Sally Kirkland Net Worth

What was Sally Kirkland's Net Worth?

Sally Kirkland was an American actress who had a net worth of $50 thousand at the time of her death. Sally died on November 11, 2025, at the age of 84. Despite a prolific career that spanned more than six decades and included over 250 film and television credits, she faced serious financial challenges in her later years, including medical debt and the loss of most of her savings during the 2007 financial crisis. More details in the next section below.

Best known for her acclaimed performance in the 1987 film "Anna," which earned her an Academy Award nomination for Best Actress and a Golden Globe win, Sally Kirkland was one of Hollywood's most fearless and unconventional performers. Her career was defined by emotional intensity, artistic risk-taking, and a bohemian lifestyle that often placed her outside the Hollywood mainstream. Beyond acting, she was also known as a spiritual mentor, yoga instructor, and advocate for holistic healing. To the end, she remained an outspoken champion of authenticity and creative freedom—an icon of the artistic fringe whose talent and tenacity made her unforgettable.

Financial Problems

In her later years, Sally Kirkland struggled with serious health and financial issues. Friends launched a GoFundMe campaign in 2024 to raise money for her ongoing medical care, revealing that she had fractured multiple bones in her neck, wrist, and hip, and later developed two life-threatening infections. The page explained that she had lost most of her savings during the 2007 recession after taking bad financial advice from a business manager.

The fundraiser also described how changes to SAG-AFTRA's insurance policy left older members like Kirkland with steep medical expenses. Without adequate Medigap coverage, her healthcare costs quickly exceeded her income and pension benefits. Despite receiving around-the-clock care in a specialized facility, her condition deteriorated, and by November 2025, she was placed in hospice care due to complications from dementia. She passed away peacefully surrounded by friends and caregivers.

Early Life and Influences

Sally Kirkland was born in New York City in 1941. Her mother, also named Sally Kirkland, was a well-known fashion editor at Vogue and LIFE magazines, and her father worked as a businessman. Immersed in art and culture from a young age, Kirkland grew up surrounded by writers, photographers, and fashion figures.

She trained at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts and later studied under Lee Strasberg at the Actors Studio, where she developed her signature style of emotionally raw, fearless performance. In her early twenties, she was part of the avant-garde art movement centered around Andy Warhol's Factory and became known for her provocative stage work, often performing nude in Off-Broadway productions such as "Sweet Eros" and films like "Futz" and "Coming Apart."

Breakthrough with "Anna"

Though Kirkland had worked consistently in the 1960s and 1970s, appearing in films like "The Way We Were," "Crazy Mama," and "A Star Is Born," her defining moment came in 1987 with the independent drama "Anna." Playing a Czech actress struggling to rebuild her career in New York, she delivered a performance of extraordinary vulnerability and strength.

Kirkland won the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress in a Drama and the Independent Spirit Award for Best Female Lead for the role, and she received an Oscar nomination for Best Actress. Her nomination was the result of a relentless self-driven campaign in which she wrote personal letters to Academy members, attended every event she could, and enlisted friends like Joan Rivers and Andy Warhol to advocate for her. Although she ultimately lost to Cher for "Moonstruck," the performance cemented her legacy as one of the most fearless actors of her generation.

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Film and Television Career

After "Anna," Kirkland continued to work steadily across both film and television. Her film credits included "Paint It Black," "Two Evil Eyes," "JFK," and "Bruce Almighty," while her television work ranged from guest appearances on popular series like "Roseanne," "Murder, She Wrote," "The Nanny," "Felicity," and "Days of Our Lives" to recurring parts in miniseries such as "Valley of the Dolls."

She was nominated for another Golden Globe for the 1991 television film "The Haunted," and she continued appearing in independent projects well into the 2000s and 2010s. Her later roles included appearances in "Richard III" and the 2023 comedy "80 for Brady."

Known for her intensity and emotional honesty, Kirkland often played characters who mirrored her real-life fearlessness and eccentricity. Director Henry Jaglom once remarked that "Hollywood doesn't know what to do with unique people," a sentiment that Kirkland embodied throughout her career.

Teaching, Spirituality, and Advocacy

Outside of acting, Kirkland was a beloved acting teacher and mentor in Los Angeles. She taught emotional and method-based acting, emphasizing authenticity and vulnerability. Many younger actors credited her with helping them access deeper truths in their work.

She was also a longtime yoga practitioner and ordained minister with the Church of the Movement of Spiritual Inner Awareness, blending Eastern philosophy with her own spiritual insights. Over the years, she advocated for mental health awareness, animal rights, and holistic healing.

Kirkland described her life as "a balance between spirituality and glamour," and she lived it that way—alternating between Hollywood premieres and meditation retreats. Fiercely independent, she was married briefly twice, to musician Michael Jarrett and producer Mark Hebert, but never had children.

Until her final days, Sally Kirkland remained devoted to her craft and her community. Even as her health declined, friends and students described her as "a limitless source of generosity, kindness, and unwavering spirit"—a true original whose life embodied the courage to live and create without compromise.

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