American actress Sally Margaret Field was born on November 6, 1946. She has won numerous accolades and been nominated for many more. These include two Academy Awards, three Primetime Emmy Awards, two Golden Globe Awards, a Screen Actors Guild Award, the Best Actress Award at the Cannes Film Festival, a Tony Award, and nominations for two British Academy Film Awards.
In the comedy Gidget (1965–1966), The Flying Nun (1967–1970), and The Girl with Something Extra (1973–1974), Field made her acting debut on television. She also appeared in the 1967 western The Way West.
In the 1960s, She Portrayed a Flying Nun on Television
With his role as a teenage surfer in the 1965 television series Gidget, Field, then 20 years old, had already captivated the hearts of producers. The Flying Nun was a new sitcom created by the same producers after this one was canceled in order to keep the rising star on the ABC network.
Field, however, enjoyed working on Gidget, but she wasn’t a great admirer of The Flying Nun. In fact, Field found the script to be so absurd that she at first considered declining the part of Sister Bertrille. Her stepfather Jock Mahoney, who warned her she could never have another chance in show business, convinced her otherwise.
While Filming a Scene for Norma Rae, She Struggled So Severely That She Fractured an Actor’s Rib
Field’s performance in the 1979 drama Norma Rae earned her the Best Actress Academy Award. Given how seriously she took the authenticity of her performance in the movie, this honor was well-deserved. In one image, Field is seen fiercely defending himself as five police officers force Norma into a car.
Field struggled so hard while filming that she fractured one actor’s rib and damaged another actor’s wrist. Many reviews cited Field’s performance as the picture’s strongest point.
In 1988, She Survived a Plane Crash Without Any Injuries
The field was on a private airplane leaving the Aspen Airport in 1988 when it unexpectedly lost power. The actress shared a seat with Field’s mother, Field’s ex-husband Alan Greisman, and their 11-month-old child. As the passengers ran for the emergency exits, jet fuel covered them as it slammed into two stopped airplanes, and the tanks burst.
Fortunately, nobody was hurt. The airport operations manager at the time told the Associated Press that Field’s survival was “simply a miracle.” In reference to the renowned family’s tight escape, he said, “We’re very, very fortunate that it’s our slow period.”
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Field’s jet was a loaner from talk show host Merv Griffin, and Burt Sugarman’s plane, which it collided with, belonged to another well-known TV personality.
In Order to Get Ready for Norma Rae, She Worked in the Textile Industry
Field portrays the title factory worker in the film Norma Rae, which is based on the story of the real-life union organizer Crystal Lee Sutton. Field and her co-star Beau Bridges worked at a genuine textile factory to simulate the long hours.
The Opelika Manufacturing Corp in Alabama served as the backdrop for the scenes, which were also shot there. In a 2019 interview with Howard Stern, Field remembered that director Martin Ritt was adamant about using her for Norma Rae.
She Has Portrayed Tom Hanks’ Mother and Love Interest
Famously, Field portrays the adored and sage mother of Hanks’ Forrest in Forrest Gump. “Life is a box of chocolates, Forrest, you never know what you’re going to get,” she says in the movie’s most famous phrase. Field, though, played Hanks’ love interest in the comedy-drama Punchline just six years prior.
Hanks and Field are almost ten years apart in age. Hanks was born in July 1956, while she was born in November 1946. Hanks portrays Steven in the comedy Punchline, a young stand-up comic and medical student who meets Field’s Lilah, a housewife who is also an aspiring comic.
She Received Recognition for Her Support of Homosexual Rights
The field is a strong proponent of LGBT rights and has recently worked to pass the Equality Act. This measure would make it illegal to discriminate against homosexuals and transgender people in every US state. Sam, Field’s openly gay son, gave her a Human Rights Campaign Ally for Equality award in 2012.
Field penned an open letter describing her experiences as a mom of a gay son two years later. Why would someone want to stop my son – or anyone else’s son or daughter – from having access to fundamental legal protections like family medical leave, Social Security survivor benefits, or health insurance? She composed. It doesn’t make logic, but until people speak up, nothing will change, she concluded.
After Being Told That She Wasn’t Attractive Enough for Movies, She Fired Her Agent
One representative informed Field she had little chance of making it as a Hollywood star when she wanted to quit the TV industry. Field recalled this in her 2015 lecture at the Simmons Leadership Conference: “I told him, ‘I’m not going to do any more TV.’
” The agent immediately cut her off, adding, “Well, that’s ludicrous. You can’t do that, she recalled saying. You can’t get into film, he claimed. You aren’t attractive enough. She said, “You’re not good enough.
Many Parodies of Her 1985 Oscar Acceptance Speech Have Been Created
The field was attempting to convey how wonderful it was to finally get the Academy’s endorsement when she accepted the Best Actress Academy Award for Places in the Heart in 1985. I haven’t had a traditional career, and I’ve wanted more than anything to have your respect, Field said to the crowd.
She exulted, “I can’t dispute the fact that you like me. You like me now, I see!” This remark, which is sometimes misquoted as “You truly like me,” gained notoriety through numerous parodies. This line is parodied by Jim Carrey’s character in the movie The Mask as he accepts an award.
She Declined to Play Loretta in Moonstruck
Director Norman Jewison‘s first choice for the role of Loretta in what would become the well-known romantic comedy Moonstruck was Field. Unfortunately, Field pulled out of the production, and in Surrender, a comedy, she portrayed the role of artist Daisy.
Field, who co-starred with Michael Caine in this critically criticized movie, did not have much success. Surrender was dubbed “an astounding case of a movie that can do no wrong for its first half and little right thereafter” by critic Roger Ebert.
She Declined to Play Alice Hardy on Friday the 13th
The Friday the 13th series, one of the most popular US media franchises ever, almost began with Field playing Alice Hardy. In contrast, Field declined the part of the camp counselor in this 1980 horror classic and chose to reappear in Smokey and the Bandit for the comedy’s follow-up.
After being identified as a potential candidate for a Burger King ad, Adrienne King was handed the role of Alice. King later starred in Titanic, The Good Son, and What’s Eating Gilbert Grape. The worldwide box office takes for Friday the 13th was $59.8 million.
Field Appeared in Four Films Alongside His Ex-partner Burt Reynolds
Burt Reynolds and Field had a five-year on-and-off relationship, but when she declined each of his marriage proposals, their relationship ended in 1980. While collaborating on the comedy Smokey and the Bandit, in which they play the bootlegger Bandit and a runaway bride, the two people first got to know one another in 1976.
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Field and Reynolds reunited for the black comedy The End the following year. In 1978’s Hooper, their following collaboration, they played a stunt coordinator and his girlfriend. For the 1980 follow-up Smokey and the Bandit Ride Again, they rejoined the Smokey cast.
Her First Movie Role Was in a Disney Production That the Fbi Had Issue With
Among Disney’s strangest early productions is the 1962 Technicolor science fiction comedy Moon Pilot. Sally Field made her acting debut in the movie, playing a beatnik girl who is lined up with the cops. In the character, Field sports darker hair, a big sweater, and glasses.
In the 1950s, Her Mother Starred in Science Fiction Films
Field’s mother, Margaret Field, married actor Jock Mahoney, Sally’s stepfather, and later took on the stage name Maggie Mahoney. Sally Field’s parents split when she was four years old, and her father served in the Second World War. The science-fiction films The Man from Planet X and Captive Women made Maggie Mahoney famous.
She portrays the daughter of a professor who is caught up in an alien invasion in the first film, whereas in Captive Women, she portrays a young person who is a member of a tribe of nuclear holocaust survivors. A half-sister of Sally Field’s also works in the entertainment industry.
She Attended School Alongside Disney’s Future President and Actress Cindy Williams
In 1964, Field earned her diploma from Birmingham High School in Van Nuys, California, where she participated in cheerleading. The location, which served as a US Army hospital during World War II before becoming a school in 1953, has a long list of well-known alumni.
The Movie Mrs. Doubtfire Included Her Unintentional Cappuccino Mustache
Field portrays Miranda, Daniel Hillard‘s estranged wife in the classic comedy Mrs. Doubtfire. Robin Williams plays Daniel Hillard, who constructs his well-known alter ego in order to get back in touch with his former family. At one moment, Pierce Brosnan’s characters Stuart and Miranda are both drinking cappuccinos.
Field’s Script for Soapdish Was Written Because She Was Sick of Portraying “Fine Women in Ugly Clothes”
Steel Magnolias was first written by Robert Harling as a stage drama in 1987, and he later had the chance to adapt it for the big screen. Field, Julia Roberts, and Dolly Parton were among the stars of this movie about female friendship. Every day after filming was finished, the illustrious ensemble would hang around with Harling and play charades and Pictionary.
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Harling then started asking the actresses what kinds of roles they would like to portray in the future. Harling claimed that Field informed him that she always portrayed a “very noble, honest woman with awful clothes” in an interview with the Huffington Post in 2018.
He remembered Field telling him, “‘For once, I’d like to play a b**** who wears great clothing,'” he said. Soapdish, a film starring Field as a cunning soap opera actress, was eventually written by Harling as a result of the seed he planted in his head.
Three of Her Films Are Listed Among the 100 Most Inspirational Films of All Time by the American Film Institute
Field earned not one, but three slots on this American Film Institute list of the best-ever inspirational films because of her endearing characters. Forrest Gump comes in at 37, while the movie Places in the Heart, about a Texan family enduring the Great Depression, comes in at number 95.
But Norma Rae, which came in at number sixteen on the list, is the Field-starring movie that they found to be the most inspirational. All were outperformed by Schindler‘s List and It’s a Wonderful Life for the top slots.
In 1980 and 1985, respectively, Field received the Academy Award for Best Actress for her roles in Norma Rae and Places in the Heart. Norma Rae was included in the prestigious National Film Registry in 2011 due to its cultural value.
Sybil’s Casting Directors Deemed Field to Be “Unhinged”
Field acted very strangely when she arrived for her audition for Sybil, a TV miniseries about a lady with a dissociative personality disorder. The casting directors had tried and failed to cast celebrities like Vanessa Redgrave in this role, and it seemed unlikely that the less well-known Field would succeed.
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Field decided to behave in character as she entered the room because she was one of the last candidates to try out for the lead role.
She Enjoys Accompanying Jane Fonda to Protests
Longtime environmentalist Field participated in one of actress Jane Fonda’s monthly climate rallies in Washington, DC, in December 2019. According to reports, Field delivered an impromptu statement about tackling climate change head-on. The moment was now, she declared. “We cannot just relax on our couches in our comfort zones and contemplate what we can do.”26 protesters were detained for unauthorized assembly outside the Capitol in the rain; Field was handcuffed and carried away by the police.
