Veteran Actress Sally Kirkland in ‘Urgent Need’ of Medical Care as Friends Launch GoFundMe

Darian Lusk November 18, 2024, 6:57 pm

Sally Kirkland at the 22nd Arpa International Film Festival — John Wolfsohn/Getty Images

Sally Kirkland, who has graced the big and small screen for decades with more than 250 acting credits, including an Oscar nomination for 1987’s Anna, is in “urgent need” of medical care, say friends, after multiple recent health scares. These include two “life-threatening infections” and neck, wrist, and hip bone fractures.

On Monday, November 18, the 83-year-old’s close friends helped her launch a GoFundMe page to assist with medical bills, as she faces issues that are more expensive than she can afford. The fundraiser got into the details of Kirkland’s current condition, claiming she’s in peril and can’t get proper care because of changes made to SAG-AFTRA’s senior guild insurance plan. They also shared she lost most of her net worth in the 2007 stock market crash.

The GoFundMe is titled “Support Sally Kirkland’s Urgent Medical Care.” Its goal is $65,000, and as of November 19, around $9,000 had been raised. See the accompanying video below.

“This past year Sally fractured her four bones in her neck, right wrist and her left hip,” the fundraiser reads. “While recovering she developed two separate life-threatening infections. The combination of these injuries and infections have required extensive hospitalizations and rehab beyond the 100 days insurance will cover. As the days pass, lack of proper care greatly diminishes Sally’s chance of a full recovery. However, with the right medical support, we know she has a strong chance of overcoming this setback and returning to the work she loves.”

The page was created with “gratitude, hope and love” by her friends Paige Dylan, Coty Galloway and Mel England, who went on to praise the star for the positive personal impact she’s had. “Sally has been more than just a friend — she has been a maternal figure offering encouragement, wisdom and love when it was needed most. For those who know Sally personally, she has been a limitless source of generosity, kindness and unwavering spirit. And while she has meant so much to so many around her, she has never had the luxury of a life partner or children to lean on in difficult times. But she has always prioritized being there for others, given everything she has to her craft, her church, her friends and her community.” The GoFundMe was initially reported by The Hollywood Reporter.

A onetime friend of Andy Warhol, Kirland has been appearing on-screen since the 1960s. By the 1970ss, Kirkland had become a prolific character actor, appearing in small roles in numerous mainstream films including The Sting, Cinderella Liberty, and The Way We Were (all 1973), A Star Is Born (1976), and Private Benjamin (1980). She also appeared in the series The Ray Bradbury Theater.

She gained considerable acclaim with her Oscar-nominated performance as an aging European actress who befriends a young aspiring fellow countrywoman (Paulina Porizkova) in 1987’s Anna playing the title role. Instead of pivoting to the mainstream, she continued acting in mostly niche projects.

In 2024, her most recent role saw her star in a movie called Sallywood which had to do with an aspiring writer moving to Hollywood to meet his favorite actress, who is played, of course, by Kirkland.