| Betty Field | |
| Birth Date: | February 8, 1916 |
| Birth Place: | Boston, Massachusetts, U.S. |
| Death Place: | Hyannis, Massachusetts, U.S. |
| Occupation: | Actress |
| Years Active: | 1934–71 |
| Spouse: | |
| Children: | 3 |
Betty Field (February 8, 1916[1] – September 13, 1973) was an American film and stage actress.
Field was born in Boston, Massachusetts, to George and Katharine (née Lynch) Field.[2] She began acting before she reached age 15, and went into stock theater immediately after graduating from high school.[3] She attended the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York City.
Producer/director George Abbott is credited with having discovered Field.[4]
Field began her acting career in 1934 on the London stage in Howard Lindsay's farce She Loves Me Not. Following its run, she returned to the United States, and appeared in several stage successes, then made her film debut in 1939.
Field's Broadway credits include Page Miss Glory (1934), Room Service (1937), Angel Island (1937), If I Were You (1938), What a Life (1938), The Primrose (1939), Ring Two (1939), Two on an Island (1940), Flight to the West (1940), A New Life (1943), The Voice of the Turtle (1943), Dream Girl (1945), The Rat Race (1949), Not for Children (1951), The Fourposter (1951), The Ladies of the Corridor (1953), Festival (1955), The Waltz of the Toreadors (1958), A Touch of the Poet (1958), A Loss of Roses (1959), Strange Interlude (1963), Where's Daddy? (1966), and All Over (1971).[5]
Her final stage performances were in three productions at Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts in 1971.
Field had to overcome obstacles early in her film career. A 1942 newspaper article reported:
When Betty Field was first signed for pictures, conversation buzzed. "But she's not pretty," was the first objection. "And her mouth is too large."[6]
Field's role as Curly's wife, Mae, the sole female character in Of Mice and Men (1939) established her as a dramatic actress.[7] She starred opposite John Wayne in the 1941 movie The Shepherd of the Hills. Field played a supporting, yet significant role as Cassandra Tower in Kings Row (1942).
A life member of The Actors Studio,[8] Field preferred performing on Broadway and appeared in Elmer Rice's Dream Girl and Jean Anouilh's The Waltz of the Toreadors, but returned to Hollywood regularly, appearing in Flesh and Fantasy (1943), The Southerner (1945), as Daisy Buchanan in The Great Gatsby (1949) with Alan Ladd, Picnic (1955) with William Holden and Kim Novak, Bus Stop (1956) with Marilyn Monroe, Peyton Place (1957) (for which she was nominated for a Laurel Award), Hound-Dog Man (1959) with Carol Lynley and Stuart Whitman, Butterfield 8 (1960) with Elizabeth Taylor, Birdman of Alcatraz (1962) with Burt Lancaster, 7 Women (1966) with Anne Bancroft and How to Save a Marriage and Ruin Your Life (1968) with Dean Martin and Stella Stevens. Her final film role was in Coogan's Bluff with Clint Eastwood and Susan Clark in 1968.
Field made many guest appearances on series television including Route 66, The Untouchables, General Electric Theater, Alfred Hitchcock Presents, Dr. Kildare, Ben Casey, The Defenders and several others. Field portrayed Barbara Pearson on the radio series The Aldrich Family. On radio, she also appeared on Old Gold Comedy Theater, Studio One and Suspense. [9]
Her first marriage to playwright Elmer Rice ended in divorce in May 1956.[10] The couple had three children, John, Paul, and Judith. John became a lawyer, but he died in a swimming accident at age 40. Her second marriage to Edwin J. Lukas lasted from 1957 to 1967. Her third marriage to Raymond Olivere lasted from 1968 until her death in 1973. [11]
Field died from a cerebral hemorrhage on September 13, 1973, at Cape Cod Hospital in Hyannis, Massachusetts,[12] aged 57. (Another source says she was 55.)[12]
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1939 | What a Life | Barbara Pearson | |
| Of Mice and Men | Mae Jackson | ||
| 1940 | Seventeen | Lola Pratt | |
| Victory | Alma | ||
| 1941 | The Shepherd of the Hills | Sammy Lane | |
| Blues in the Night | Kay Grant | ||
| 1942 | Kings Row | Cassandra Tower | |
| Are Husbands Necessary? | Mary Elizabeth Cugat | ||
| 1943 | Flesh and Fantasy | Henrietta | (Episode 1) |
| 1944 | The Great Moment | Elizabeth Morton | |
| Tomorrow, the World! | Leona Richards | ||
| 1945 | The Southerner | Nona Tucker | |
| 1949 | The Great Gatsby | Daisy Buchanan | |
| 1955 | Picnic | Flo Owens | |
| 1956 | Bus Stop | Grace | |
| 1957 | Peyton Place | Nellie Cross | |
| 1959 | Hound-Dog Man | Cora McKinney | |
| 1960 | Alfred Hitchcock Presents | Helen | Season 6 Episode 3: "Very Moral Theft" |
| 1960 | Butterfield 8 | Fanny Thurber | |
| 1962 | Birdman of Alcatraz | Stella Johnson | |
| 1963 | The Alfred Hitchcock Hour | Jenny Davies | Season 1 Episode 24: "The Star Juror" |
| 1966 | 7 Women | Florrie Pether | |
| 1968 | How to Save a Marriage and Ruin Your Life | Thelma | |
| Coogan's Bluff | Ellen Ringerman |