John Kirby, Acting Coach to Bridges and Diaz, Dies at 75
Get the Culture newsletter
Daily culture — film, music, books, the trends and ideas worth your attention. Free.
- John Kirby, the actor and Hollywood acting coach, died Wednesday at age 75, three years after being diagnosed with ALS.
- Nathan Nesbitt, Kirby's studio manager and assistant of 22 years, confirmed the death on Instagram, saying Kirby passed in the early morning hours of July 15.
- Kirby was the son of actor Bruce Kirby of "Columbo" and the brother of actor Bruno Kirby, whose credits included "The Godfather" and "When Harry Met Sally."
- His client roster included Jeff Bridges, Cameron Diaz, Jim Caviezel, Chrissy Metz, Judith Light, Jordin Sparks, and Hilary Duff.
- Kirby also served as on-location coach for major studio productions including Walt Disney's "The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe," Universal's "Peter Pan," and Dimension Films' "Scream 4."
- Kirby received his ALS diagnosis in 2023 after a fall resulted in a broken hip.
- A public celebration of life for Kirby is scheduled for Aug. 15 at 1 p.m. at the Hall of Liberty at Forest Lawn Hollywood Hills.
Why it matters: Kirby's death removes one of Hollywood's most prolific acting mentors, whose client roster spanned Jeff Bridges to Cameron Diaz and whose on-set work touched major studio franchises from "Narnia" to "Scream 4." His studio manager of 22 years said "his fingerprints are everywhere in this industry."
