. Her mother was a fashion editor at Vogue and Life. Her father came from a wealthy family. Sally Kirkland studied at the Actors Studio with Lee Strasberg and Uta Hagen. She later studied at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts. 

She made her movie debut in a bit part in Crack in the Mirror in 1960. On Broadway, she was an understudy in the productions Step on a Crack and Bicycle Ride to Nevada. In the Sixties, she appeared in Andy Warhol's The 13 Most Beautiful Woman (1964). She also appeared in the movies Hey, Let's Twist! (1961), Prison (1965), Blue (1968), Coming Apart (1969), Futz (1969), and Brand X (1970). She made her television debut in an episode of New York Television Theatre in 1965.

In the Seventies, Sally Kirkland appeared in the movies Jump (1971), Going Home (1971), Blume in Love (1973), The Young Nurses (1973), The Way We Were (1973), Cinderella Liberty (1973), The Sting (1973), Blazing Saddles (1974), Big Bad Mama (1974), Candy Stripe Nurses (1974), The Noah (1975), Bite the Bullet (1975), Crazy Mama (1975), Breakheart Pass (1975), Tracks (1976), Pipe Dreams (1976), A Star is Born (1976), Hometown U.S.A. (1979), La ilegal (1979), and Private Benjamin (1980).  On television she guest-starred on the shows Hawaii Five-O, Police Story, Toma, Bronk, Petrocelli, Baretta, The Rookies, Three's Company, Kojak, Starsky and Hutch, The Incredible Hulk, Visions, Supertrain, Charlie's Angels, and Lou Grant. She appeared in the mini-series Captain and the Kings.

In the Eighties, she guest starred on the shows Charlie's Angels, Lou Grant, General Hospital, Insight, Falcon Crest,Trying Times, and Heat Wave. She appeared in the movies The Incredible Shrinking Woman (1981), Human Highway (1982), Double Exposure (1982), Flush (1982), Love Letters (1983), Fatal Games (1983), Anna (1987), Talking Walls (1987), White Hot (1988), High Stakes (1989), Cold Fleet (1989), Paint It Black (1989), Best of the Best (1989), Two Evil Eyes (1990), Revenge (1990), and Bullseye! (1990). 

In the Nineties, Sally Kirkland starred on the syndicated soap opera Valley of the Dolls. She had a recurring roles on Felicity and on the soap opera Days of Our Lives. She appeared in the TV movie Brave New World. She guest starred on the shows The Ray Bradbury Theatre; Roseanne; Raven; Jack's Place; Picture Windows; Murder, She Wrote; High Tide; Goode Behavior; The Nanny; Women: Stories of Passion; The Hunger; Chicken Soup for the Soul; and Wasteland. She appeared in the movies JFK(1991), In the Heat of Passion (1992), The Player (1992), Forever (1992), Hit the Dutchmen (1992), Primary Motive (1992), Double Threat (1992), Stringer (1992), Eye of the Stranger (1993), Gunmen (1993), Paper Hearts(1993), Guns and Lipstick (1995), Amnesia (1996), Excess Baggage (1997), The Westing Game (1997), Little Ghost (1997), Paranoia (1997), Wilbur Falls (1998), The Island (1998), EdTV (1999), and Starry Night (1999).

In the Naughts, she had a recurring role on The Agency. She guest starred on the TV shows Strong Medicine (2001), Resurrection Blvd. (2001), Wanted (2005), Head Case (2008), and Criminal Minds (2010). She appeared in the movies Circuit (2001), Out of the Black (2001), A Month of Sundays (2001), Wish You Were Dead (2001), The Rose Technique (2002), Thank You, Good Night (2002), Bruce Almighty (2003), Mango Kiss (2004), Bloodlines (2004), Neo Ned (2005), Adam & Steve (2005), What's Up, Scarlet? (2005),Chandler Hall (2005), Off the Black (2006), Hollywood Dreams (2006), A-List (2006), Fingerprints (2006),Mothers and Daughters (2006), Factory Girl(2006), Richard III (2007), Resurrection Mary (2007), Big Stan (2007), Spiritual Warriors (2007), Mollie and Friends (2008), Bald (2009), Remembering Nigel (2009), House Under Siege (2010), and Lights Out (2010). 

In the Teens, Sally Kirkland appeared in the movies Urgency (2011), The Last Gamble (2011), A Bag of Hammers (2011), The Wayshower (2011), The Wish Makers of Hollywood (2011), Division III: Football's Finest (2011), Jack the Reaper (2011), Archaeology of a Woman (2011), Broken Roads (2012), Awakened (2013), The Visitor from Planet Omicron (2013), Ron and Laura Take Back America (2014), The Bride fro Vegas (2014),. Suburban Vegas (2014), Buddy Hutchins (2015), The Code of Cain (2015), Courting Des Moines (2016), Trash Fire (2016), Buddy Solitaire (2016), Nerdland (2016), The Most Hated Woman in America (2017), Price for Freedom (2017), Gnaw (2017), Get Married or Die (2018), Making a Killing (2018), The Second Coming of Christ (2018), Los Angeles Overnight (2018), Wally Got Wasted (2018), Sarah Q (2018), Cuck (2019), Paint It Red (2019), Acceleration (2019), Invincible (2020), Magic Max (2020), Canaan Land (2020), and Hope for the Holidays (2020). She guest starred on Paul Cruz: Latin Actor (A Mockuseries), Actor Anonymous, Bennington Gothique, Theatre Fantastique, 40's and Falling, Good Samaritans, and Conversations in L.A.

In the 2020s, she guest starred on the show Nobody Wrote It Down: Tales of the Black Pioneers. She appeared in the movie The Final Code (2021), The Magic (2021), The Legend of Resurrection Mary (2021), The Walk (2022), Bobcat Moretti (2022), Murder, Anyone? (2023), 80s for Brady (2022), All of It Happened on Thursday (2023), Altered Perceptions (2023), The Haunting of Hell Hole Mine (2023), When It Rings (2023), Woods Witch (2023), Holiday Boyfriend (2024), Skeletons in the Closet \(2024), Aftermath (2024), and Sallywood (2024). 

Sally Kirkland was an enormously talented actress. She was incredible as the title character in Anna (1987), an actress who had been famous in Czechoslovakia at one time. The role earned her an Oscar nomination for Best Actress. While Miss Kirkland played other lead roles, it was perhaps her character roles for which she was best known. In The Way We Were, she played Pony, the Communist friend of Kate Morosky (Barbara Streisand). In The Sting, she played Cyrstal, a former gangster's moll turned legitimate. In EDtv she played the doting mother of the Ed of the title (Matthew McConaughey). Her television appearances could be no less impressive. On Hawaii Five-O, she played one half of a vacationing couple who find a bag of stolen money (Sally Kirkland's character had serious doubts about keeping the money). On Roseanne, she played Barbara Healy, the abusive, alcoholic mother of Becky's boyfriend. Throughout her career, Sally Kirkland played roles ranging from photographers to a martial arts coach to a college professor. And she did all of them well.