Kim Darby, the child of professional dancers, embarked on her career in dance, studying alongside her father and Nico Charisse. At the tender age of fourteen, she was granted special admission to Tony Barr's acting workshop at Desilu Studios on the Paramount Pictures lot, where she demonstrated remarkable openness, honesty, emotional readiness, and focus, convincing Barr to bring her into his adult class. This marked the beginning of a career spanning over forty years, characterized by her signature traits.
As a teenager, Darby earned her first acting roles in various television shows, including Mr. Novak, Dr. Kildare, The Eleventh Hour, Star Trek, and The Fugitive. Her reputation continued to grow with more work in film and television, paving the way for her future success.
At twenty-one, producer Hal B. Wallis discovered Darby in an episode of Run for Your Life and offered her the coveted role of Mattie Ross opposite John Wayne's Rooster Cogburn in True Grit, a classic western that earned Wayne his only Oscar and catapulted Darby to film stardom.
Darby went on to star in a diverse range of productions, earning a Golden Globe nomination for her work in Generation and an Emmy nomination for her role in Rich Man, Poor Man. Her feature films include The Strawberry Statement, The Grissom Gang, Better Off Dead, and Mockingbird Don't Sing, while her television movies include The Story of Pretty Boy Floyd, Don't Be Afraid of the Dark, and Enola Gay: The Men, the Mission, the Atomic Bomb.
Since 1990, Darby has continued to act while also sharing her expertise by teaching her craft and giving seminars at universities and film schools across the country. With four decades of training and experience under her belt, Darby has developed a rich perspective and a diverse collection of skills, which she enthusiastically shares with her students.
