Of Danish descent, and born in Syracuse, New York, Phyllis Kirk worked as a waitress and a perfume counter clerk before she began a modeling career. Stage roles ensued before Hollywood beckoned. She was a contract player at MGM and then Warner Brothers, where in her most famous role she was stalked by maniacal sculptor 'Vincent Price . During her acting career, she also worked as an interviewer and writer for an ACLU. After her final roles in the 1970s, she went to work in public relations before retiring.
Retired from acting in the 1970s.
Had some difficulty in walking due to childhood polio.
Became a publicist for CBS News.
Probably best remembered on series TV for playing stylish Nora Charles to Peter Lawford s sleuth Nick on "The Thin Man" for which she received an Emmy nomination. The series was loosely based on the classic series of films starring Myrna Loy and William Powell.
Once studied acting with Sanford Meisner.
Known for being outspoken, Phyllis worked with the American Civil Liberties Union to campaign against capital punishment in the late 1950s. Before the California Assembly, she spoke against the death sentence of Caryl Chessman , nicknamed the "Red Light Bandit," who had been convicted on seventeen counts of kidnapping, robbery, rape and sexual assault. She visited him in prison several times before he was executed in 1960. The notoriety effectively led to the end of her acting career.
After the 1965 Watts race riots, she helped fund two preschool programs for poor families in the South Los Angeles neighborhood.
Kirk was cremated and her remains interred at Arlington National Cemetery next to her husband, Warren Bush , a television producer she married in the 1960s. He died in 1991.
Member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (Actors Branch).
Graduated from Battin High School, Elizabeth, NJ, in 1945.
Was a liberal Democrat and feminist.
Phyllis Kirk was born in Syracuse NY.
