'Anna' actress Sally Kirkland passes away at 84

Los Angeles, Nov 11 (IANS) The Oscar nominated actress Sally Kirkland, who is known for her independent film ‘Anna’ in 1987, has passed away at the age of 84.

Her representative confirmed that Kirkland died early Tuesday morning (Pacific Standard Time) in Palm Springs, California, reports ‘Variety’.

The actress was put on hospice last week after suffering a fall in the shower in October that resulted in injuries to her ribs and foot, as per her GoFundMe page.

She had previously been diagnosed with a bone infection that had also spread to her bloodstream, as well as dementia.

Beyond her work in films, Kirkland also had recurring roles on TV series like ‘Felicity’, ‘Roseanne’, ‘Valley of the Dolls’ and ‘Days of Our Lives’.

Kirkland surprised Oscar-watchers when her grass-roots campaign led to a best actress nomination in the 1987 modest independent comedy ‘Anna’, in which she portrayed a Czech actress who mentors a younger actress, played by Paulina Porizkova.

As per ‘Variety’, Kirkland also won the Golden Globe and Los Angeles Film Critics award for best actress. Many years before Andrea Riseborough gained attention for her role in ‘To Leslie’, Kirkland advocated tirelessly for herself in a time before social media, writing letters to Los Angeles. Film Critics members and calling in a favor with Andy Warhol, who had a talk show at the time. After running into Rex Reed in a Cannes Film Festival elevator, the critic gave her the quote “Sally Kirkland devours ‘Anna’ like a raw steak and emerges a major star”.

She had told Huffington Post in 2012, “At the Oscars, there were all these movie stars emerging from their limos, and then there was me. I felt like Cinderella. The greatest part was the feeling to be in the same Oscar category of these women that I was a huge fan of — Meryl, Glenn, Holly Hunter and Cher, who I used to rollerskate with in the ’70s”.

--IANS

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