This May, Shirley Knight fs '57 became the first star to be included in the Walk of Fame at the Warren Theatre on east 13th Street in Wichita, where her handprint was captured in concrete.
Knight was in town to be honored for her lifetime of achievement by the Warren Theatres and Wichita State.
Familiar on screen, stage and television, the actress talked about her career and answered questions at WSU’s Wilner Auditorium. Knight began her film career in 1960 with an Oscar-nominated performance as young, boy-shy Reenie Flood in “The Dark at the Top of the Stairs.”
Since then, she has starred in such movies as “Sweet Birth of Youth,” “As Good As It Gets” and “Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood.”
The native Kansan has earned many accolades, including a Tony Award, three Emmy Awards and two Golden Globes, as well as being named Kansan of the Year in 2000 and, in 2007, recognized with the Governor’s Distinguished Artist Award. She’s also been nominated for two Academy Awards, among many other honors.
As successful as she has been on film, stage and TV, her advice to aspiring actors, given during this writer’s 1997 WSU Alumni News interview with her, is cautionary: “Know it’s going to be an incredible journey. If fame and money are what you’re after, you’ll starve. What has to be your food is simply being able to say, ‘Today, I did that scene better than yesterday.’”
