Chip Fields

Chip Fields
Born	Laverne Fields August 5, 1951 New York City, New York, U.S.
Nationality	American
Other names	Chip Hurd Chip Fields–Hurd
Occupation	Singer, actress, television director, consultant, dialogue coach
Years active	1973–present
Known for	Lanella Gordon – Good Times
Spouse(s)	Erv Hurd (m. 1994)
Children	Kim Fields (b. 1969) Alexis Fields (b. 1979)

Laverne "Chip" Fields, who is sometimes credited as Chip Hurd or Chip Fields–Hurd, (born August 5, 1951) is an American singer, actress, television director, consultant, and dialogue coach, who has appeared in popular films, television shows, and Broadway theatre. She is best known for portraying Lanella Gordon, the abusive birth mother of Penny Gordon Woods (played by Janet Jackson) in a three–part episode (1977) of the 1970s sitcom Good Times.

Ronnie (Spector) and the Ronettes

In 1973, shortly after her divorce from record producer Phil Spector, Ronnie Spector reformed the world-famous girl group The Ronettes. After recruiting Chip and vocalist Diane Linton (and later Denise Edwards), "Ronnie And The Ronettes" made their debut at Richard Nader's "Rock and Roll Revival" show at Madison Square Garden. Later that year, Ronnie signed with Buddha Records and recorded two singles: 1973's "Go Out and Get It" and 1974's "I Wish I Never Saw The Sunshine" (as Ronnie Spector and The Ronettes), a remake of a song recorded by the original line-up. After the two singles failed to chart, Ronnie went solo, and the "new" Ronettes with Chip and Denise disbanded.

Acting career

Fields began her acting career as an extra in the 1974 film Claudine. She has had numerous supporting roles and guest appearances on television. She played an unwed mother opposite Patty Weaver in the NBC television soap opera, Days of Our Lives. Also during the '70s, she played the abusive birth-mother of Millicent "Penny" Gordon Woods (Janet Jackson) on the sitcom Good Times. She played Rita Conway in the short-lived The Amazing Spider-Man TV Series from 1978-1979. Rita Conway was J. Jonah Jameson's secretary, the same function as the African-American Glory Grant from the 1970s comics. She also appeared in What's Happening!!, Hill Street Blues, T.J. Hooker, Roc, Kirk (a short-lived sitcom starring Kirk Cameron), The Wayans Bros., and The Parkers. She has been a consultant for The Parkers, Zenon: Girl of the 21st Century, Living Single, and was a dialogue coach for the film, Menace II Society. She played the role of "Laverne", mother to the character "Regine" on Living Single. She has also directed episodes of the popular UPN sitcoms, One on One, All of Us, Girlfriends, The Parkers, as well as episodes of Romeo!, Just Jordan, Hannah Montana, Tyler Perry's House of Payne and Meet the Browns.^[1]

Personal life

Chip is the mother of actress Kim Fields (famous for her roles on Facts of Life and Living Single) and Alexis Fields (famous for her roles on Kenan & Kel, Moesha and Sister, Sister). Chip has been married to technical director Erv Hurd since August 20, 1994.

Discography

• 1973 (as Ronnie and the Ronettes) - "Go Out and Get It" b/w "Lover, Lover" (Buddha 384)
• 1974 (as Ronnie Spector and the Ronettes) - "I Wish I Never Saw the Sunshine" b/w "I Wonder What He's Doing" (Buddha 408)

Filmography

Acting

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes	ref
1974	Claudine	Rioter on Hallway Stairs	Comedy-drama/romantic film directed by John Berry. Uncredited	[2]
1975	The Happy Hooker	Red Hat	Biographical-comedy film directed by Nicholas Sgarro.	[3]
1978	Blue Collar	Caroline Brown	Crime drama film directed by Paul Schrader.	[4]
1979	The Lady in Red	Satin	Action-drama/romantic film directed by Lewis Teague	[5]
2004	Woman Thou Art Loosed	Woman in Church	Drama film directed by Michael Schultz.	[6]

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes	ref
1974	Change at 125th Street	Harriet Morse	Made-for-TV-Movie directed by Bob LaHendro and Michael Schultz	[7]
1975	Police Story	Girl in Bar	Episode: "Face for a Shadow" (S 3:Ep 6)
1976	Good Times	Rochelle	Episode: "J.J.'s New Career, part 2" (S 4:Ep 8)
1977	Rhoda	Nurse Franklin	Episode: "A Night in the Emergency Room" (S 3:Ep 16)
	Days of Our Lives	Toni Johnson	Episode: "Episode #1.2962" (S 12:Ep 962)
	What's Happening!!	Norma	Episode: "From Here to Maternity" (S 1:Ep 21)
	Good Times	Lanella Gordon	Recurring
	What's Happening!!	Donna	Episode: "Give Me Odds" (S 2:Ep 8)
	Freeman	Osa Lee	Made-for-TV-Movie directed by Lloyd Richards.
1978	Barnaby Jones	Kelly Johnson	Episode: "A Ransom in Diamonds" (S 6:Ep 16)
	Battered	Ginny Sinclair	Made-for-TV-Movie directed by Peter Werner.	[8]
1978–79	The Amazing Spider-Man	Rita Conway	Recurring
1979	What's Happening!!	Donna	Episode: "Food Poisoning" (S 3:Ep 16)
	Good Times	Lanella Gordon	Episode: "A Matter of Mothers" (S 6:Ep 21)
1980	The Night the City Screamed	Yvonne Clements	Made-for-TV-Movie directed by Harry Falk.	[9]
1982	Hill Street Blues	Mrs. Halloran	Episode: "The Shooter" (S 2:Ep 17)
	The Facts of Life Goes to Paris	Louise	Made-for-TV-Movie directed by Asaad Kelada.	[10]
1984	T. J. Hooker	Carolyn Webster	Episode: "Anatomy of a Killing" (S 4:Ep 5)
	The Facts of Life	Diane Ramsey	Episode: "Mother and Daughter" (S 5:Ep 21)
1986			Episode: "The Graduate" (S 7:Ep 23)
1992	Roc	Ms. Wilson	Episode: " No Notes Is Good Notes" (S 1:Ep 16)
1993	Where I Live	Bonita	Episode: "The Terminator" (S 1:Ep 13)
	Living Single	Bar Patron	Episode: "Living Kringle" (S 1:Ep 15)
1994		Bev	Episode: "The Hand That Robs the Cradle" (S 1:Ep 17)
		Laverne Hunter	Episode: "She Ain't Heavy, She My Mother" (S 1:Ep 26)
1995			Episode: "To Grandmother's House We Go" (S 2:Ep 25)
			Episode: "Talk Showdown" (S 2:Ep 26)
			Episode: "Come Back Little Diva" (S 3:Ep 1)
			Episode: "Rags to Riches" (S 3:Ep 5)
1996	Kirk	Nurse	Episode" Operation Kirk" (S 1:Ep 20)
	Living Single	Laverne Hunter	Episode: "Compromising Positions" (S 3:Ep 26)
1997			Episode: "Mother Inferior" (S 4:Ep 13)
			Episode: "Never Can Say Goodbye" (S 4:Ep 24)
		Woman	Episode: "Up the Ladder Through the Roof" (S 5:Ep 6)
		Laverne Hunter	Episode: "Three Men and a Buckeye" (S 5:Ep 8)
1998	The Wayans Bros.	Susan Sparks	Episode: "Escorting Ain't Easy" (S 5:Ep 6)
2000	The Parkers	Wilma McCoy	Episode: "Turkey Day Blues" (S 2:Ep 10)
2007	Just Jordan	Gert	Episode: "Fist of Funny" (S 1:Ep 8)

Production

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes	ref
1993	Menace II Society	Dialogue coach	Hood drama thriller film directed by Allen and Albert Hughes.	[11]

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes	ref
1993–94	Hangin' with Mr. Cooper	Consultant	Television sitcom.
	Living Single
1994	Me and the Boys	Dialogue consultant
	Hangin' with Mr. Cooper	Director	Episode: "Groom & Bride" (S 2:Ep 21)
1997	Arsenio	Consultant	Television sitcom.
1999	Zenon: Girl of the 21st Century		Disney Channel Original Movie directed by Kenneth Johnson.	[12]
	Sister, Sister	Director	Episode: "The Road Less Traveled" (S 6:Ep 21)
2000–03	The Parkers	Consultant (69 episodes)/Director (4 episodes)	Television sitcom.
2001	Girlfriends	Director	Episode: "You Better Watch Out" (S 2:Ep 11)
2003–05	Romeo!		Television sitcom. (3 episodes)
2003–06	One on One		Television sitcom. (5 episodes)
2005	All of Us		Episode: "If You Can't Stand the Heat" (S 3:Ep 2)
2006	Hannah Montana		Episode: "You're So Vain, You Probably Think This Zit Is About You" (S 1:Ep 13)
2007	Ned's Declassified School Survival Guide		Episode: "Boys & Girls" (S 3:Ep 11)
	Just Jordan		Television sitcom (4 episodes)
2009	Meet the Browns		Television sitcom (2 episodes)
2009–12	House of Payne		Television sitcom (12 episodes)

References

1. "Chip Fields Filmography". The New York Times. Retrieved June 30, 2011.
2. "Claudine". Turner Classic Movies. Retrieved March 15, 2016.
3. "The Happy Hooker". Turner Classic Movies. Retrieved March 15, 2016.
4. "Blue Collar". Turner Classic Movies. Retrieved March 15, 2016.
5. "The Lady in Red". Turner Classic Movies. Retrieved March 15, 2016.
6. "Woman Thou Art Loosed". Turner Classic Movies. Retrieved March 15, 2016.
7. "Change at 125th Street". Turner Classic Movies. Retrieved March 15, 2016.
8. "Battered". Turner Classic Movies. Retrieved March 15, 2016.
9. "The Night the City Screamed". Turner Classic Movies. Retrieved March 15, 2016.
10. "The Facts of Life Goes to Paris". Turner Classic Movies. Retrieved March 15, 2016.
11. "Menace II Society". Turner Classic Movies. Retrieved March 15, 2016.
12. "Zenon: Girl of the 21st Century". Turner Classic Movies. Retrieved March 15, 2016.

External links

• Chip Fields at the Internet Movie Database
• Chip Fields at the Internet Broadway Database