Sally Field

Sally Margaret Field, born November 6, 1946, is an American actress whose career spans television, film, and stage. She has won two Academy Awards, two Golden Globes, and three Primetime Emmys, with additional nominations for two BAFTAs and a Tony. Her honors include a Hollywood Walk of Fame star (2014), the National Medal of Arts (2014), the Kennedy Center Honor (2019), and the Screen Actors Guild Life Achievement Award (2023).

Field first became famous on ABC sitcoms: *Gidget* (1965–1966) and *The Flying Nun* (1967–1970). She won an Emmy for her dramatic turn in the TV film *Sybil* (1976). Her film breakthrough came with *Smokey and the Bandit* (1977), followed by two Best Actress Oscars—for playing a union organizer in *Norma Rae* (1979) and a Depression-era mother in *Places in the Heart* (1984). Other notable films include *Smokey and the Bandit II* (1980), *Absence of Malice* (1981), *Murphy's Romance* (1985), *Steel Magnolias* (1989), *Mrs. Doubtfire* (1993), and *Forrest Gump* (1994).

Returning to television, she earned Emmys for guest work on *ER* and for her lead role on *Brothers & Sisters* (2006–2011). She played Mary Todd Lincoln in *Lincoln* (2012), earning an Oscar nomination, and Aunt May in *The Amazing Spider-Man* (2012) and its 2014 sequel. On stage, she starred in a Broadway revival of *The Glass Menagerie*, earning a Tony nomination for Best Actress in a Play.

Field was born in Pasadena, California, to actress Margaret Field and pharmacist Richard Dryden Field, who served in the Army during WWII. Her ancestry is English and Irish. Her brother, Richard Dryden Field Jr., is a physicist. Her parents divorced in 1950; in 1952, her mother married actor and stuntman Jock Mahoney. In her 2018 memoir, Field wrote that Mahoney sexually abused her from childhood until age 14. As a teen, she attended Portola Middle School and Birmingham High School in Van Nuys, where she was a cheerleader. Her classmates included financier Michael Milken and agent Michael Ovitz; actress Cindy Williams was a year behind. Field has said that at seventeen she obtained an illegal abortion in Mexico and was molested by a technician during the procedure.

Field began her career with the short-lived *Gidget*, which gained popularity in summer reruns. ABC then cast her in *The Flying Nun* for three seasons. She enjoyed *Gidget* but later said she hated *The Flying Nun* due to disrespect from directors. During that show, she briefly sang, releasing an album and singles. Typecast afterward, she starred in the 1971 TV film *Maybe I'll Come Home in the Spring* and made guest appearances on shows like *Alias Smith and Jones* and *Night Gallery*. In 1973, she co-starred in *The Girl with Something Extra*. After its cancellation, she studied at the Actors Studio under Lee Strasberg, who helped her shed her girl-next-door image. She divorced her first husband in 1975. Her role in *Sybil* (1976) won her an Emmy and broke her sitcom typecasting. She also earned strong reviews for *Stay Hungry* (1976).

In 1977, she co-starred in *Smokey and the Bandit*, the year’s second-highest-grossing film. Her performance in *Norma Rae* (1979) won the Best Female Performance Prize at Cannes and an Oscar. She appeared with Burt Reynolds in three more films: *The End*, *Hooper*, and *Smokey and the Bandit II*. In 1981, she played a foul-mouthed prostitute opposite...