BETTY FIELD: Bicoastal Actress

Betty Field carries the small-town role of careworn housekeeper Nellie Cross in the Lana Turner tearjerker PEYTON PLACE (1957)
Ill-fated wife Mae, known for flirting with the ranch hands, pays the price with her attention to migrant worker George (Burgess Meredith) in John Steinbeck’s classic OF MICE AND MEN (1939).

Films of the Golden Age,
Issue Number 84,
Spring 2016

“Optimists claim that working on both the stage and screen will make each career healthier. Pessimists say you can’t do both without hurting yourself. I’m an optimist!”

One of the finest stage actresses of her day, BETTY FIELD (1913-1973) became an award-winning Broadway star with her complex performance in DREAM GIRL (1945). Her complete dedication to the theater also explains why she never reached top stardom in Hollywood. More authentic than powerfully alluring, Betty managed to find the time to appear in a number of 1940’s and 1950’s film classics in both comely leads and dowdy supports. Roles in OF MICE AND MEN (1939), KINGS ROW (1942), THE GREAT GATSBY (1949), PICNIC (1955) and BUS STOP (1957), assured her a place in the Hollywood annals. She also made a strong impression with a number of complex character parts on TV drama.

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