Days of Our Lives Alum Sally Kirkland Dead at 84
Fans woke up to tough news: Sally Kirkland (movies and tv series) - Oscar-nominated, Golden Globe-winning, and unforgettable in a short but striking Days of Our Lives arc - has died at 84. She passed away in the early hours of November 11 in Palm Springs after a year living with dementia and a recent move to hospice.
It's the kind of loss that hits different for soap folks. She wasn't on DAYS long, but she made it count. And she carried a career's worth of grit and artistry into Salem with her.
A New York Original
Born October 31, 1941, in New York City, Kirkland grew up steeped in style and story - her mother, also named Sally, was a fashion editor at Vogue and Life. She modeled as a kid, then chased the craft for real at The Actors Studio with Lee Strasberg (movies and tv series) and Uta Hagen (movies and tv series).
By 1963, she was on the off-Broadway stage in Bicycle Ride to Nevada. Andy Warhol (movies and tv series) noticed. Soon she was a familiar face at The Factory and appeared in his 1964 underground film 13 Most Beautiful Women.
From Indie Muse to Mainstream Force
Her screen work widened fast: The Sting (1973) with Newman and Redford; A Star Is Born (1976) with Streisand and Kristofferson; Private Benjamin (1980) with Goldie Hawn (movies and tv series). Later came Oliver Stone (movies and tv series)'s JFK (1991) and Jim Carrey (movies and tv series)'s Bruce Almighty (2003).
TV loved her, too. She popped up on Hawaii Five-O, Three's Company, Starsky & Hutch, Charlie's Angels, and Roseanne, and played Ella on two episodes of Falcon Crest in 1983.
The Breakthrough: Anna
In 1987, Kirkland led Anna opposite Larry Pine (movies and tv series) and Paulina Porizkova (movies and tv series) - a raw, lived-in performance that earned her a Best Actress Oscar nomination and the Golden Globe. It was the rare part that felt built for her voice and history. Big, vulnerable, tough.
The DAYS Turn Fans Still Talk About
DAYS brought Kirkland in as Tracey Simpson during the white-knuckle arc where Sami Brady was framed for Franco Kelly's murder and sentenced to death. A prison transport mix-up gave Sami a shot to run, and Tracey - eccentric, clever, kind in her own odd way - helped her hide and keep moving.
Alison Sweeney (movies and tv series) said years later that working with Kirkland marked a turning point. "I don't know if there's a defining moment," she said. "I suppose when I was sent to death row for killing Franco. When they had a night shoot and Sally Kirkland was out there holding a Free Sami banner, I thought, 'Oh, that's cool.'" Maybe it was timing, but you can feel it - Kirkland lifted the whole storyline.
Final Credits - And What Stays
One of her last film appearances was in 80 for Brady (2023), sharing the frame with Jane Fonda (movies and tv series), Sally Field (movies and tv series), Rita Moreno (movies and tv series), and Lily Tomlin (movies and tv series). Even late in her career, she kept saying yes to projects that sounded fun - and then stealing scenes.
For the soap community, Kirkland's passing is a reminder of what a veteran actor can bring to a short arc: texture, mystery, a jolt of real-world gravity. She made Tracey feel like someone you might actually meet if you were desperate and on the run.
Condolences to her friends, colleagues, and the fans who followed her from underground films to daytime drama - and everywhere in between. If you want a fuller picture of her life and work, here's more on Sally Kirkland and a refresher on Days of Our Lives.
