Betty Field

Not to be confused with the British actress, Betty Fields

Betty Field
Actress Betty Field (1956) from the trailer for the film Bus Stop
Born	February 8, 1913 Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.
Died	September 13, 1973 (aged 60) Hyannis, Massachusetts, U.S.
Cause of death	Cerebral hemorrhage
Occupation	Actress
Years active	1939–68
Spouse(s)	Elmer Rice (1942–56) Edwin J. Lukas (1957–67) Raymond Olivere (1968–73)

Betty Field (1913 or 1918 – September 13, 1973) was an American film and stage actress.

Life and career

Born in Boston, Massachusetts, to George and Katharine (née Lynch)^[1] Field, Betty began her acting career 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, before making her film debut in 1939. Her role as Mae, the sole female character, in Of Mice and Men (1939) established her as a dramatic actress. She starred opposite John Wayne in the 1941 film The Shepherd of the Hills. Field played a supporting role in Kings Row (1942). A life member of The Actors Studio,^[2] 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), The Great Gatsby (1949), Picnic (1955), Bus Stop (1956), Peyton Place (1957), BUtterfield 8 (1960) and Birdman of Alcatraz (1962). Her final film role was in Coogan's Bluff in 1968. She also appeared on television.

Personal life

Her first marriage, to playwright Elmer Rice, ended in divorce. 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 1957–1967. Her third marriage, to Raymond Olivere, lasted from 1968 until her death in 1973.

Death

Field died from a stroke in Hyannis, Massachusetts, aged 60.

Filmography

Year	Film	Role
1939	What a Life	Barbara Pearson
	Of Mice and Men	Mae
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
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	BUtterfield 8	Fanny Thurber
1962	Birdman of Alcatraz	Stella Johnson
1966	7 Women	Florrie Pether
1968	How to Save a Marriage and Ruin Your Life	Thelma
	Coogan's Bluff	Ellen Ringerman

References

1. GREAT STARS OF THE AMERICAN STAGE by Daniel Blum c.1952 Profile #130
2. 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.

External links

• Betty Field at the Internet Movie Database
• Betty Field at the Internet Broadway Database
• Betty Field at the Internet Off-Broadway Database
• Betty Field North American Theater Online