Muriel Kirkland (August 19, 1903 – September 26, 1971) was an American actress.

Early years

Kirkland was born on August 19, 1903,[1] in Yonkers, New York,[2] the daughter of advertising executive Charles B. Kirkland and Margaret (Keith) Kirkland.[3] As a teenager, Kirkland had "an inferiority complex of horrible proportions," accompanied by "a state of shyness and self-consciousness".[4]

When she was 16 and had just finished convent school, her parents decided that she could best overcome her self-concerns by attending the American Academy of Dramatic Arts. Kirkland resisted, saying that she did not want to become an actress, but her parents were firm, and she enrolled. When Kirkland had been at the academy six months, she was dropped from the school and told, "You will never be an actress. We are sorry".[4] She took the assessment as a challenge and left the school determined to become an actress. She was turned down by theatrical agencies until she gained a part with a stock company in Yonkers.[4]

Career

Stage

Soon after Kirkland's stage debut in Yonkers,[4] an apprenticeship with Stuart Walker in Cincinnati increased her self-reliance as an actress,[5] and he made her the leading lady of his Huntington, West Virginia, company. Walker taught her how to use her voice and her eyes and, in the process, increased her self-confidence.[4]

Kirkland's first New York stage appearance occurred when she was 19, portraying Maria in The School for Scandal. Before that season ended, she was on Broadway, playing Nettie in Out of Step.[6] She acted in the Broadway production of Strictly Dishonorable (1929)[7] after being the "forty-ninth ingenue to read the part".[8] Her other Broadway credits included Brass Buttons (1927), Cock Robin (1928), The Greeks Had a Word for It (1930), I Love an Actress (1931), Fast Service (1931), Lady of Letters (1935), Stop-over (1938), Abe Lincoln in Illinois (1938), Inherit the Wind (1955) and The Legend of Lizzie (1959).[1]

Kirkland acted with the Orpheum Players in Kansas City[9] and the All-Star Jefferson Players in Birmingham, Alabama,[10] and performed in summer theater in Westchester County, New York;[11] Magnolia, Massachusetts;[7] and New Rochelle, New York.[12] She also was the "unknown ingenue" in a company that Blanche Bates headed.[13]

Radio

Kirkland was the fourth actress to have the title role in the radio soap opera The Story of Mary Marlin. During her tenure as Marlin, she re-enacted some of the program's critical moments in photographs that accompanied an article in the September 11, 1944, issue of Life magazine.[14]

Film

Kirkland's family's financial problems in the Depression caused her to try acting in films.[8] Although she received a contract from Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in 1932,[15] the studio was not satisfied with the way she looked when she was photographed, with the result that she received no parts and "entered a six-month period of nothingness".[8] Eventually the studio cast her in Fast Workers (1933). After Kirkland's MGM contract ended, she worked as a freelance actress in films, including Cocktail Hour, Hold Your Man, To the Last Man, Nana and Secrets of the Blue Room.[15]

Personal life

Kirkland married actor Staats Jennings Cotsworth Jr. on May 24, 1936, in New York City.[16] She died on September 26, 1971, of emphysema and complications, in Beth Israel Hospital in New York City, aged 68.[17]

References

  1. ^ a b "Muriel Kirkland". Internet Broadway Database. The Broadway League. Archived from the original on January 14, 2022. Retrieved May 18, 2022.
  2. ^ "Yonkers girl in new company". The Yonkers Herald. July 25, 1923. p. 5. Retrieved May 12, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  3. ^ "Charles B. Kirkland, an Advertising Man". The New York Times. March 17, 1937. p. 25. Retrieved May 12, 2022.
  4. ^ a b c d e Curtis, Alyce (June 1934). "Without Beauty!". Hollywood. pp. 46, 65. Retrieved May 19, 2022.
  5. ^ "Muriel Kirkland Is Honored By School Denying Her Ability". The Morning Post. New Jersey, Camden. October 19, 1939. p. 52. Retrieved May 12, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  6. ^ "She Remembers!". The Brooklyn Daily Eagle. October 9, 1938. p. 34. Retrieved May 17, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  7. ^ a b "Muriel Kirkland to wed". The New York Times. May 20, 1936. p. 24. Retrieved May 12, 2022.
  8. ^ a b c Nyburg, Frances Shattuck (October 3, 1936). "Getting Around". The Evening Sun. Maryland, Baltimore. p. May 16, 2022. Retrieved May 16, 2022.
  9. ^ "Next Week at the Theaters". The Kansas City Star. May 31, 1924. p. 3. Retrieved May 12, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  10. ^ "At the Theaters". The Birmingham News. September 2, 1924. p. 17. Retrieved May 12, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  11. ^ "Rialto Stage Star In County Center Play". The Daily Item. New York, Port Chester. August 5, 1931. p. 11. Retrieved May 17, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  12. ^ "Muriel Kirkland in Play". The New York Times. July 1, 1936. p. 29. Retrieved May 12, 2022.
  13. ^ Thompson, Lloyd S. (December 17, 1933). "Muriel realizes dream: Comes back to San Francisco as a star". The San Francisco Examiner. p. 42. Retrieved May 16, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  14. ^ "The Story of Mary Marlin: Famous Soap-Opera Heroine Survives a New Crisis". Life. September 11, 1944. pp. 67–68, 70, 72, 74. Retrieved May 8, 2022.
  15. ^ a b Whitaker, Alma (January 7, 1934). "Muriel Kirkland Happy Back Behind Footlights After Fling at Films". Los Angeles Times. p. 36. Retrieved May 16, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  16. ^ "Muriel Kirkland a Bride". The New York Times. May 26, 1936. p. 26. Retrieved May 12, 2022.
  17. ^ "Muriel Kirkland, actress, 68, dies". The New York Times. September 27, 1971. Archived from the original on May 19, 2022. Retrieved May 19, 2022.
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