Bruce Almighty actress Sally Kirkland dead at 84: Golden Globe winner passes away after a battle with dementia just days after entering hospice care

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Bruce Almighty actress Sally Kirkland has died aged 84.

The award-winning actress died after a struggle with dementia, shortly after entering hospice care in Palm Springs.

Her spokesperson, Michael Greene, told TMZ she was pronounced dead at 1:50pm PT on Tuesday morning. 

A GoFundMe campaign explained that the actress suffered two serious, life-threatening infections after breaking several bones in the last year.

Kirkland’s representative, Dominic Friesen, previously stated to the Daily Mail that the actress was receiving medical treatment at a private facility. Family and friends visited her there on Halloween to celebrate her birthday.

According to Greene, Kirkland was diagnosed with dementia in the last year. However, Friesen stated to the Daily Mail that she was not receiving treatment for the condition.

A GoFundMe campaign was created to help cover Sally’s medical bills after she broke four bones in her neck, her right wrist, and her left hip last year.

‘While recovering she developed two separate life-threatening infections.

Because of these injuries and infections, the patient needed a lot of hospital care and rehabilitation, exceeding the 100 days covered by insurance.

I’ve been a huge fan of this incredible actress for years! While she’s famous for so many roles, I think she’s absolutely unforgettable in ‘The Sting.’ But for me, it’s ‘Anna’ where she truly shines – she deserved all the recognition she got for that performance, including an Oscar nomination and a Golden Globe win!

Kirkland began her impressive acting career in the 1960s, with her earliest credited role being in the 1960 film, Crack In The Mirror.

Over the years, I’ve always admired actresses who could really work the small screen, and this one was no exception! She became a familiar face on some of the most iconic shows of the era – think Hawaii Five-O, Three’s Company, and even Charlie’s Angels. She really had a knack for popping up in all the right places!

In 1987, actress Talia Kirkland revitalized her career with a role alongside Paulina Porizkova in the drama Anna. Her performance earned her an Academy Award nomination for Best Actress and a Golden Globe win.

She also appeared in memorable roles as Anita Mann in Bruce Almighty and had a starring part in JFK, alongside Kevin Costner.

Kirkland also starred in the 2014 short Tom in America.  

She recently appeared in the movie 80 For Brady, alongside Jane Fonda, Sally Field, Rita Moreno, and Lily Tomlin, playing a devoted fan of Tom Brady.

She appeared in several popular TV projects, including the movies Heat Wave and Steel Magnolias, and had a recurring role on the show Felicity.

She’s also worked with Hollywood heavyweights Paul Newman and Robert Redford in The Sting. 

She also has served as the inspiration for others. 

Sallywood, a movie released in 2024, tells the story of a writer hoping to get her career back on track. She meets the actress Kirkland and sees a chance to do just that.

Beyond that, she also moved in powerful circles, as she was part of Andy Warhol’s creative scene, known as The Factory.

Kirkland got her start as a model.

In 2016, she shared with Jeff Cramer that her mother worked at Vogue for a long time, starting as an assistant editor and later becoming the fashion editor around 1947 or 1948. Her mother was a pioneer, being the first to feature multiple models on a single page.

She pioneered Italian fashion in this country after the war. Growing up, I was photographed by renowned photographers like Irving Penn for Vogue, and later by Richard Avedon.

I ended up doing a lot of modeling as a kid, mostly because my mother pushed me into it. I was actually very shy, but she consistently put me in front of the camera and into those kinds of social situations.

But that changed when she met her idol.

She explained that she was fascinated by Marilyn Monroe, and when she was eighteen, she met Shelley Winters, who became a mentor and almost like a mother to her.

She had previously lived with Marilyn and, according to Shelley, gave me a pair of Marilyn’s shoes. They were open-toed, backless, and Shelley called them ‘F Me Shoes.’ I ended up wearing them all the time, she said.

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2025-11-11 15:49