American actress (1916?1973)
Betty Field
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Field in 1942
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Born
| (
1916-02-08
)
February 8, 1916
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Died
| September 13, 1973
(1973-09-13)
(aged 57)
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Occupation
| Actress
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Years active
| 1934?71
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Spouses
|
Elmer Rice
(
m.
1942;
div.
1956)
Edwin J. Lukas
(
m.
1957;
div.
1967)
Raymond Olivere
(
m.
1968)
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Children
| 3
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Betty Field
(February 8, 1916
[1]
? September 13, 1973) was an American film and stage actress.
Early years
[
edit
]
Field was born in Boston, Massachusetts, to George and Katharine (nee 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.
[4]
Producer/director
George Abbott
is credited with having discovered Field.
[5]
Stage
[
edit
]
Field began her acting career in 1934 on the
London stage
[4]
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).
[6]
Her final stage performances were in three productions at
Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts
in 1971.
[4]
Film
[
edit
]
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."
[7]
Field's role as Curly's wife, Mae, the sole female character in
Of Mice and Men
(1939) established her as a dramatic actress.
[8]
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
,
[9]
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.
TV and radio
[
edit
]
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
.
[10]
Personal life
[
edit
]
Her first marriage to playwright
Elmer Rice
ended in divorce in May 1956.
[11]
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.
[12]
Field died from a cerebral hemorrhage on September 13, 1973, at Cape Cod Hospital in Hyannis, Massachusetts,
[4]
aged 57. (Another source says she was 55.)
[4]
Filmography
[
edit
]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
Massachusetts State Vital Records. Births 1916. Vol. 1.
FamilySearch
(
registration required
)
- ^
GREAT STARS OF THE AMERICAN STAGE
by Daniel Blum c.1952
Profile #130
- ^
West, Alice Pardoe (December 13, 1936).
"Chief Ambition of Betty Is to Be Great Actress"
.
The Ogden Standard-Examiner
. Utah, Ogden. p. 23
. Retrieved
May 21,
2016
– via
Newspapers.com
.
- ^
a
b
c
d
e
"Actress Betty Field Dies In a Cape Cod Hospital"
.
The Bridgeport Post
. Connecticut, Bridgeport. Associated Press. September 15, 1973. p. 24
. Retrieved
May 20,
2016
– via
Newspapers.com
.
- ^
"Film Star, on Vacation, to Appear at New Hope"
.
The Bristol Daily Courier
. Pennsylvania, Bristol. July 23, 1940. p. 3
. Retrieved
May 20,
2016
– via
Newspapers.com
.
- ^
"Betty Field: Roles"
.
Playbill Vault
. Retrieved
21 May
2016
.
- ^
Lowrance, Dee (February 22, 1942).
"Features"
.
The Salt Lake Tribune
. Utah, Salt Lake City. p. 43
. Retrieved
May 20,
2016
– via
Newspapers.com
.
- ^
"Aided by Unsympathetic Roles"
.
The Ottawa Journal
. Canada, Ottawa, Ontario. February 26, 1944. p. 18
. Retrieved
May 20,
2016
– via
Newspapers.com
.
- ^
Garfield, David (1980). "Appendix: Life Members of The Actors Studio as of January 1980".
A Player's Place: The Story of The Actors Studio
. New York: MacMillan Publishing Co., Inc. p.
280
.
ISBN
0-02-542650-8
.
- ^
Terrace, Vincent (1999).
Radio Programs, 1924-1984: A Catalog of More Than 1800 Shows
. McFarland & Company, Inc.
ISBN
978-0-7864-4513-4
. P. 19.
- ^
"Names in the News"
.
Ogden Standard-Examiner
. Utah, Ogden. March 21, 1957. p. 1
. Retrieved
May 20,
2016
– via
Newspapers.com
.
- ^
Hudson, Edward (1973-09-15).
"Betty Field, Actress, Is Dead at 55"
.
The New York Times
.
ISSN
0362-4331
. Retrieved
2022-03-18
.
External links
[
edit
]
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