Historic Hollywood

Sally Field

No wonder Sally Field was chosen for roles depicting women who relied on inner strength. In real life, she learned the hard way that being typecast was a handicap that she would have to overcome to ever be taken seriously. For this reason, she has earned her place in Hollywood history.

She was born Sally Margaret Field in Pasadena, CA, on Nov. 6, 1946, to Richard Dryden Field, an Army officer, and actress Margaret Field. Her parents divorced in 1950,

Field attended Birmingham High School in Van Nuys, where she was a cheerleader. After making her film debut in 1962 with a small part in the film Moon Pilot, she appeared on television in the mid-1960s with the surf culture series, Gidget. This lasted a year, and she went on to star as Sister Bertrille from 1967 until 1970 in The Flying Nun. While starring in the series, she attempted singing and even sang The Flying Nun theme song, "Who Needs Wings to Fly." The same year, she hit the Billboard Hot 100 with one single, "Felicidad." (She would later revive her singing career in 2008, when she sang on the soundtrack for The Little Mermaid: Ariel's Beginning.)

Surprisingly, because you would never know it from watching her on the show, she hated her role in The Flying Nun because she wasn't treated with respect. She was typecast as a goody two shoes and struggled to attain dramatic roles without success after the series ended. It only made sense that she should turn to famed acting teacher Lee Strasberg, who had previously helped Marilyn Monroe break out of her vacuous roles.

Field made heads spin when she took on the title role in the 1976 TV film Sybil, giving a dramatic portrayal a young woman with multiple personality disorder. The movie was truly disturbing due to her astounding performance. Her delirious rant, "The people, the people, the people!" will forever go down in history. She earned an Emmy Award in 1977 and Hollywood could no longer look at her in quite the same way.

Sally Field went on to appear in the lighthearted comedy Smokey and the Bandit (1977), along with her real-life boyfriend Burt Reynolds, and then she channeled her inner toughness again in Norma Rae (1979), by playing a union organizer. She won the Best Female Performance prize at the Cannes Film Festival and the Academy Award for Best Actress.

Field did three more of Reynolds' films (The End, Hooper and Smokey and the Bandit II). A second Oscar came her way for her starring role in the 1984 drama Places in the Heart, and her acceptance speech is well remembered. She said, "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!"

For Steel Magnolias (1989), a Southern drama, she was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for Best Actress, and several years passed before she was offered supporting roles, including playing the wife of Robin Williams in the extremely hilarious Mrs. Doubtfire (1993). However, the following year would prove to be a career highlight when she held the role of Forrest Gump's mother in Forrest Gump (1994). She did such a great job you almost forget that she was really only 10 years older than Tom Hanks, who held the title role.

Her other films in the 1990s included Not Without My Daughter, a controversial suspense film, and the comedy, Soapdish. She played Natalie Portman's mother in Where the Heart Is (2000) and appeared opposite Reese Witherspoon in Legally Blonde 2: Red, White & Blonde (2003).

Currently, she is a television spokesperson for Roche Laboratories' postmenopausal osteoporosis treatment medication, Boniva. She had been diagnosed with osteoporosis in 2009.

Sally has been married twice; once to Steven Craig from 1968 to 1975. They had two sons, Peter and Eli. Her second marriage was to film producer Alan Greisman from 1984 to 1993 and they had one son together, Samuel (born Dec. 2, 1987). On Oct. 29, 1988, she and her family survived a crash after their charter plane lost power on takeoff. They all survived with minor injuries.

Celebrity Encounters
Who can forget Frank Gorshin, better known as the Riddler on the old Batman television series at the end of the sixties. For those of us who remember, we also know him to be one of the greatest imitators of all time (no offense, Dana Carvey). As it turns out, Dorothy Jack, of Roselle, met this great talent while vacationing in Las Vegas. Dorothy writes:

My girlfriend and I were playing keno at the Sands Hotel in Las Vegas, I won, and as I was running toward the winning line I passed a table of men and one was Frank Gorshin. I said toward the table, "Oh my God, I just won four numbers!" When I returned to our table, Frank Gorshin approached me and asked, "Do you know who I am?" "Yes, you're Frank Gorshin," I replied. He said, "You are the only person who called me by name. Others say, 'You're a comedian,' or 'You're the Riddler on Batman.'"

Then, he asked us if we were attending his show that evening. My girlfriend and I looked at each other and said, "Yes," although in truth, we didn't even know he was appearing there. He responded, 'Well, I want you to be my guests tonight." We thanked him, but when we reached the lobby, the line for his show was really, really long, so we walked up to the front and asked if there were any tickets for us. They said, "Yes, please follow" and we were seated center stage, front table. After the show, we called him and thanked him for what he did for us. This is a true story; I never met a celebrity, nor talked to one, before in my life.

Joan Voss is a freelance writer living in Libertyville, IL.