Actress. Born on November 6, 1946, in Pasadena, California. Dramatic and comic lead who matured from a bubbly TV teenager to a determined "every woman" in America films. The daughter of a screen actress Margaret Field (later known as Maggie Mahoney), who played leads in B pictures of the late 40's, and the stepdaughter of actor Jock Mahoney, she attended the Columbia Pictures acting workshop and was selected over 150 other candidates to play the title role in the TV series "Gidget" (1965-1966). Her success led to a starring role in the even more popular series "The Flying Nun" (1967-1970). Dissatisfied with being typecast in cute, undemanding parts, she enrolled at the Actors Studio and after three years of training emerged as a competent dramatic actress.
In 1977 she won an Emmy Award for her performance in the four-hour TV movie "Sybil", in which she portrayed a mentally disturbed woman fragmented into 16 personalities. Her motion picture breakthrough came in 1979, when she won the Academy Award and the Best Actress Prize at Cannes for her strong portrayal of a union activist in "Norma Rae". She garnered a second Oscar for "Places in the Heart" (1984), gaining notoriety for one exuberant phrase in her acceptance speech: "You like me, you really like me!" With her production company, Fogwood Films, she has branched into producing as well as acting. Divorced (1968-1973) from screenwriter Steven Craig, she married producer Alan Greisman in 1982. More recently, Field played Forrest Gump's wise old mom.
