For those of a younger age, going back and taking a look at Sally Fields movies such as Places in the Heart will show you that an actress can be both attractive and talented, all without the drama that accompanies many actresses of the modern Hollywood era. She is 71, and says her memoirs that she has been working on for 5 years will finally be published and available to the public in the fall of 2018. The memoir, In Pieces, reportedly will be detailing some of her romantic escapades with actor Burt Reynolds.
She is the winner of 2 Academy Awards for Best Actress, and in her generation was on par with Sandra Bullock as America’s sweetheart on and off the silver screen. She gives Hollywood a ton of credit for, “the craft that taught me to stand on my feet, a craft that helped me find my way out of a complicated childhood.” This description of Hollywood is far different than the modern narrative that is currently making the media cycle. Whether it was a different Hollywood back in her day, well, we will have to wait for the book to come out.
Of her considerable body of film work, three of her films can be found on the American Film Institute’s 100 Most Inspiring Movies of All Time: Places in the Heart, Forrest Gump and Norma Rae. In Forrest Gump she played his mother, who showed the same courage and commitment as she did when working to become one of Hollywood’s most memorable actresses. Her physical stature is all of 5′ 3” tall and she always looked as if she weighed 95 pounds soaking wet.
It will be interesting to see what the demand for the book will be. Besides the romance with Reynolds, she has been married twice and has not been at the center of any major Hollywood scandal. The fact that she has spent 5 years putting it together makes it seems more of a historical reflection on her life in Hollywood rather than a tell-all that will run viral across the Internet. Then again, you never know.
Personally, I hope we get some insight into how she managed to avoid all the scandals that have rocked Hollywood on and off or decades. Like director and former actor Ron Howard, she came up through the ranks by starring as a childhood actor, and made her mark in starring roles. While she supported Tom Hanks in Forrest Gump, she carried the load in both Norma Rae and Places in the Heart.
In all three of these movies she comes across as a fragile person but then shows her underlying toughness when she needs to step up and take the lead. This on-screen personality was something audiences loved because it demonstrated that size has nothing to do with success or courage, a theme that is often lost in many movies today. (OK, there is Wonder Woman – and who doesn’t like that movie?)
We can expect to see parts of the book to be released over the next several months as her publicists start giving social media something to speculate about. Let’s hope that the book will be something that is just as rewarding as her film career has been to her fans.
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