Award-winning actress Sally Field was born on November 6, 1946 in Pasadena, California. Her career—which spans almost four decades, numerous awards and many memorable roles—started with the comedy series Gidget, which premiered in 1966. She played the title character, a boy-crazed teenager living the surfer’s life. Despite enjoying her work in the series, Gidget was cancelled due to low ratings, and she was given the lead role in another sitcom, The Flying Nun, in 1967. Because of her mostly comedic roles—she was also a regular in the fantasy sitcom The Girl with Something Extra—she struggled to get dramatic roles. After training with Lee Strasburg, she starred in the television movie Sybil, which aired in 1976. Her role as a shy graduate student suffering from dissociative identity disorder earned her critical acclaim, and led to her first Emmy award.
Field’s reputation as a dramatic actress was furthered by her portrayal of the title role in the 1979 film Norma Rae. Her role as a minimum-wage worker who sought the unionization of the cotton mill she works for has earned her numerous accolades, including Best Actress awards from the Golden Globes, the Oscars and that year’s Cannes Film Festival. She won more awards for her portrayal of a Southern widow trying to keep her farm together in the 1984 drama Places in the Heart; she earned an Oscar and a Golden Globe, both for Best Actress. Fully established as a reputable actress, she appeared in a variety of films—Steel Magnolias, Mrs. Doubtfire, Forrest Gump and Where the Heart Is, among others.
Field has continued to reap acclaim even in her more recent roles. Her portrayal of Maggie Lockhart, the mother of doctor Abby (Maura Tierney) who suffers from bipolar disorder, in ER earned her a second Emmy for Best Guest Drama Actress. She the joined the cast of the drama series Brothers & Sisters—a late addition, as her character, family matriarch Nora Walker, was played by Betty Buckley in the pilot. Her portrayal of the beleaguered family head getting to grips with her husband’s (Tom Skerritt) death and the many discoveries it triggered led to her third Emmy, for Best Drama Actress, in 2007.
Pasadena, California, USA
- She married Steven Craig on September 16, 1968 and divorced him on August 1, 1975. They have two children together: novelist Peter Craig and actor/director Eli Craig. She later married Alan Greisman in 1984, but they were divorced in 1993.
- She cites 1977's Smokey and the Bandit as her favorite movie.
- She graduated from Birmingham High School, Van Nuys, California. She was voted "Class Clown".
- She also received training at the prestigious Lee Strasberg Institute.
2009: Screen Actors Guild Awards - Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Drama Series for: "Brothers & Sisters"
2008: Prism Awards - Performance in a Drama Series Multi-Episode Storyline for: "Brothers & Sisters"
2007: Emmy Awards - Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series
for: "Brothers & Sisters"
2005: TV Land Awards - Favorite Airborne Character(s) for: "The Flying Nun"
2005: TV Land Awards - Little Screen/Big Screen Star
2001: Emmy Awards - Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series - for: "ER"
2001: American Society of Cinematographers - Board of the Governors Award
1999: Santa Barbara International Film Festival - Ruby Award
1997: Emmy Awards - Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama or Comedy Special for: Sybil
1996: Berlin International Film Festival - Berlinale Camera
1986: Hasty Pudding Theatricals, USA - Woman of the Year
1986: Women in Film Crystal Awards
1985: Academy Awards - Oscar - Best Actress in a Leading Role for: Places in the Heart
1985: Golden Globe Awards - Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture - Drama for: Places in the Heart
1984: Golden Apple Awards - Female Star of the Year
1982: American Movie Awards - Marquee - Favorite Star - Female
1982: People's Choice Awards - Favorite Motion Picture Actress
1980: American Movie Awards - Marquee - Best Actress for: Norma Rae
1980: Academy Awards - Oscar - Best Actress in a Leading Role for: Norma Rae
1980: Kansas City Film Critics Circle Awards - KCFCC Award - Best Actress for: Norma Rae
1980: National Society of Film Critics Awards - NSFC Award - Best Actress for: Norma Rae
1979: New York Film Critics Circle Awards - NYFCC Award - Best Actress for: Norma Rae
1979: Los Angeles Film Critics Association Awards - LAFCA Award - Best Actress for: Norma Rae
1979: National Board of Review Awards - Best Actress for: Norma Rae
1979: Cannes Film Festival - Best Actress for: Norma Rae
2006-2011: Brothers & Sisters (TV series) - Nora Walker/Nora Holden
2008: The Little Mermaid: Ariel's Beginning (video) - Marina Del Ray (voice)
2007: Brothers & Sisters: Family Album (TV movie) - Nora Walker
2006: Two Weeks - Anita Bergman
2000-2006: ER (TV series) - Maggie Wyczenski
2005: Conviction (TV movie)
2003: Legally Blonde 2: Red, White & Blonde - Rep. Victoria Rudd
2002: The Court (TV series) - Justice Kate Nolan
2001: Say It Isn't So - Valdine Wingfield
2000: David Copperfield (TV movie) - Aunt Betsey Trotwood
2000: Where the Heart Is - Mama Lil
1999: A Cooler Climate (TV movie) - Iris
1998: From the Earth to the Moon (TV mini-series) - Trudy Cooper
1998: Murphy Brown (TV series) - Secretary #91, Kathleen Dubek
1997: Merry Christmas, George Bailey (TV movie) - Mrs. Bailey/Narrator
1997: King of the Hill (TV series) - Junie Harper
1996: Homeward Bound 2: Lost in San Francisco - Sassy (voice)
1996: Eye for an Eye - Karen McCann
1995: A Woman of Independent Means (TV mini-series) - Bess Alcott Steed Garner
1994: Forrest Gump - Mrs. Gump
1993: Mrs. Doubtfire - Miranda Hillard
1993: Homeward Bound: The Incredible Journey - Sassy (voice)
1991: Soapdish - Celeste Talbert/Maggie
1991: Not Without My Daughter - Betty Mahmoody
1989: Steel Magnolias - M'Lynn Eatenton
1988: Punchline - Lilah Krytsick
1987: Surrender - Daisy Morgan
1985: Murphy's Romance - Emma Moriarty
1984: Places in the Heart - Edna Spalding
1982: Kiss Me Goodbye - Kay
1981: All the Way Home (TV movie) - Mary Follet
1981: Absence of Malice - Megan
1981: Back Roads - Amy Post
1980: Smokey and the Bandit II - Carrie/'Frog'
1979: Beyond the Poseidon Adventure - Celeste Whitman
1979: Norma Rae - Norma Rae
1978: Hooper - Gwen Doyle
1978: The End - Mary Ellen
1977: Heroes - Carol Bell
1977: Smokey and the Bandit - Carrie
1976: Sybil (TV movie) - Sybil
1976: Bridger (TV movie) - Jennifer Melford
1976: Stay Hungry - Mary Tate Farnsworth
1973-1974: The Girl with Something Extra (TV series) - Sally Burton
1973: Night Gallery (TV series) - Irene Evans
1972: Home for the Holidays (TV movie) - Christine Morgan
1971-1972: Alias Smith and Jones (TV series) - Clementine Hale
1971: Mongo's Back in Town (TV movie) - Vikki
1971: Marriage: Year One (TV movie) - Jane Duden
1971: Marcus Welby, M.D. (TV series) - Jan Wilkins/June Wilkins
1971: Hitched (TV movie) - Roselle Bridgeman
1971: Maybe I'll Come Home in the Spring (TV movie) - Denise 'Dennie' Miller
1970: Bracken's World (TV series) - Jenny Marsh
1967-1970: The Flying Nun (TV series) - Sister Bertrille/Elsie Etherington/Elsie Ethrington
1968: Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In (TV series) - Various
1967: The Way West - Mercy McBee
1967: Hey, Landlord (TV series) - Bonnie Banner
1966: Occasional Wife (TV series) - Nancy Zogerdorfer
1965-1966: Gidget (TV series) - Frances Elizabeth 'Gidget' Lawrence
1962: Moon Pilot - Beatnik girl in lineup
My agent said, "You aren't good enough for movies". I said, "You're fired".
When I was born, the doctor looked at my mother and said, "Congratulations, you have an actor!"