Field had her dreams: An Oscar winner’s TV roots
Q: I enjoyed seeing the recent weekend marathon of Sally Field shows on Decades. How many series did she star in before she became a movie star? – Ron Hire, Columbus, Ohio
A: The three she starred in were the three that were encompassed by that marathon: “Gidget,” “The Flying Nun” and “The Girl With Something Extra.” Field started doing movie roles over the course of those shows – in 1967, “The Way West” proclaimed that it was “Introducing Sally Field,” though she already had done a season of “Gidget” – but her bigscreen stardom really started to kick in after those series, with such features as “Stay Hungry,” “Smokey and the Bandit” and certainly “Norma Rae,” the latter bringing Field her first Oscar.
Q: I recently saw the movie “The Apartment.” Did Fred MacMurray make that while he also was making “My Three Sons”? – Tom Curtis, Grand Junction, Colo.
A: MacMurray actually completed the Oscar-winning 1960 film before he started the long-running comedy series. “The Apartment” was released in June of that year, and “My Three Sons” premiered three months later. However, the actor already had a reputation for familyfriendly fare thanks to the Disney movies he had made.
That gained him some interesting responses for having played the philandering boss in “The Apartment,” since he said women regularly would come up to him and scold him for having taken the part (which originally was intended for Paul Douglas, who died before production began). MacMurray also claimed that one woman walked up to him and hit him with her purse over it. Send questions of general interest via email to tvpipeline@gracenote.com. Writers must include their names, cities and states. Personal replies cannot be sent.