<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2020/4/1587664035624.jpeg" alt="Shirley Knight" />
 <figcaption>Shirley Knight</figcaption>
 </figure>By LINDSEY BAHR AP Film WriterLOS ANGELES — Shirley Knight, the Kansas-born actress who was nominated for two Oscars early in her career and went on to play an astonishing variety of roles in movies, TV, and the stage, has died. She was 83. Kaitlin Hopkins said her mother passed away Wednesday of natural causes in San Marcos, Texas. Knight's career carried her from Kansas to Hollywood and then to the New York theater and London and back to Hollywood. She was nominated for two Tonys, winning one.Knight was born in Goessel, graduated from high school in Lyons, and attended Wichita State University. She gave an Academy Award-nominated performance in 1960 in the movie version of The Dark at the Top of the Stairs, which was written by fellow Kansan William Inge, and for Sweet Bird of Youth in 1962. In addition to many movies and television show appearances, she received a Tony Award for her Broadway acting in the 1976 play Kennedy’s Children.In recent years, she had a recurring role as Phyllis Van de Kamp in the long-running ABC show "Desperate Housewives," gaining one of her many Emmy nominations.The Kansas Historical Society contributed to this story.

Shirley Knight, Oscar-nominated actress, Kansas native, dies at 83