On February 26, during the 29th annual Screen Actors Guild Awards, Sally Field will indeed be presented with the 2023 SAG Highest Honor Medal.
An actor who exemplifies the “finest values of the acting industry” receives the honour each year. In addition to her two Oscar victories, Field has won a SAG Award, three Emmy Awards, two BAFTA Awards, the National Board of Review Award, the Los Angeles Film Critics Award, the National Society of Film Critics Award, and numerous other awards.
The actor was admitted to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2012, and Barack Obama awarded her the National Award of Arts in 2015. In 2019, she also earned the Kennedy Institute Award.
Places in the Heart, Norma Rae, Lincoln, Smokey and the Bandit, Absence of Malice, Kiss Me Goodbye, Steel Magnolias, Forrest Gump, An Eye for an Eye, Mrs. Doubtfire, Hooper, Stay Hungry, and Hello, My Name Is Doris are just a few of the movies she has worked on over her career. Alongside Jane Fonda, Lily Tomlin, and Rita Moreno, she will next be seen in 80 for Brady, which is directed by Michael Showalter.
On the TV side, she starred in The Flying Nun, Sybil, ER, Brothers & Sisters, Winning Time, Maniac, and Dispatches From Elsewhere, among other shows. The actress also has a long list of theatre credits. She appeared in The Glass House, All My Sons, and Edward Albee’s The Goat before making her Broadway debut.
Sally is a talented actor with a broad range and the unique capability to take on any role. I enjoyed seeing her initial performances as Gidget and the Flying Nun and later, in roles that were progressively more difficult, as Sybil and Norma Rae. She don’t ever ceased being great; most recently, she was simply sublime as Jessie Buss in Winning Time, according to SAG-AFTRA president Fran Drescher. She has a long-lasting career because she is genuine in her portrayal and consistently exudes likeability and humanity; people just relate to her. That helps explain in part why she has maintained her enormous fan base and extraordinarily deep and varied profession.
Before becoming a household name in “The Flying Nun,” she first won over viewers as the feisty California teen in the TV series “Gidget.” She continued to garner notable leading roles in movies like “Steel Magnolias” and “Mrs. Doubtfire” after receiving her two Oscars, while also taking on memorable supporting roles in “Forrest Gump” and as Mary Todd Lincoln in Steven Spielberg’s “Lincoln,” for which she was nominated for a leading actor award.
Sally is a huge star with the hard work of a performer: simply keep doing the work, and be the best you can. As long as you keep working, there are prospects throughout every phase of your acting career. We sincerely hope that Sally never stops.
The Life Achievement Award is given in recognition of extraordinary contribution to supporting the highest principles of the acting profession and is decided upon by members of the SAG-AFTRA National Honors and Tributes Committee. The recipient of this honour is a well-known performer who has actively participated in charitable and public service projects in the past and has helped to improve the perception of the acting industry.
On Sunday, February 26 at 8 p.m. ET / 5 p.m. PT, Netflix will stream live coverage of the 29th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards from the Fairmont Century Plaza in Los Angeles on its YouTube page.
