Sally Field

In her greatest roles, Sally Field has personified the strong-willed, independent woman of the American heartland, earning Oscars for her performances as a courageous union organizer in Norma Rae and as a Depression-era widow struggling to keep the family farm in Places in the Heart. Although she has earned lasting fame as a serious actress, she first won the hearts of the American public in the 1960s as the teenage star of situation comedies. At the time, many dismissed her as a cute kid whose career would not extend to serious roles, but Sally Field was committed to perfecting her craft, and established herself as a dramatic actress overnight with her Emmy Award-winning portrayal of a woman with multiple-personality disorder in the 1976 television movie Sybil. Highlights of her feature film career include memorable performances in Smokey and the Bandit, Absence of Malice, Steel Magnolias and Forrest Gump. She has enjoyed continued success on television, winning Emmy Awards for her regular roles on ER and Brothers and Sisters. As she continues to dedicate her time and her talent to film, television and live theater, the breadth and depth of her artistry grow with every role she undertakes. In this podcast, recorded at the 2008 International Achievement Summit in Kailua-Kona, Hawaii, Sally Field speaks of her long struggle to establish herself as a serious dramatic actress after winning early fame in television comedies, and extols the values of honesty and self-knowledge the discipline of acting has brought to her life.