Sally Field

Nomination:

• Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series - Brothers & Sisters

Blessed with boundless energy and charm, Sally Field was a natural choice for the All-American girl roles that brought her early stardom – the spunky girl surfer “Gidget” (ABC, 1965-66) and Sister Betrille in “The Flying Nun” (ABC, 1967-1970). In the 1970s, Field reinvented herself as a serious film actress with the Emmy-winning TV-movie “Sybil” (1976) and with her Oscar-winning turn as a labor organizer in “Norma Rae” (1979). Field’s popularity rarely waned over the next two decades – helped in large part by a fabled late 1970s romance with her “Smokey and the Bandit” (1977) co-star, Burt Reynolds, as well as an impeccable choice in films such as “Steel Magnolias” (1989), “Mrs. Doubtfire” (1993) and “Forrest Gump” (1994). During the age when many actresses best days are behind them, Field lent an aura of class to her return to the medium that made her a star, back on television and an Emmy winner all over again for playing the liberal matriarch of a dysfunctional family on the hit drama series, “Brothers and Sisters” (ABC, 2006- ). Though the show initially suffered from production troubles and re-castings, it eventually blossomed into a hit for the network and earned praises for its positive portrayal of gay characters. For her efforts, Field won an Emmy in 2007. No stranger to acceptance speech controversy, Field did not disappoint. Her speech was cut short by the show’s producers at the Fox network when she said, “Let's face it – if the mothers ruled the world, there would be no goddamned wars in the first place,” which earned her much applause among the attendees. The following year, she earned a Golden Globe nomination for Best Actress in a television drama, then won a Screen Actors Guild award in early 2009 for her role on “Brothers & Sisters.”