sally

Early life

Field was born in Pasadena, California. Her parents, Richard Dryden Field and Margaret Field (a Southern-born actress), divorced in 1950. Her mother re-married to a former stunt-man, Western actor Jock Mahoney.

Sally attended Birmingham High School in Van Nuys, California with famed financier Michael Milken, fellow actress Cindy Williams (of Laverne and Shirley)and the sons of the legendary Steve Allen.

Career

Field got her start on television, starring as the boy-struck surfer girl in the mid-1960s series Gidget. She then went on to star in The Flying Nun and The Girl with Something Extra. She had several guest apperances including a recurring role on the western comedy Alias Smith and Jones starring Pete Duel (whom she worked with on Gidget) and Ben Murphy.

Having played mostly comic characters on television, Field had a difficult time finding work as a dramatic actress and went off to study with famed acting teacher Lee Strasberg. Soon after, Field landed the title role in the 1976 TV film Sybil. Field's portrayl of Sybil, a young woman afflicted with multiple personality syndrome in the TV film garnered her an Emmy Award in 1977. In 1979, she starred as a union organizer in Norma Rae, and won the Academy Award for Best Actress.

In 1981, Field played a prostitute opposite Tommy Lee Jones in the South-set comedy Back Roads, which received middling reviews and grossed $11 million at the box office.^[1]

She won another Oscar in 1985 for her starring role in Places in the Heart; her gushing acceptance speech is one of the best known of its kind. In it, she stated "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!" [1]. The line ending in "...I can't deny the fact that you like me, right now, you like me!" is often misremembered as simply "You like me, you really like me!" which has subsequently been the subject of many parodies.

She has had supporting roles in other movies, including Mrs. Doubtfire (1993) and Forrest Gump (1994).

On television, Field has a recurring role on ER as Dr. Abby Lockhart's bipolar mother, for which she won an Emmy in 2001. She also starred in the very short-lived 2002 series The Court. She will play the role of Nora Walker in the new television drama series for ABC, Brothers & Sisters, scheduled to debut in September 2006.

She has also ventured into the realm of directing. Her credits include Beautiful (2000), an episode of the TV mini-series, From the Earth to the Moon (1998), and the television film, The Christmas Tree (1996).

Private life

Field dated Burt Reynolds for many years, but never accepted his proposals of marriage. ^{citation needed]} She was first married to Steven Craig from 1968 to 1975. In 1984, she married Alan Greisman, but divorced again in 1993. Field has two sons from her first marriage — one of whom is novelist Peter Craig — and a third son from her second marriage, Sam Greisman, who is close friends with the 'Young Hollywood' crowd, like Lindsay Lohan. Sam will be attending New York University in Fall 2006.

In 2005, Field was diagnosed with osteoporosis. Her diagnosis led her to create the "Rally With Sally For Bone Health" campaign with support from Roche and GlaxoSmithKline that co-promote Boniva, a treatment for osteoporosis. ^{citation needed]}

Trivia

• While starring on The Flying Nun, Sally tried her hand at singing, releasing an album in 1968 and cracking the Billboard Hot 100 with one single, "Felicidad", in 1967.
• Sally appeared on the cover of the March 1986 issue of Playboy magazine. She was the "Interview" subject in that month's issue. (She did not appear as a pictorial subject inside the magazine).
• Sally was the first choice for Alice in Friday the 13th. ^{citation needed]}
• She has a "Feynman Number" of two, since her brother, theoretical physicist Rick Field, worked with Richard Feynman in the late 1970s.

Filmography

• The Way West (1967)
• Stay Hungry (1976)
• Smokey and the Bandit (1977)
• Sybil (1977)
• Heroes (1977)
• The End (1978)
• Hooper (1978)
• Norma Rae (1979) – Academy Award for Best Actress
• Beyond the Poseidon Adventure (1979)
• Smokey and the Bandit II (1980)
• Back Roads (1981)
• Absence of Malice (1981)
• Kiss Me Goodbye (1982)
• Places in the Heart (1984) – Academy Award for Best Actress
• Murphy's Romance (1985)
• Surrender (1987)
• Punchline (1988)
• Steel Magnolias (1989)
• Not Without My Daughter (1991)
• Soapdish (1991)
• Homeward Bound: The Incredible Journey (1993) (voice)
• Mrs. Doubtfire (1993)
• A Century of Cinema (1994) (documentary)
• Forrest Gump (1994)
• Eye for an Eye (1996)
• Homeward Bound II: Lost in San Francisco (1996)
• Where the Heart Is (2000)
• Say It Isn't So (2001)
• Legally Blonde 2: Red, White and Blonde (2003)
• Going Through Splat: The Life and Work of Stewart Stern (2005) (documentary)

Upcoming:

• Two Weeks (2006)

Political

Testified with Jane Fonda, Jessica Lange and Sissy Spacek before a Congressional committee about farm problems.

References

Footnotes

External links

• Sally Field at the Internet Movie Database
• Rally With Sally For Bone Health Web site
• Sally Field, Boniva, and Media Ethics