Shirley Knight, a two-time Oscar nominee best known for her role in Sweet Bird of Youth, has died at age 83, her daughter confirmed. She reportedly died of natural causes. “Early this morning April 22nd you passed away, and your sweet soul left us for a better place. I was at your side and you went peacefully,” her daughter Kaitlin Hopkins wrote in a Facebook post. Hopkins said she has set up the “Shirley Knight Memorial Fund” to “honor my mom’s legacy by providing young artists the opportunity to attend school and pursue their dreams.” Knight, who was a Kansas native, was an Academy Award nominee for her role in the 1960 film The Dark at the Top of the Stairs, as well as her performance in 1962’s Sweet Bird of Youth. Knight won a Tony Award a few years later in 1976 for her role in Kennedy’s Children. She was also featured in several television shows, including Desperate Housewives, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, and Murder, She Wrote.
