Shirley Anne Field
Shirley Anne Field (born Shirley Broomfield; 27 June 1936) is an English actress who has performed on stage, film and television since 1955.
Shirley Anne Field | |
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![]() Field in trailer for Kings of the Sun (1963) | |
Born | Shirley Broomfield 27 June 1936 |
Nationality | British |
Occupation | Actress |
Years active | 1955–present |
Spouse(s) | Charles Crichton-Stuart 1967–1970) (divorced) 1 child |
Children | Nicola Crichton-Stuart (b. 1969) |
Early life
Shirley Anne Field was born in Forest Gate, London. She was the third of four children, with two elder sisters and a younger brother, Earnest "Guy" Broomfield (c. 1938–1999). Guy Broomfield was murdered in 1999 by Harry Dalsey, the son of Adrian Dalsey.[2][3]
At the age of six, Shirley was placed in the National Children's Home at Edgworth, near Bolton, and four years later was moved to another children's home in Blackburn, where she attended Blakey Moor School for Girls. She subsequently returned to Edgworth until she was 15, when she moved to a children's home hostel in London, training as a typist while still attending school.
Acting career
After a course at the Lucie Clayton School and Model Agency, she became a photographic model for pin-up magazines like Reveille and Titbits. She was subsequently spotted by Bill Watts, who ran a theatrical agency and obtained for her roles in late 1950s British films, usually uncredited. Her first appearance in a film was as an extra in Simon and Laura (1955), but her breakthrough came in 1960 when she was chosen by Laurence Olivier to play the role of model Tina Lapford in The Entertainer. That same year, she appeared in probably her best known role as Doreen, the would-be girlfriend of rebellious Arthur Seaton (played by Albert Finney), in the New Wave film Saturday Night and Sunday Morning. Director, Lindsay Anderson, described her as “difficult to play with.” [4]Co-star Finney had previously had a small role in The Entertainer. Also in 1960, Field starred alongside Kenneth More in Man in the Moon (1960). With those three big film starring roles in 1960, she became one of the very few actors ever to have their name above the titles in all the major cinemas around Leicester Square simultaneously. [5] [6]
During the 1970s, she spent some time working in stage roles before returning to films and television, in both the US and UK, in the 1980s, 1990s and 2000s.
Personal life
![](../I/m/Shirley_Ann_Field.jpg)
She married the aristocratic RAF pilot and racing driver Charles Crichton-Stuart (1939–2001) on 7 July 1967 and they had a daughter, Nicola Crichton-Stuart, who was born in 1969. The marriage ended in divorce during the late 1970s. She wrote her autobiography A Time for Love (1991).[7]
On 14 November 1993, Field appeared on BBC Radio 4's Desert Island Discs,[8] talking to Sue Lawley about her upbringing in different children's homes in Northern England and her success as an actress in the 1960s. She also reminisced about her friendship with John F. Kennedy and an ill-fated date with Frank Sinatra. Her record choices included Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 1 in C major and pieces by Rachmaninov, Elvis Presley and the Carpenters. In the September 2009 issue of Cinema Retro, there was a long interview with Field, where she candidly talked about her childhood and the making of Peeping Tom, The Entertainer, Beat Girl and The War Lover.[9]
Filmography
- Lost (1955) as Taxi driver's daughter (uncredited)
- Dry Rot (1956) as Waitress in Cafe (uncredited)
- Loser Takes All (1956) as Girl at Roulette Table
- It's a Wonderful World (1956) as Pretty Girl
- The Flesh Is Weak (1957) as Susan
- The Good Companions (1957) as Redhead
- Horrors of the Black Museum (1959) as Angela Banks
- Upstairs and Downstairs (1959)
- Jungle Street (later renamed Jungle Street Girls) (1960) as Jaqui
- Man in the Moon (1960) as Polly
- Beat Girl (1960) as Dodo
- Once More, with Feeling! (1960) as Angela Hopper
- And the Same to You (1960) as Iris Collins
- Peeping Tom (1960) as Diane Ashley
- The Entertainer (1960) as Tina Lapford
- Saturday Night and Sunday Morning (1960) as Doreen
- The Damned (1963) as Joan
- Lunch Hour (1962) as Girl [10]
- The War Lover (1962) as Daphne
- Kings of the Sun (1963) as Ixchel
- Doctor in Clover (1966) as Nurse Bancroft
- Alfie (1966) as Carla
- A Touch of the Other (1970) as Elaine
- House of the Living Dead (1974) as Mary Anne Carew
- My Beautiful Laundrette (1985) as Rachel
- Getting It Right (1989) as Anne
- Shag (1989) as Mrs. Clatterback
- The Rachel Papers (1989) as Mrs. Smith
- Hear My Song (1991) as Cathleen Doyle
- Loving Deadly (1994) as Madame
- The Kid (2010) as Margaret
- The Power of Three (2011) as Jenni
Selected television appearances
- Santa Barbara
- Monarch of the Glen
- Where the Heart Is
- The Bill
- Dalziel and Pascoe
- Murder, She Wrote
- Never the Twain
- Upstairs, Downstairs
- Last of the Summer Wine
- Shoestring
- Doctors
- Bramwell, season 1, episode 2 ("The Threat of Reprise") as Peggy Heart
References
- "The Big Interview: Shirley Anne Field". The Yorkshire Post. Retrieved 13 November 2017.
- Lee, Henry (6 September 1999). "Son of DHL Founder's Widow Held in Walnut Creek Slaying". SFGate. Retrieved 11 January 2014.
- Kerr, Jane (8 June 2001). "SHIRLEY IN BATTLE FOR DEAD BROTHER". The Free Library. Farlex. Retrieved 11 January 2014.
- "9780060152352: No Bells on Sunday: The Rachel Roberts Journals - AbeBooks - Rachel Roberts: 0060152354". www.abebooks.co.uk. Retrieved 22 December 2019.
- https://www.express.co.uk/life-style/life/570810/The-Entertainer-actress-Shirley-Anne-Field-interview. Retrieved 17 July 2018.
- https://www.pressreader.com/uk/sunday-herald-life/20170618/281900183202265. Retrieved 17 July 2018.
- BFI ScreenOnline: "Field, Shirley Anne" Retrieved 2012-12-07
- BBC4, Desert Island Disc, 14 November 1993: "Shirley Anne Field" Retrieved 2012-12-07
- Cinema Retro, September 2009: Field of Dreams Retrieved 2012-12-07
- "Flipside 017: Lunch Hour (Dual Format Edition)" by James Hill, at filmstore.bfi.org.uk
Further reading
- Field, Shirley Anne, A Time for Love: An Autobiography ISBN 978-0-593-01161-4 ISBN 0-593-01161-9
- Halliwell's Who's Who in the Movies - published by Harper-Collins, 1981 - ISBN 0-06-093507-3
- The Film Encyclopedia by Ephraim Katz - published by Collins - ISBN 0-06-074214-3
External links
- Shirley Anne Field at the British Film Institute - Retrieved 2012-12-07
- Shirley Anne Field at BFI Screenonline - Retrieved 2012-12-07
- Shirley Anne Field on IMDb
- Field of Dreams, four-page interview with Shirley Anne Field in the September 2009 issue of Cinema Retro - Retrieved 2012-12-07