Sally Field: Summary

Recent Role:: Nora Holden on Brothers & Sisters

Gender:: Female

Birthday:: 11-6-1946

Birthplace:: Pasadena, California, USA

Birth Name:: Sally Margaret Field

This girlishly attractive actress-the daughter of actress Margaret Field-began her career as the impossibly perky TV "Gidget" in 1965, then went on to play the impossibly perky "The Flying Nun" from 1967 to 1970. Some limited fame and financial rewards accrued, but both roles proved formidable obstacles in Field's subsequent attempt to make it as a serious actress. Things began going her way in the mid 1970s: She played the female lead in the quirky 1976 bodybuilding drama Stay Hungry and a woman with 17 distinct personalities in the compelling breakthrough TV movie Sybil (1976), for which she won an Emmy. A romantic liaison with Burt Reynolds led to their costarring in 1977's Smokey and the Bandit and 1978's Hooper a lighthearted look at movie stuntmen (which echoed her life as the stepdaughter of stuntman extraordinaire Jock Mahoney).

In 1979 Field took on a challenging, serious role as a reluctant union organizer in the drama Norma Rae for which she won a Best Actress Academy Award. Field did solid leading work throughout the 1980s, playing an ambitious reporter in 1981's controversial Absence of Malice a haunted widow in Kiss Me Goodbye (1982), and a determined Texas mother in Places in the Heart (1984, one of the more distinguished pictures in that decade's losing-the-farm subgenre; she won another Best Actress Academy Award for that film, occasioning her notorious "You like me" acceptance speech).

Like other actresses, she began developing and producing her own film vehicles, leading to such worthwhile projects as Murphy's Romance (1985), Punchline (1988), and Steel Magnolias (1989). She also starred in the melodramatic Not Without My Daughter and the broadly comic Soapdish (both 1991). That same year she wore a producer's hat for the first time on a film in which she did not star: the Julia Roberts tearjerker Dying Young More recently, she provided the voice of Sassy the cat in Homeward Bound: The Incredible Journey (1993), played Robin Williams' estranged wife in Mrs. Doubtfire (1993) and Tom Hanks' mom in Forrest Gump (1994). She returned to TV as star and executive producer of the miniseries "A Woman of Independent Means" (1995). This girlishly attractive actress-the daughter of actress Margaret Field-began her career as the impossibly perky TV "Gidget" in 1965, then went on to play the impossibly perky "The Flying Nun" from 1967 to 1970. Some limited fame and financial rewards accrued, but both roles proved formidable obstacles in Field's subsequent attempt to make it as a serious actress. Things began going...

Sorry, no blogs exist at this time.

Emmy picks: Lead Actress, drama
The leading ladies of drama keep our eyes glued to the screen; can anyone beat Damages' Glenn Close?
- 06/10/09 2:47 PM
- 55 comments \ add yours
30 Rock dominates SAG awards
Hugh Laurie, Sally Field add to their trophy cases; Mad Men, 30 Rock take ensemble awards.
- 01/26/09 2:28 PM
- 10 comments \ add yours
HBO, 30 Rock win Golden Globes
Popularity not an issue at Golden Globes, which favors low-rated, critically acclaimed programs; 30 Rock, Mad Men, HBO miniseries rake 'em in.
- 01/11/09 5:22 PM
- 48 comments \ add yours
People's Choice Awards - Winners!
Awards show that lets the public vote on the winners picks House and its star Hugh Laurie for awards; Two and a Half Men and Heroes also winners.
- 01/07/09 6:36 PM
- 30 comments \ add yours
SAG nominees include Dexter, Mad Men
Screen Actors Guild picks the best of 2008 for its annual awards; Steve Carell, Tony Shalhoub, Hugh Laurie, Sally Field, Tina Fey get nominations...again.
- 12/18/08 12:04 PM
- 42 comments \ add yours

6.7
02
ALEXLAW45
member since: Jul 11, 2007
Played great roles perfect for a great lady ...Continue »
She has a "Feynman Number" (interpreted here as the graph-theoretic relationship "a close acquaintenance of") of two, since her brother, theoretical physicist Richard D. (Rick) Field, collaborated with Richard Feynman in the middle-late 1970s. Field dated Burt Reynolds for many years. She was first married to Steven Craig from 1968 to 1975. In 1984, she married Alan Greisman. The couple divorced in 1993.

Field has two sons from her first marriage. Her son Peter Craig is a novelist; his brother Eli Craig is an actor and director. Her third son, Sam Greisman, is from her second marriage.

Now playng nora walker on Brothers & Sisters as the great mother of the family thought to be naive but not all as is it seems
07/16/07 10:13am | report abuse
10
10
Writer2000
member since: Aug 27, 2005
Sally Field currently plays Nora on Brothers & Sisters. ...Continue »
I have seen Sally Field in many TV shows and movies since I was a little kid, and I have to say that I have always felt that Sally Field was an amazing actress. Sally Field's current role as Nora Holden on Brothers & Sisters is definitely my favorite of all the roles that I've seen her play. Sally really shines in the role. Her portrayal of Nora really makes each episode an amazing work of TV. I couldn't imagine any other actress in the role of Nora. She's absolutely perfect for the role. I hope that Sally Field continues to grace our screens for years to come.
03/19/07 04:54pm | report abuse
10
20
Simply_Ces
member since: May 18, 2006
Always has been a great actress... ...Continue »
Sally Field is one spectacular woman even as an actress of age. She always made me love her in other movies and it doesn't make a difference how old she is because she plays out a brilliant performance on Brothers & Sisters. I can't get enough of Sally Field. I loved her in Mrs. Doubtfire especially it's hard to believe she's much older now. She obviously knows what she's doing since she's been out in the acting world for a long time already. She knows how to capture her emotions and portrays her characters really well. Sometimes it seems like she really is that character and she shows such great emotions through her characters that she plays.
03/14/07 08:53pm | report abuse
9.6
10
lozza1525
member since: May 18, 2006
What a fantastic actress! ...Continue »
I was first introduced to Sally Field's excellent acting when she guest starred on ER as Maggie, who suffered from a Bipolar disorder. What acting it would take to pass of that role. And Sally did it fantastically and in style! Eversince then, I've been a huge fan, and am hooked on Brothers and Sisters.
02/26/07 01:23am | report abuse
10
10
edpg33
member since: Feb 7, 2007
It is very nice to see such talent on a weekly basis ...Continue »
Sally Field has always been a favorite of mine and I admire the way she has chosen to run her career path. She is one of those actresses that gives her all to the performance and allows the audience to experience the emotions as she goes through them. It is nice to see her work with such a talented cast with the same caliber as herself. They all seem to blend together and make you believe that this is actually a family going through life regardless of their economic status or position in life. I hope this program continues to grow each year.
02/10/07 09:07pm | report abuse