Sally Field

Biography

American actress Sally Field went from perky teen roles on television to one of the most respected actresses of her generation. Born in Pasadena, California, she got her first big break shortly after graduating from high school with a starring role in the sitcom "Gidget" (ABC, 1965-66).

 Roles in the short-lived sitcoms "Occasional Wife" (NBC, 1966-67) and "Hey, Landlord" (NBC, 1966-67) followed before she found more sustained success with her next  TV role. As sweet Sister Bertrille, the title character on "The Flying Nun" (ABC, 1967-70), Field became America's sweetheart. 

After the show ended, the actress continued making TV appearances, typically playing similarly innocent characters, including a newlywed with ESP in the sitcom "The Girl with Something Extra" (NBC, 1973-74). 

She began breaking free of her typecasting with the lead role in "Sybil" (NBC, 1976), playing a woman with dissociative identity disorder. She found feature film success shortly thereafter when she appeared opposite Burt Reynolds in the blockbuster hit "Smokey and the Bandit" (1977).

 Her partnership with sometime-boyfriend Reynolds extended to three more films, including "Hooper" (1978). Field began gravitating toward weightier roles, earning critical acclaim for her portrayal of a union leader in "Norma Rae" (1979), a part that earned her first Academy Award.

 She found additional acclaim acting opposite Paul Newman in Sydney Pollack's "Absence of Malice" (1981) and won a second Oscar for "Places in the Heart" (1984). Throughout the '80s, she partnered with other big-name talents such as James Garner in "Murphy's Romance" (1985), Tom Hanks in "Punchline" (1988), and Julia Roberts in "Steel Magnolias" (1989).

 The '90s found her taking part in some of the biggest box office hits of the decade when she joined Robin Williams in "Mrs. Doubtfire" (1993) and teamed with Hanks again in "Forrest Gump" (1994). 

After an Emmy-nominated turn in the miniseries "A Woman of Independent Means" (NBC, 1995), though, she began gravitating back towards television. She later earned Emmys for her roles on "ER" (NBC, 1994-2009) and "Brothers & Sisters" (ABC, 2006-11).

 Field returned to prominence on the big screen with her role as Mary Todd Lincoln in Steven Spielberg's "Lincoln" (2012). She also joined the popular superhero genre with a turn as Aunt May in "The Amazing Spider-Man" (2012) and "The Amazing Spider-Man 2" (2014).

 She enjoyed additional accolades for her role as a woman obsessed with a significantly younger man in "Hello, My Name Is Doris" (2015). Returning to television, she joined the cast of "Maniac" (Netflix, 2018), with Emma Stone and Jonah Hill, playing the mother of Justin Theroux's therapist.