Oscar-nominated actress Shirley Knight has died aged 83.
She passed away on Wednesday at her daughter’s home in San Marcos, Texas, according to her daughter Kaitlin Hopkins.
Knight was nominated for two Oscars early in her career and went on to play an astonishing variety of roles in movies, TV and the stage.
Knight’s her first Academy Award nomination for best supporting actress came in just her second screen role, as an Oklahoman in love with a Jewish man in the 1960 film version of William Inges’ play The Dark At The Top Of The Stairs.
She was nominated for best supporting actress two years later for her role as the woman seduced and abandoned by Paul Newman in the 1962 film Sweet Bird Of Youth, based on the Tennessee Williams play.
She was also nominated for two Tonys, winning one and in recent years, she had a recurring role as Phyllis Van de Kamp in the long-running ABC show Desperate Housewives, gaining one of her many Emmy nominations.
Kinight was born Shirley Enola Knight on July 5, 1936, in the Kansas countryside, 10 miles from the town of Lyons.
Her family was musical and she learned to sing, tap dance and play instruments.
