She graduated from the University of Southern California in Los Angeles with a Bachelor's Degree.
She lived in Salt Lake City, Utah until she was eight years old when her family moved to Los Angeles, California.
She is survived by her son, Christopher Kirkland of Denver, Colorado; a daughter Robin Kirkland Macdonald of New York City; a stepdaughter, Erin O'Connor of Los Angeles, California; seven grandchildren; and six great-grandchildren.
She was born in a train station in Great Falls, Montana, while her parents were traveling from Canada to Salt Lake City.
Auditioned for the role of Scarlett O'Hara in Gone with the Wind (1939) and filmed screen test footage on December 9 and 10, 1937.