Sally Field

Sally Field

Field in the television show Alias Smith and Jones (1971)
Born Sally Margaret Field
November 6, 1946
Pasadena, California, U.S.
Occupation Actress, director
Years active 1962–present
Spouse(s)
  • Steve Craig (m. 1968–75)
  • Alan Greisman (m. 1984–93)
Children 3
Parent(s) Margaret Field, Richard Field

Sally Margaret Field (born November 6, 1946) is an American actress and director. She is known for her film roles in Smokey and the Bandit (1977), Norma Rae (1979), Places in the Heart (1984), Murphy's Romance (1985), Steel Magnolias (1989), Mrs. Doubtfire (1993), Forrest Gump (1994), and Lincoln (2012).

Field began her career in the 1960s sitcoms Gidget (1965–66) and The Flying Nun (1967–70). She has won and been nominated for numerous awards, including winning an Academy Award for Best Actress, a Golden Globe Award and the Best Actress prize at the Cannes Film Festival for playing Norma Rae Webster in Norma Rae (1979), as well as the Best Actress Academy Award and a Golden Globe Award for playing Edna Spalding in Places in the Heart (1984). She has received three Emmy Awards: for her title role in the TV film Sybil (1976); her guest role on ER (2000); and her role as Nora Holden Walker on ABC's series Brothers & Sisters (2006–11). For the latter, she also won a Screen Actors Guild Award for Best Actress.

Early life

Sally Field was born in Pasadena, California. Her father, Richard Dryden Field, was an Army officer, and her mother, Margaret Field (née Morlan), was an actress.[1] Following her parents' 1950 divorce, her mother married actor and stuntman Jock Mahoney.[2] Through her maternal grandmother's genealogical line, Field is a descendant of Mayflower passenger and colonial governor William Bradford, her 10th great-grandfather.[3][4][5]

As a teen, Field attended Portola Middle School and Birmingham High School in Van Nuys, where she was a cheerleader. Her classmates included financier Michael Milken, actress Cindy Williams and talent agent Michael Ovitz.

Career

1965–1976

Field with Joanne Woodward in Sybil (1976)

Field got her start on television as the boy-crazy surfer girl in the sitcom Gidget (1965–66). The show was not an initial success and was canceled after a single season; however, summer reruns garnered respectable ratings, making the show a belated success. Wanting to find a new starring vehicle for Field, ABC next produced The Flying Nun with Field cast as Sister Bertrille for three seasons, from 1967 to 1970.[6] In an interview included on the Season One DVD release, Field said that she thoroughly enjoyed Gidget but hated The Flying Nun because she was not treated with respect by the show's directors. Field was then typecast, finding respectable roles difficult to come by. In 1971, Field starred in the ABC TV movie Maybe I'll Come Home in the Spring, playing a discouraged teen runaway who returns home with a bearded, drug-abusing hippie (played by David Carradine). She made several guest television appearances through the mid 1970s, including a recurring role on the western comedy Alias Smith and Jones, a popular TV series starring Gidget co-star Pete Duel. She also appeared in the episode "Whisper" on the TV thriller Night Gallery.

In 1973, Field was cast in a starring role opposite John Davidson in the short-lived series The Girl with Something Extra from 1973 to 1974. Following the series' cancellation, Field studied at The Actors Studio with the esteemed acting teacher Lee Strasberg. Strasberg became a mentor to the actress, helping her to move past her television image of the girl next door. It was during this time period that Field divorced her first husband in 1975.[7][8][9]

Soon after studying with Strasberg, Field landed the title role in the 1976 TV film Sybil, based on the book by Flora Rheta Schreiber. Her dramatic portrayal of a young woman afflicted with what was then known as multiple personality disorder earned her a best dramatic actress Emmy Award in 1977[10] and enabled her to break through the typecasting of her sitcom work.

1977–1980s

In 1977 she costarred with Burt Reynolds, Jackie Gleason, and Jerry Reed in that year's #2 highest-grossing film, Smokey and the Bandit.[11]

Field in 1981

In 1979 Field played the eponymous union organizer in Norma Rae, a successful film that established her as a dramatic actress. Vincent Canby, reviewing the film for the New York Times, wrote: "Norma Rae is a seriously concerned contemporary drama, illuminated by some very good performances and one, Miss Field's, that is spectacular."[12] For her role in Norma Rae, Field won the Best Female Performance Prize at the Cannes Film Festival and the Academy Award for Best Actress.

Field appeared with Reynolds in three more films: (The End, Hooper and Smokey and the Bandit II). In 1981, she continued to change her image, playing a foul-mouthed prostitute opposite Tommy Lee Jones in the South-set film Back Roads. She received Golden Globe nominations for the 1981 drama Absence of Malice and the 1982 comedy Kiss Me Goodbye.

Then came a second Oscar for her starring role in the 1984 drama Places in the Heart. Field's gushing acceptance speech is well remembered and has since been both admired as earnest and parodied as excessive. She said, "I haven't had an orthodox career, and I've wanted more than anything to have your respect. The first time I didn't feel it, but this time I feel it—and I can't deny the fact that you like me, right now, you like me!"[13] Field was actually making a humorous reference to dialog from her role in Norma Rae, but many people missed the connection. [14] Field even parodied herself when she delivered the line (often misquoted as "You like me, you really like me!"[15]) in a Charles Schwab commercial.

In 1985, she costarred with James Garner in the romantic comedy Murphy's Romance. In A&E's biography of Garner, she cited her on-screen kiss with Garner as the best cinematic kiss she ever had. The following year, Field appeared on the cover of the March 1986 issue of Playboy magazine, in which she was the interview subject. She did not appear as a pictorial subject in the magazine, although she did wear the classic leotard and bunny-ears outfit on the cover. That year, she received the Women in Film Crystal Award.[16] For her role as matriarch M'Lynn in the film version of Steel Magnolias (1989), she was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for Best Actress.

Field at the 62nd Academy Awards ceremony, 1990

1990–present

Field had supporting roles in a number of other movies, including Mrs. Doubtfire (1993) in which she played Miranda Hillard, the wife of Robin Williams's character and the love interest of Pierce Brosnan's character Stuart 'Stu' Dunmyer. She then played the mother of Tom Hanks in Forrest Gump (1994), even though she was only 10 years older than Hanks, with whom she had co-starred six years earlier in Punchline.

Field's other 1990s films included Not Without My Daughter, a controversial thriller based on the real-life experience of Betty Mahmoody's escape from Iran with her daughter Mahtob, and Soapdish, a comedy in which she played pampered soap-opera star Celeste Talbert and was joined by an all-star cast including Kevin Kline, Whoopi Goldberg, Elisabeth Shue and Robert Downey, Jr. In 1996 Field received the Berlinale Camera award at the 46th Berlin International Film Festival for her role as a grieving vigilante mother in director John Schlesinger's film Eye for an Eye.[17] She co-starred with Natalie Portman in Where the Heart Is (2000) and appeared opposite Reese Witherspoon in Legally Blonde 2: Red, White & Blonde.

Field had a recurring role on ER in the 2000–01 season as Dr. Abby Lockhart's mother, Maggie, who suffers from bipolar disorder, a role for which she won an Emmy Award in 2001. After her critically acclaimed stint on the show, she returned to the role in 2003 and 2006. She also starred in the very short-lived 2002 series The Court.

Field's directorial career began with the television film The Christmas Tree (1996). In 1998 she directed the episode "The Original Wives' Club" of the critically acclaimed TV mini-series From the Earth to the Moon, also playing a minor role as Trudy, the wife of astronaut Gordon Cooper. In 2000 she directed the feature film Beautiful.

Field was a late addition to the ABC drama Brothers & Sisters, which debuted in September 2006. In the show's pilot, the role of matriarch Nora Walker was played by actress Betty Buckley. However, the show's producers decided to take the character in another direction, and offered the part to Field, who won the 2007 Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series for her performance. The drama also starred Calista Flockhart and Rachel Griffiths as Nora's adult daughters.

In November 2009, Field appeared on an episode of The Doctors to talk about osteoporosis and her Rally With Sally Foundation.

She portrayed Aunt May in the Marvel Comics films The Amazing Spider-Man (2012) as well as the 2014 sequel. Field's widely praised portrayal of Mary Todd Lincoln in Steven Spielberg's film Lincoln brought her Best Supporting Actress nominations for the Academy Award, the Golden Globe, and the BAFTA and Screen Actors Guild awards.

On May 5, 2014, Field received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for her contributions to motion pictures. Her star is located in front of the Hollywood Wax Museum.[18] In January 2015, it was announced that she would co-host TCM.[19]

Personal life

Field was married to Steven Craig from 1968 to 1975. During their marriage, the couple had two sons: Peter Craig, a novelist, and Eli Craig, an actor and director.[20]

Beginning in the late 1970s, Field was romantically involved with Burt Reynolds for many years, during which time they co-starred in several films, including Smokey and the Bandit, Smokey and the Bandit II and The End.[20][21]

After the end of her relationship with Reynolds, Field married second husband Alan Greisman in 1984. Together they had one son, Sam, in 1987. Field and Greisman divorced in 1993.[20]

Activism

In 2005, Field was diagnosed with osteoporosis. Her diagnosis led her to create the "Rally With Sally For Bone Health" campaign[22] with support from Roche and GlaxoSmithKline that controversially co-promoted Boniva,[23][24] a bisphosphonate treatment for osteoporosis. Field's campaign encouraged early diagnosis of such conditions through technology such as bone-density scans.[25]

Field at the 2012 Gracie Awards ceremony

During the 2007 Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series, Field's acceptance speech contained an anti-war statement in which she said: "If the mothers ruled the world, there would be no goddamn wars in the first place."[26] Fox, which aired the Emmys, cut the sound and picture after the word "god" and did not cut back to the stage after Field finished talking.[26] An e-mail statement from the company the day after the incident explained that the censorship of Field's speech (among two other censorship incidents during the award ceremony) occurred because, "some language during the live broadcast may have been considered inappropriate by some viewers. As a result, Fox's broadcast standards executives determined it appropriate to drop sound and picture during those portions of the show."[26]

Field is an advocate for women's rights. She has served on the board of directors of Vital Voices Global Partnership, an international women's NGO, and has co-hosted the Global Leadership Awards six times.[27] A Democrat, Field supported Hillary Clinton's bid for the Democratic Party nomination in the 2008 presidential election.[28]

The actress is also an activist for gay rights and won the Human Rights Campaign's Ally for Equality Award in 2012. Field's youngest son, Sam, is openly gay.[29]

Filmography

Film

Year Title Role Notes
1962 Moon Pilot Beatnik girl in lineup
1967 Way West, TheThe Way West Mercy McBee
1976 Stay Hungry Mary Tate Farnsworth
1977 Smokey and the Bandit Carrie / 'Frog'
1977 Heroes Carol Bell
1978 End, TheThe End Mary Ellen
1978 Hooper Gwen Doyle
1979 Norma Rae Norma Rae
1979 Beyond the Poseidon Adventure Celeste Whitman
1980 Smokey and the Bandit II Carrie / 'Frog'
1981 Back Roads Amy Post
1981 Absence of Malice Megan Carter
1982 Kiss Me Goodbye Kay Villano
1984 Places in the Heart Edna Spalding
1985 Murphy's Romance Emma Moriarty
1987 Surrender Daisy Morgan
1987 Lethal Weapon KTLA Reporter Uncredited
1988 Punchline Lilah Krytsick
1989 Steel Magnolias M'Lynn Eatenton
1991 Not Without My Daughter Betty Mahmoody
1991 Soapdish Celeste Talbert / Maggie
1993 Homeward Bound: The Incredible Journey Sassy Voice role
1993 Mrs. Doubtfire Miranda Hillard
1994 Century of Cinema, AA Century of Cinema Herself Documentary
1994 Forrest Gump Mrs. Gump
1996 Eye for an Eye Karen McCann
1996 Homeward Bound II: Lost in San Francisco Sassy Voice role
2000 Where the Heart Is Mama Lil
2000 David Copperfield Betsey Trotwood
2000 Beautiful Directorial debut
2001 Say It Isn't So Valdine Wingfield
2003 Legally Blonde 2: Red, White & Blonde Rep. Victoria Rudd
2005 Going Through Splat: The Life and Work of Stewart Stern Herself Documentary
2006 Two Weeks Anita Bergman
2008 The Little Mermaid: Ariel's Beginning Marina Del Rey Voice role
2012 Amazing Spider-Man, TheThe Amazing Spider-Man Aunt May
2012 Lincoln Mary Todd Lincoln
2014 Amazing Spider-Man 2, TheThe Amazing Spider-Man 2 Aunt May
2015 Hello, My Name Is Doris[30] Doris

Television

Year Title Role Notes
1965–66 Gidget Frances Elizabeth "Gidget" Lawrence 32 episodes
1966–67 Hey, Landlord Bonnie Banner 4 episodes
1967–70 Flying Nun, TheThe Flying Nun Elsie Ethrington "Sister Bertrille" 82 episodes
1971–72 Alias Smith and Jones Clementine Hale 2 episodes
1971 Maybe I'll Come Home in the Spring Denise "Dennie" Miller Movie
1971 Hitched Roselle Bridgeman
1971 Marriage: Year One Jane Duden
1972 Home for the Holidays Christine Morgan Movie
1973–74 Girl with Something Extra, TheThe Girl with Something Extra Sally Burton 22 episodes
1976 Bridger Jennifer Melford
1976 Sybil Sybil Dorsett Miniseries
1977 Merry Christmas, George Bailey Mrs. Bailey/Narrator
1995 Woman of Independent Means, AA Woman of Independent Means Bess Alcott Steed Garner Miniseries
1996 Larry Sanders Show, TheThe Larry Sanders Show Herself Episode "Where is the Love?"
1998 From the Earth to the Moon Trudy Cooper Miniseries; also directed
1999 Cooler Climate, AA Cooler Climate Iris Showtime original movie
2000 David Copperfield Aunt Betsey Trotwood U.S./Irish production
2000–06 ER Maggie Wyczenski 12 episodes
2002 The Court Justice Kate Nolan 6 episodes
2005 Conviction
2006–11 Brothers & Sisters Nora Walker 109 episodes

Awards and nominations

Year Association Category Nominated work Result
1977 Primetime Emmy Awards Outstanding Lead Actress in a Miniseries or a Movie Sybil Won
1978 Golden Globe Awards Best Actress – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy Smokey and the Bandit Nominated
1979 Cannes Film Festival Best Actress Norma Rae Won
Kansas City Film Critics Circle Awards Best Actress Won
Los Angeles Film Critics Association Awards Best Actress Won
National Board of Review Best Actress Won
New York Film Critics Circle Awards Best Actress Won
1980 Academy Awards Best Actress Won
Golden Globe Awards Best Actress – Motion Picture Drama Won
National Society of Film Critics Awards Best Actress Won
1982 Golden Globe Awards Best Actress – Motion Picture Drama Absence of Malice Nominated
People's Choice Awards Favorite Motion Picture Actress Won
1983 Golden Globe Awards Best Actress – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy Kiss Me Goodbye Nominated
1985 Academy Awards Best Actress Places in the Heart Won
Golden Globe Awards Best Actress – Motion Picture Drama Won
1986 Golden Globe Awards Best Actress – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy Murphy's Romance Nominated
People's Choice Awards Favorite Motion Picture Actress Nominated
1990 Golden Globe Awards Best Actress – Motion Picture Drama Steel Magnolias Nominated
1995 BAFTA Awards Best Actress in a Supporting Role Forrest Gump Nominated
Kids' Choice Awards Favorite Movie Actress Nominated
Primetime Emmy Awards Outstanding Lead Actress in a Miniseries or a Movie A Woman of Independent Means Nominated
Screen Actors Guild Awards Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role Forrest Gump Nominated
1996 Golden Globe Awards Best Actress – Miniseries or Television Film A Woman of Independent Means Nominated
Screen Actors Guild Awards Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Miniseries or Television Movie Nominated
2000 Primetime Emmy Awards Outstanding Lead Actress in a Miniseries or a Movie A Cooler Climate Nominated
2001 Primetime Emmy Awards Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series ER Won
Screen Actors Guild Awards Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Drama Series Nominated
Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Miniseries or Television Movie David Copperfield Nominated
2003 Primetime Emmy Awards Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series ER Nominated
2007 Primetime Emmy Awards Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series Brothers & Sisters Won
Satellite Awards Best Actress – Television Series Drama Nominated
2008 Golden Globe Awards Best Actress – Television Series Drama Nominated
People's Choice Awards Favorite Female Television Star Nominated
Primetime Emmy Awards Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series Nominated
Satellite Awards Best Actress – Television Series Drama Nominated
Screen Actors Guild Awards Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Drama Series Nominated
2009 Golden Globe Awards Best Actress – Television Series Drama Nominated
People's Choice Awards Favorite Female Television Star Nominated
Primetime Emmy Awards Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series Nominated
Screen Actors Guild Awards Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Drama Series Won
2012 Boston Society of Film Critics Awards Best Supporting Actress Lincoln Won
Chicago Film Critics Association Awards Best Supporting Actress Nominated
Dallas-Fort Worth Film Critics Association Awards Best Supporting Actress Won
New York Film Critics Circle Awards Best Supporting Actress Won
Southeastern Film Critics Association Awards Best Supporting Actress Nominated
2013 Academy Awards Best Supporting Actress Nominated
BAFTA Awards Best Actress in a Supporting Role Nominated
Broadcast Film Critics Association Awards Best Supporting Actress Nominated
Golden Globe Awards Best Supporting Actress – Motion Picture Nominated
National Society of Film Critics Awards Best Supporting Actress Nominated
Online Film Critics Society Awards Best Supporting Actress Nominated
Screen Actors Guild Awards Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture Nominated
Screen Actors Guild Awards Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role Nominated

References

  1. ↑ Sally Field. Film Reference.com.
  2. ↑ http://news-briefs.ew.com/2011/11/07/sally-field-mother-died/
  3. ↑ "Finding Your Roots with Henry Louis Gates, Jr. (Season Two) > Episode 208: The British Are Coming, Tuesday, November 11, 8-9 pm" (Press release). September 23, 2014. Archived from the original on November 11, 2014. Retrieved November 11, 2014.
  4. ↑ "The British Are Coming". Finding Your Roots with Henry Louis Gates, Jr. November 11, 2014. Event occurs at 44:06. PBS.
  5. ↑ Finding Your Roots with Henry Louis Gates, Jr. Event occurs at 43:17.
  6. ↑ tv.com/shows/gidget
  7. ↑ Bio.com, Sally Field Biography Actress (1946–)
  8. ↑ "Lee Strasberg Theatre and Film Institute Alumni". Strasberg.com. Retrieved 2012-12-04.
  9. ↑ Garfield, David (1980). "Appendix: Life Members of The Actors Studio as of January 1980". A Player's Place: The Story of The Actors Studio. New York: MacMillan Publishing Co., Inc. p. 278. ISBN 0-02-542650-8.
  10. ↑ "Sally Field Emmy Winner". Emmys.com. Retrieved 2012-03-30.
  11. ↑ "Smokey and the Bandit (1977)". Box Office Mojo. 1982-01-01. Retrieved 2011-11-07.
  12. ↑ Canby, Vincent (March 2, 1979). "Film: 'Norma Rae', Mill-Town Story: Unionism in the South". The New York Times.
  13. ↑ Waxman, Sharon (March 21, 1999). "The Oscar Acceptance Speech: By and Large, It's a Lost Art". The Washington Post.
  14. ↑ http://abc7.com/archive/8522087
  15. ↑ Gawker supercut
  16. ↑ "Past Recipients: Crystal Award". Women In Film. Retrieved May 10, 2011.
  17. ↑ "Berlinale: 1996 Prize Winners". Berlinale. Retrieved 2012-01-01.
  18. ↑ "Sally Field's Hollywood Walk of Fame star unveiled". 3 News. 7 May 2014. Retrieved 7 May 2014.
  19. ↑ "Sally Field Has new role on TCM". USA Today. 20 January 2015. Retrieved 22 January 2015.
  20. ↑ 20.0 20.1 20.2 "Sally Field- Biography". Yahoo! Movies. Retrieved December 29, 2012.
  21. ↑ People Magazine, April 23, 1979 - Vol. 11 - No. 16; "Burt & Sally In Love" by Lois Armstrong
  22. ↑ "Actress and Osteoporosis Advocate Sally Field Salutes Women's Health Innovators and Encourages American Women to 'Rally With Sally' for Bone Health (PRNewswire, 2006)".
  23. ↑ "Sally Field and Boniva: Great spokeswoman, misleading ad (Consumer Reports, 2009)".
  24. ↑ "FDA warns Genentech about Boniva ad with Sally Field (Video)(San Francisco Bus Times 2011)".
  25. ↑ "Ability Magazine: Sally Field - Promoting Healthy Habits" (2009)". Retrieved 2012-04-03.
  26. ↑ 26.0 26.1 26.2 Marikar, Shelia (September 18, 2007). "On TV, 'Extreme Caution' vs. Free Speech". ABC News. Retrieved November 5, 2007.
  27. ↑ "Board of Directors". Vital Voices. Retrieved 2011-11-07.
  28. ↑ California for Hillary Clinton Rally. Digital Jami (YouTube). March 8, 2008. Video of Cal State Los Angeles rally of february 2, 2008, with Field and actor Bradley Whitford.
  29. ↑ Broverman, Neal (October 7, 2012). "Watch: Sally Field's Amazing HRC Speech About Her Gay Son". The Advocate.
  30. ↑ http://www.deadline.com/2014/05/sally-field-max-greenfield-beth-behrs-star-in-indie-hello-my-name-is-doris/

External links

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