[1] Kirkpatrick was named in Walter Eckersall's All-American team and in football coach Robert Zuppke’s all-time backfield.

[1][7] Kirkpatrick moved to Hollywood, California,[7] starting his screen career playing a broadcaster in the 1946 film My Dog Shep.

[citation needed] Kirkpatrick appeared in films such as D.O.A., The Captive City, Sweethearts on Parade, Star in the Dust, The Private War of Major Benson, Alaska Passage, Police Dog Story, Outside the Law, Somebody Up There Likes Me, The Moonlighter, The Mob, Man of a Thousand Faces, Day of the Badman, Ten North Frederick and A Millionaire for Christy.

[8] He also guest-starred in numerous television programs including Gunsmoke, Bonanza, The Fugitive, The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp, Petticoat Junction, Bachelor Father, Wagon Train, Perry Mason, Alfred Hitchcock Presents, McHale's Navy, The Real McCoys, Leave It to Beaver, Tales of Wells Fargo, Death Valley Days, 77 Sunset Strip, Man with a Camera and The Beverly Hillbillies.

[9] Kirkpatrick died in August 1976 of a heart attack while playing handball with three doctors in La Jolla, California, at the age of 78.