Actress Sally Field is best known for playing matriarchal roles and has portrayed light-hearted TV roles, including her stint on the American sitcom, “Gidget,” which aired for only one season between 1965 and 1966.
She once divulged that she had a blast filming the series, where she played a teenager, and although it was short-lived, it opened doors to other roles, which turned her into a force to be reckoned with in Hollywood.
Actress Sally Field in the American sitcom “Gidget” on September 15, 1965 | Source: Getty Images
The show did much more for her success as it kept her motivated. Field endured a difficult childhood because of her stepfather. She used the acting opportunity as an escape, leading her to audition for the acting workshop at Columbia Pictures.
The California native would later star in the sitcom, “The Flying Nun,” which ran from 1967 to 1970 for three seasons. She played Sister Bertrille in the series.
Afterward, Field, a newly awarded Screen Actors Guild Lifetime Achievement Award winner, enrolled at Actors Studios from 1973 to 1975 to hone her acting talent and left as a dramatic actress. She later appeared in the 1976 film “Sybil,” which was when she garnered Hollywood’s attention by landing solid roles.
Field’s next role was as a union organizer in the drama film “Norma Rae” in 1979. For her performance, she bagged an Academy Award.
The Hall of Famer’s first breakout role was at the age of eighteen. She graduated from Birmingham High School in the Van Nuys neighborhood, where her love for acting developed.
The two-time Golden Globe Award winner participated in the drama club, which sparked her interest in pursuing an acting career after graduation. However, the renowned star initially had no plans after high school because she never sat down for an SAT test.
It has been several years since she found footing in showbiz and has gone through two divorces. Field was first married to her high school sweetheart, Steven Craig, whom she wed in 1968. The former couple welcomed two sons, Peter and Eli, and later parted ways in 1975 following seven years of marriage.
The Hollywood star then began a love affair with actor Burt Reynolds whom she described as the same as her stepfather. She then remarried film producer Alan Greisman in 1984 and had a son named Samuel with him. But they split in 1994.
Sally Field appearing as Mary Todd in the movie “Lincoln” | Source: YouTube/AssociatedPress
Field’s love life and career were at a standstill at that period. A friend revealed, “She wasn’t getting any acting offers that were very substantial, and she pretty much gave up on the dating scene.”
But things eventually turned around for the better as she earned an Oscar nomination for her part as Mary Todd Lincoln in the movie “Lincoln,” later bagging several TV and film roles. Moreover, the pal divulged more about her stance on romance:
“Sally loves her life the way it is. She doesn’t see herself marrying again, and that’s fine.”
Actor Burt Reynolds as Bandit and Sally Field as Carrie in the comedy film “Smokey and the Bandit” on January 1, 1977 | Source: Getty Images
According to the insider, the mother of three spends much of her time with her brother Richard and Hollywood friends, including Tom Hanks, and her brood and grandkids.
After becoming famous as a young ingenue, Field chose a down-to-earth path of natural aging. In a March 2016 interview, she addressed her aging process and said she had embraced it:
“I’m an old woman. 70 is old, and that’s OK.”
Although there are some things she doesn’t like about growing old, which include her neck, she has made peace with that. When she was 63 in 2009, she revealed she was proud to have aged naturally without having plastic surgery:
“I see myself on TV, and I say, ‘Oh, I wish that weren’t happening to my neck. And your face is falling down, and your eyes are so puffy.”
But Field would remember that there were some women who she thought were gorgeous when they were young but had gone under the knife and she had a change of heart.
“Now I think, ‘Oh dear, don’t do that!’ And it seems so terribly disrespectful to who they are now,” said the two-time Academy Award winner.
Sally Field at “Meet the Filmmaker: Sally Field and Michael Showalter” for “Hello My Name Is Doris” at Apple Store Soho on March 8, 2016 in New York City | Source: Getty Images
Field admitted she did not want to age but made peace with the fact that there was not much she could do about it. Instead, she sought inspiration from fellow Hollywood leading ladies, including Helen Hayes and Jessica Tandy, who aged gracefully in their later years while still working.
The Tony Award nominee, whose acting career spans six decades, said the women looked stunning in their 60s, 70s, and 80s. She wants to execute specific roles when she becomes an old woman and does not want to look odd when that time comes.