Betty Field (
February 8,
1913[Her year of birth is often erroneously stated as 1918 [1].] in
Boston,
Massachusetts -
September 13,
1973 in
Hyannis, Massachusetts) was an
American film and stage
actress.
Field 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 only 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 supporting roles in films such as
Kings Row (1942), in which she played a victim of
incest, although that fact was not readily apparent due to the heavy
censorship of the time.
Field preferred performing on
Broadway in plays like
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.