Fan-Favorite Celebrity Speaks Out After Criticism of Her Appearance
At 78, actress Sally Field continues to inspire—not just through her iconic roles in Forrest Gump, Mrs. Doubtfire, and Steel Magnolias—but through her refusal to conform to Hollywood’s beauty standards.
Field rose to fame in the 1960s with Gidget, later earning acclaim for powerful roles in Sybil and Norma Rae, the latter winning her an Oscar. Her memoir revealed personal struggles, including abuse by her stepfather, and shared how she found support from fellow actors early in her career. Field has embraced aging, saying in a 2016 Good Housekeeping interview that she prefers to grow older naturally rather than turn to plastic surgery. “I see myself on TV and say, ‘Oh, I wish that weren’t happening to my neck,’” she said, but added she chooses acceptance over vanity.
Despite her positive outlook, Field has faced online bullying over her appearance. Still, she remains committed to aging with grace. She’s also battled osteoporosis since 2005—a condition she was at high risk for despite healthy habits.
Sally Field’s honesty about aging and health, combined with her strength in the face of criticism, offers a powerful example for women navigating similar paths.
Sally Field — Promoting Healthy Habits
So a surfer girl, a flying nun and a woman with multiple personalities walk into a bar… No, wait a minute, that’s not really the start of a joke—it’s the versatile actress Sally Field.
This icon of the Baby Boomer generation turns 60 this year, but her wide-ranging performances will always be ageless. Americans have grown up with Sally, and her classic characters resonate anew with each generation. One of the few actors to have garnered two Academy Awards (for her roles in Norma Rae and Places in the Heart), Field not only thrilled us with her acting, but also touched our hearts at the award ceremony with her vulnerable acceptance remark, “You like me—right now you like me.”
Of course, it’s no wonder that both professionals and fans like her. Perennially fresh and always surprising, Field excels in a new way at every turn, giving us star performances in every venue, from the small screen to the stage to the large screen. She charmed us as TV’s surf-gal in Gidget and as Robin Williams’ ex-wife in the film Mrs. Doubtfire. She illuminated the puzzling world of a young woman with mental illness in the television movie Sybil (for which she won an Emmy). She had us rolling in the aisles as the housewife-turned-standupcomic in the sharp-witted film Punchline, and she brought us to tears as mother to Julia Roberts in Steel Magnolias and to Tom Hanks in the Academy Awardwinning Forrest Gump. Most recently, she’s reprised her Emmy Award-winning role as bipolar patient Maggie Wycenzki on the NBC television drama ER, and this season has launched the fresh, new ABC series Brothers and Sisters.
Belying her feisty appearance, Field has announced that she was recently diagnosed with osteoporosis. Using the same vitality she has brought to her many acting roles, she is boning up on her bone health knowledge and helping others along the way. Joining with Roche Therapeutics and GlaxoSmithKline (makers of the once-a-month osteoporosis medication Boniva), Field is spearheading the Rally With Sally For Bone Health campaign, helping make women aware of prevention, detection and treatment for this common and sometimes devastating degenerative bone disease.
