Born in Goessel, KS. An expert at playing disturbed modern women, Knight trained at the Pasadena Playhouse before making her film debut in FIVE GATES TO HELL (1959). A bright, gifted and outspoken leading lady, she earned early critical acclaim in Hollywood for such films as THE DARK AT THE TOP OF THE STAIRS (1960), but remained dedicated to the theater. After losing the best supporting actress race for the second year in a row, she wasn't interested in returning to the West Coast. In one of the best all-time appraisals of Tinseltown, she told a reporter later in 1963 in New York, "Hollywood -- that's where they give Academy Awards to Charlton Heston for acting." Her first husband was stage producer Gene Persson. She married British playwright John Hopkins in 1970 and remained in England for several years, appearing in films only sporadically, as in JUGGERNAUT (1974) and ENDLESS LOVE (1981). Knight was memorable in THE GROUP (1966), PETULIA (1968), and especially THE RAIN PEOPLE (1969), a probing proto-feminist road film written and directed by a young Francis Ford Coppola. She returned to Broadway in the 1975-76 season, and was nominated for Emmy® Awards for appearances on "The Equalizer" and as Mel Harris' mother on "thirtysomething," the latter a win. She eventually did return to Hollywood, however, in the early 90s [THE SECRET LIFE OF HOUSES (1993), COLOR OF NIGHT (1994), DEATH IN VENICE, CA (1994), STUART SAVES HIS FAMILY (1995)], and she gave a memorable performance as Helen Hunt's no-nonsense mother in AS GOOD AS IT GETS (1997). She continues to be very active in film and television work, and her recent film credits include 75 DEGREES IN JULY (2000), ANGEL EYES (2001), THE SALTON SEA, P.S. YOUR CAT IS DEAD and DIVINE SECRETS OF THE YA-YA SISTERHOOD (all 2002), FLY CHERRY and A HOUSE ON A HILL (both 2003), SEXUAL LIFE, LOCKED IN and TO LIE IN GREEN PASTURES (all 2005), and GRANDMA'S BOY, OPEN WINDOW and THANKS TO GRAVITY (all 2006). Actress Kaitlin Hopkins (b. 1964) is her daughter.  Nominated for Supporting Actress 1960: THE DARK AT THE TOP OF THE STAIRS  Nominated for Supporting Actress 1962: SWEET BIRD OF YOUTH 2 nominations