Betty Field

2025-10-12T18:52:48Z

89.19.79.40:

{{short description|American actress (1916–1973)}}
{{distinguish|text=the British actress [[Betty Fields]]}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Betty Field
| image = Betty Field CM242.jpg
| image_size =
| caption = Field in 1942
| birth_name = Elizabeth Field
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1916|02|08|mf=y}}
| birth_place = [[Boston, Massachusetts]], U.S.
| death_date = {{Death date and age|1973|09|13|1916|02|08|mf=y}}
| death_place = [[Hyannis, Massachusetts]], U.S.
| occupation = Actress
| years_active = 1934–71
| spouse = {{plainlist|
* {{marriage|Elmer Rice|1942|1956|end=divorced}}
* {{marriage|Edwin J. Lukas|1957|1967|end=divorced}}
* {{marriage|Raymond Olivere<br>|1968}}
}}
| children = 3
}}

'''Elizabeth 'Betty' Field''' (February 8, 1916<ref>[https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:KBZ5-VTX Massachusetts State Vital Records. Births 1916. Vol. 1.] FamilySearch {{registration required}} </ref> – September 13, 1973) was an American film and stage actress.

==Early years==
Field was born in Boston, Massachusetts, to George and Katharine (née Lynch) Field.<ref>''GREAT STARS OF THE AMERICAN STAGE'' by Daniel Blum c.1952 ''Profile #130''</ref> She began acting before she reached age 15, and went into [[Summer stock theatre|stock theater]] immediately after graduating from high school.<ref name="ose">{{cite news|last1=West|first1=Alice Pardoe|title=Chief Ambition of Betty Is to Be Great Actress|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/5336126/the_ogden_standardexaminer/|work=The Ogden Standard-Examiner|date=December 13, 1936|location=Utah, Ogden|page=23|via = [[Newspapers.com]]|access-date = May 21, 2016}} {{Open access}}</ref> She attended the [[American Academy of Dramatic Arts]] in New York City.<ref name=bp/>

Producer/director [[George Abbott]] is credited with having discovered Field.<ref>{{cite news|title=Film Star, on Vacation, to Appear at New Hope|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/5337181/the_bristol_daily_courier/|work=The Bristol Daily Courier|date=July 23, 1940|location=Pennsylvania, Bristol|page=3|via = [[Newspapers.com]]|access-date = May 20, 2016}} {{Open access}}</ref>

==Stage==
Field began her acting career in 1934 on the [[West End theatre|London stage]]<ref name=bp/> 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 (play)|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 (play)|The Voice of the Turtle]]'' (1943), ''[[Dream Girl (play)|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).<ref>{{cite web|title=Betty Field: Roles|url=http://www.playbill.com/person/betty-field-vault-0000071334|website=Playbill Vault|access-date=21 May 2016}}</ref>

Her final stage performances were in three productions at [[Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts]] in 1971.<ref name=bp/>

==Film==
[[File:Zachary Scott-Betty Field in The Southerner.jpg|thumb|upright|With [[Zachary Scott]] in ''[[The Southerner (1945 film)|The Southerner]]'' (1945)]]
[[File:Betty Field in Bus Stop trailer cropped.jpg|thumb|upright|Field in a scene from ''[[Bus Stop (1956 film)|Bus Stop]]'' (1956)]]
Field had to overcome obstacles early in her film career. A 1942 newspaper article reported:<blockquote>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."<ref name="slt">{{cite news|last1=Lowrance|first1=Dee|title=Features|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/5334411/the_salt_lake_tribune/|work=The Salt Lake Tribune|date=February 22, 1942|location=Utah, Salt Lake City|page=43|via = [[Newspapers.com]]|access-date = May 20, 2016}} {{Open access}}</ref></blockquote>

Field's role as Curly's wife, Mae, the sole female character in ''[[Of Mice and Men (1939 film)|Of Mice and Men]]'' (1939) established her as a dramatic actress.<ref>{{cite news|title=Aided by Unsympathetic Roles|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/5337100/the_ottawa_journal/|work=The Ottawa Journal|date=February 26, 1944|location=Canada, Ottawa, Ontario|page=18|via = [[Newspapers.com]]|access-date = May 20, 2016}} {{Open access}}</ref> She starred opposite [[John Wayne]] in the 1941 movie ''[[The Shepherd of the Hills (1941 film)|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]],<ref>{{cite book|first=David |last=Garfield|title=A Player's Place: The Story of The Actors Studio|url=https://archive.org/details/playersplacestor00garf|url-access=registration|year=1980|publisher=MacMillan Publishing Co., Inc.|location=New York|isbn=0-02-542650-8|page=[https://archive.org/details/playersplacestor00garf/page/280 280]|chapter=Appendix: Life Members of The Actors Studio as of January 1980}}</ref> Field preferred performing on Broadway and appeared in [[Elmer Rice]]'s ''[[Dream Girl (play)|Dream Girl]]'' and [[Jean Anouilh]]'s ''[[The Waltz of the Toreadors]]'', but returned to Hollywood regularly, appearing in ''[[Flesh and Fantasy (1943 film)|Flesh and Fantasy]]'' (1943), ''[[The Southerner (1945 film)|The Southerner]]'' (1945), as [[The Great Gatsby|Daisy Buchanan]] in ''[[The Great Gatsby (1949 film)|The Great Gatsby]]'' (1949) with [[Alan Ladd]], ''[[Picnic (1955 film)|Picnic]]'' (1955) with [[William Holden]] and [[Kim Novak]], ''[[Bus Stop (1956 film)|Bus Stop]]'' (1956) with [[Marilyn Monroe]], ''[[Peyton Place (film)|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 (film)|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 (film)|Coogan's Bluff]]'' with [[Clint Eastwood]] and [[Susan Clark]] in 1968.

==TV and radio==
Field made many guest appearances on series television including ''[[Route 66 (TV series)|Route 66]]'', ''[[The Untouchables (1959 TV series)|The Untouchables]]'', ''[[General Electric Theater]]'', ''[[Alfred Hitchcock Presents]]'', ''[[Dr. Kildare (TV series)|Dr. Kildare]]'', ''[[Ben Casey]]'', ''[[The Defenders (1961 TV series)|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 (American TV series)|Studio One]]'' and ''[[Suspense (radio drama)|Suspense]]''. <ref name=rp>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.</ref>

==Personal life==
Field's first marriage, to playwright [[Elmer Rice]], ended in divorce in May 1956.<ref>{{cite news|title=Names in the News|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/5339593/the_ogden_standardexaminer/|work=Ogden Standard-Examiner|date=March 21, 1957|location=Utah, Ogden|page=1|via = [[Newspapers.com]]|access-date = May 20, 2016}} {{Open access}}</ref> The couple had three children, John, Paul, and Judith. John became a lawyer and died in a swimming accident at age 40. Field's 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. <ref>{{Cite news |last=Hudson |first=Edward |date=1973-09-15 |title=Betty Field, Actress, Is Dead at 55 |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1973/09/15/archives/betty-field-actress-is-dead-at-55-signed-by-hollywood.html |access-date=2022-03-18 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref>

Field died from a cerebral hemorrhage on September 13, 1973, at Cape Cod Hospital in [[Hyannis, Massachusetts]],<ref name="bp">{{cite news|title=Actress Betty Field Dies In a Cape Cod Hospital|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/5336939/the_bridgeport_post/|work=The Bridgeport Post|agency=Associated Press|date=September 15, 1973|location=Connecticut, Bridgeport|page=24|via = [[Newspapers.com]]|access-date = May 20, 2016}} {{Open access}}</ref> aged 57. (Another source says she was 55.)<ref name=bp/>

==Filmography==
{|class="wikitable"
|- align="center"
! Year
! Title
! Role
! Notes
|-
|rowspan=2|1939
|''[[What a Life (film)|What a Life]]''
|Barbara Pearson
|
|-
|''[[Of Mice and Men (1939 film)|Of Mice and Men]]''
|Mae Jackson
|
|-
|rowspan=2|1940
|''[[Seventeen (1940 film)|Seventeen]]''
|Lola Pratt
|
|-
|''[[Victory (1940 film)|Victory]]''
|Alma
|
|-
|rowspan=2|1941
|''[[The Shepherd of the Hills (1941 film)|The Shepherd of the Hills]]''
|Sammy Lane
|
|-
|''[[Blues in the Night (1941 film)|Blues in the Night]]''
|Kay Grant
|
|-
|rowspan=2|1942
|''[[Kings Row]]''
|Cassandra Tower
|
|-
|''[[Are Husbands Necessary? (1942 film)|Are Husbands Necessary?]]''
|Mary Elizabeth Cugat
|
|-
|1943
|''[[Flesh and Fantasy]]''
|Henrietta
|(Episode 1)
|-
|rowspan=2|1944
|''[[The Great Moment (1944 film)|The Great Moment]]''
|Elizabeth Morton
|
|-
|''[[Tomorrow, the World]]!''
|Leona Richards
|
|-
|1945
|''[[The Southerner (1945 film)|The Southerner]]''
|Nona Tucker
|
|-
|1949
|''[[The Great Gatsby (1949 film)|The Great Gatsby]]''
|[[Daisy Buchanan]]
|
|-
|1955
|''[[Picnic (1955 film)|Picnic]]''
|Flo Owens
|
|-
|1956
|''[[Bus Stop (1956 film)|Bus Stop]]''
|Grace
|
|-
|1957
|''[[Peyton Place (film)|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 (film)|Birdman of Alcatraz]]''
|Stella Johnson
|
|-
|1963
|''[[The Alfred Hitchcock Hour]]''
|Jenny Davies
|Season 1 Episode 24: "The Star Juror"
|-
|1966
|''[[7 Women]]''
|Florrie Pether
|
|-
|rowspan=2|1968
|''[[How to Save a Marriage and Ruin Your Life]]''
|Thelma
|
|-
|''[[Coogan's Bluff (film)|Coogan's Bluff]]''
|Ellen Ringerman
|
|}

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
{{Portal|Biography}}
{{Commons}}
*{{IMDb name|0275897}}
*{{IBDB name}}
*[https://archive.today/20130415133446/http://www.lortel.org/LLA_archive/index.cfm?search_by=people&first=Betty&last=Field&middle= Betty Field] at the [[Internet Off-Broadway Database]]
*[http://asp6new.alexanderstreet.com/atho/atho.detail.people.aspx?personcode=per0056478 ''Betty Field'' North American Theater Online]
{{DramaCriticsBestActress}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Field, Betty}}
[[Category:1916 births]]
[[Category:1973 deaths]]
[[Category:American film actresses]]
[[Category:American stage actresses]]
[[Category:American radio actresses]]
[[Category:Actresses from Boston]]
[[Category:20th-century American actresses]]

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Betty Field