Sally Field

The stigma of the TV girl

Sally Field spent years trying to make Hollywood forget that she could fly. In 1965, she starred in Gidget and, shortly after, The Flying Nun. The industry typecast her in roles as a cheerful teenager because her petite frame didn't seem suited to adult drama. She hated that nun's habit, but she needed the paycheck to support her family.

And her push for change was bold.

In 1976, she landed the lead role in the miniseries Sybil. She played a woman with sixteen distinct personalities in a display of technique that left critics speechless. She won her first Emmy. That award marked the end of her days as a lightweight teen comedy star.

Two Oscars and a misunderstood speech

In 1979, she shot Norma Rae under the direction of Martin Ritt. She stepped into the shoes of a textile worker fighting to unionize her factory. The shoot was grueling, and Field clashed with the director with the same tenacity as her character. She won the Oscar for Best Actress and the Cannes Film Festival award that same year.

But the moment that defined her public image happened in 1985.

When she accepted her second Oscar for Places in the Heart, she delivered the famous line about the audience's affection. For decades, the press mocked her supposed insecurity. But Field was speaking from the relief of someone who had been rejected by the system throughout her youth. That night confirmed that her success was no accident.

The Weight of Experience

During the 1990s, she took on roles that other stars would have turned down out of fear of aging. In 1993, she appeared in Mrs. Doubtfire, and in 1994, she played the mother of Tom Hanks in Forrest Gump. Interestingly, Field is only ten years older than Hanks. She took on the challenge because the script was strong and she didn't care about looking glamorous.

She never stopped working in television.

In 2012, she had to fight for the role of Mary Todd Lincoln in the film Lincoln. Steven Spielberg thought she was too old for the character (she was 66 years old at the time). She asked for a screen test opposite Daniel Day-Lewis and convinced the director in just a few minutes. That role earned her another Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actress.

In 2007, she won another Emmy for the series Brothers & Sisters. In 2023, she released the comedy 80 for Brady alongside Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin. The film earned nearly 40 million dollars in the U.S. market alone during its first month in theaters. Field still manages her career with the precision of someone who knows every lever of the business.

In 2018, she published her memoir, In Pieces, in which she revealed details about her childhood and her relationship with Burt Reynolds. The book sold thousands of copies in its first week on sale.