[4] When she was 16 and had just finished convent school, her parents decided that she could best overcome her self-concerns by attending the American Academy of Dramatic Arts.

[4] Soon after Kirkland's stage debut in Yonkers,[4] an apprenticeship with Stuart Walker in Cincinnati increased her self-reliance as an actress,[5] and he made her the leading lady of his Huntington, West Virginia, company.

[8] Her other Broadway credits included Brass Buttons (1927), Cock Robin (1928), The Greeks Had a Word for It (1930), I Love an Actress (1931), Fast Service (1931), Lady of Letters (1935), Stop-over (1938), Abe Lincoln in Illinois (1938), Inherit the Wind (1955) and The Legend of Lizzie (1959).

[13] Kirkland was the fourth actress to have the title role in the radio soap opera The Story of Mary Marlin.

During her tenure as Marlin, she re-enacted some of the program's critical moments in photographs that accompanied an article in the September 11, 1944, issue of Life magazine.