Sally Field Biography Quotes 26 Report mistakes

Early Life and Family
Sally Field was born on November 6, 1946, in Pasadena, California, and grew up in Southern California. Her mother, Margaret Field, was an actress, and her stepfather, Jock Mahoney, was a well-known stuntman and actor. The household was immersed in the film and television world, which exposed her early to the craft but also presented complicated dynamics she would later examine in adulthood. She began performing as a teenager and gravitated toward acting as a profession, finding both a creative outlet and a path to independence.

Breakthrough on Television
Field first came to national attention through television. She starred in the lighthearted series Gidget in the mid-1960s, playing a spirited California teenager. The show established her as a fresh, comic presence. That recognition grew with The Flying Nun, where she portrayed Sister Bertrille, a role that brought fame but also threatened to fix her image as an ingenue. Determined to deepen her range, she sought rigorous training and pursued roles that would test her dramatic abilities.

Transition to Serious Roles
Her career turned decisively with the 1976 television film Sybil, in which she portrayed a young woman coping with dissociative identity disorder. The performance earned critical acclaim and an Emmy Award, demonstrating her command of complex emotional material. Around this time she also moved into film with increasing confidence, appearing in features that paired her with major stars and directors and expanded her reach beyond television.

Film Stardom and Awards
Field's breakthrough as a leading film actress came with Norma Rae (1979), directed by Martin Ritt, in which she played a textile worker who becomes a labor organizer. The role earned her the Academy Award for Best Actress and established her as a serious dramatic star. She won a second Best Actress Oscar for Places in the Heart (1984), directed by Robert Benton, playing a Texas widow who fights to keep her farm during the Great Depression. These performances, grounded in empathy and resilience, became emblematic of her screen persona: tenacious, morally centered, and deeply human.

Notable Roles Across Film and Television
Field's range is reflected in a wide array of roles. She appeared opposite Burt Reynolds in Smokey and the Bandit, The End, and Hooper, mixing comedy and romance with high-profile popularity. She starred with Paul Newman in Absence of Malice and with James Garner in Murphy's Romance. She explored comedy and drama in Punchline with Tom Hanks, the ensemble hit Steel Magnolias with Julia Roberts, and the family favorite Mrs. Doubtfire with Robin Williams. She was unforgettable as the devoted mother in Forrest Gump, alongside Tom Hanks, bringing warmth and quiet strength to a cultural touchstone. Later, she played Mary Todd Lincoln in Lincoln, directed by Steven Spielberg and starring Daniel Day-Lewis, earning an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress. She also reached new generations as Aunt May in The Amazing Spider-Man films with Andrew Garfield.

On television, Field continued to excel. She won an Emmy for a guest role on ER, portraying a woman grappling with bipolar disorder, and later won another Emmy for her portrayal of family matriarch Nora Walker on Brothers & Sisters, opposite an ensemble that included Calista Flockhart, Rachel Griffiths, Matthew Rhys, and Ron Rifkin. These performances reinforced her reputation for emotional authenticity and command of character-driven storytelling.

Stage Work and Later Career
Field has also pursued stage work, including a widely noted turn as Amanda Wingfield in The Glass Menagerie on Broadway, underscoring her commitment to the demands of live performance. She directed the feature film Beautiful, affirming her interest in storytelling from behind the camera. Throughout the 2010s, she balanced film, television, and theater, moving fluidly among mediums while maintaining a strong audience connection.

Personal Life and Relationships
Field married Steven Craig in 1968; they had two sons, Peter Craig, who became a novelist and screenwriter, and Eli Craig, who became a filmmaker. After their divorce, she married producer Alan Greisman in 1984; they had a son, Samuel Greisman. She also had a highly publicized relationship with Burt Reynolds that began in the late 1970s, overlapping with several of their film collaborations. Family has remained a central pillar in her life, and her relationships with her children have informed both her advocacy and her choice of roles that center the complexities of caregiving, resilience, and love.

Advocacy and Public Voice
Field has been an outspoken advocate on a range of social issues, including women's rights and health. She worked to raise awareness about osteoporosis as a spokesperson, using her visibility to encourage preventive care. She has supported reproductive rights and spoken publicly in support of LGBTQ equality; her son Samuel's coming out deepened her involvement with organizations that promote acceptance and legal protections. Her speeches, including those at awards ceremonies, often emphasize compassion and the dignity of caregiving. In 2019, she was recognized as a Kennedy Center Honors recipient, a testament to her enduring influence on American culture.

Craft and Method
Across decades, Field's approach to acting has emphasized rigorous preparation and emotional truth. Whether portraying a union organizer, a widow in crisis, a comic performer struggling for respect, or a historical figure under immense pressure, she builds performances from the inside out, locating moral clarity without sacrificing complexity. Directors such as Martin Ritt, Robert Benton, and Steven Spielberg, and collaborators like Tom Hanks, Robin Williams, Paul Newman, James Garner, and Daniel Day-Lewis, have praised her ability to anchor scenes with nuanced intelligence and empathy.

Legacy
Sally Field's career charts a path from television ingenue to one of the most honored American actresses of her generation. With two Academy Awards, multiple Emmys, and a body of work spanning iconic films and landmark television, she helped redefine what mainstream audiences could expect from female leads: determination, humor, vulnerability, and a fierce sense of justice. Beyond accolades, her legacy resides in the characters she made unforgettable and in the example she set for artists seeking to stretch beyond the roles first offered to them. Through perseverance, craft, and conviction, she became a model of artistic integrity and personal courage, influencing colleagues, inspiring audiences, and leaving a lasting mark on the cultural landscape.

Our collection contains 26 quotes who is written by Sally, under the main topics: Live in the Moment - Art - Health - Work Ethic - Change.

Other people realated to Sally: Dolly Parton (Musician), Shirley MacLaine (Actress), Daryl Hannah (Actress), Hal Holbrook (Actor), Balthazar Getty (Actor), Sydney Pollack (Director), Wilford Brimley (Actor), Pierce Brosnan (Actor), Olympia Dukakis (Actress), Henry Winkler (Actor)