Susan Kingsley was an American actress, with roles in films such as
Popeye
Popeye the Sailor Man is a fictional cartoon character created by E. C. Segar, Elzie Crisler Segar.Coal Miner's Daughter (1980).
Early life and education
Kingsley was born to Ballard and Treecy Cardwell in Middlesboro, at the southeast corner of Kentucky. Her marriage to Louisville architect Robert Kingsley ended in divorce. She studied drama at the
University of Kentucky
The University of Kentucky (UK, UKY, or U of K) is a Public University, public Land-grant University, land-grant research university in Lexington, Kentucky, United States. Founded in 1865 by John Bryan Bowman as the Agricultural and Mechanical ...
and at the
London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art
The London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art (LAMDA) is a drama school located in Hammersmith, London. Founded in 1861, it is the oldest specialist drama school in the British Isles and a founding member of the Federation of Drama Schools. In ...
.
Career
Kingsley was a member of
Actors Theatre of Louisville
Actors Theatre of Louisville is a non-profit performing arts theater located in downtown Louisville, Kentucky.
Actors Theatre was founded in 1964 following the merging of two local companies, Actors, Inc. and Theatre Louisville, operated by Louis ...
, where she appeared in the main role of
Marsha Norman
Marsha Norman (born September 21, 1947) is an American playwright, screenwriter, and novelist. She received the 1983 Pulitzer Prize for Drama for her play '' 'night, Mother''. She wrote the book and lyrics for such Broadway musicals as ''The S ...
's play Getting Out. The play had an off-Broadway run in New York, where she won high praise from critics and a Theatre World Award and an Outer Critics' Circle Award.
She also played the role of Marshael Foster in the Broadway play ''The Wake of Jamey Foster'' in October 1982. The play was unsuccessful but she again won critical acclaim.
Kingsley appeared in films including Coal Miner's Daughter,
Popeye
Popeye the Sailor Man is a fictional cartoon character created by E. C. Segar, Elzie Crisler Segar.Reckless,
Steel
Steel is an alloy of iron and carbon that demonstrates improved mechanical properties compared to the pure form of iron. Due to steel's high Young's modulus, elastic modulus, Yield (engineering), yield strength, Fracture, fracture strength a ...
Louisville, Kentucky
Louisville is the List of cities in Kentucky, most populous city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky, sixth-most populous city in the Southeastern United States, Southeast, and the list of United States cities by population, 27th-most-populous city ...
in order to rehearse a play at Actors Theatre, after a vacation in Florida, she was involved in an automobile accident near
Commerce, Georgia
Commerce is a city in Jackson County, Georgia, northeast of Atlanta. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 7,387.
History Native American history
Before European settlers arrived, the area around present-day Commerce was inh ...
. The injuries she suffered from the accident led to her death. She is buried at Roselawn Memorial Gardens in
Middlesboro, Kentucky
Middlesboro ()Rennick, Robert. ''Kentucky Place Names'', University Press of Kentucky (Lexington), 1987p. 196 Accessed 26 August 2013. is a list of Kentucky cities, home rule-class city in Bell County, Kentucky, United States. The population was ...
, and was survived by her husband David Hurt, and two children. The (Louisville) Courier-Journal said she "was clearly in the process of becoming one of America's foremost actresses."Courier-Journal, Feb. 10, 1984, p.20