Margaret Field (née Morlan; May 10, 1922 – November 6, 2011) was an American film actress usually billed as Maggie Mahoney after her marriage to actor

Jock Mahoney Jacques Joseph O'Mahoney (February 7, 1919 – December 14, 1989), known professionally as Jock Mahoney, was an American actor and stuntman. He starred in two Action/Adventure television series, ''The Range Rider'' and ''Yancy Derringer''. He ...

. The mother of actress

Sally Field Sally Margaret Field (born November 6, 1946) is an American actress. She has received many awards and nominations, including two Academy Awards, three Primetime Emmy Awards, two Golden Globe Awards, a Screen Actors Guild Award, a Cannes Film Fe ...

, she was best known for her work in two science-fiction films, ''

The Man from Planet X ''The Man from Planet X'' is a 1951 independently made American black-and-white science fiction horror film, produced by Jack Pollexfen and Aubrey Wisberg, directed by Edgar G. Ulmer, that stars Robert Clarke, Margaret Field, and William Sch ...

'' (1951) and ''

Captive Women ''Captive Women'' is a 1952 American black-and-white post-apocalyptic science-fiction film. It stars Robert Clarke and Margaret Field. The film has a running time of 64 minutes. It deals with the effects of a nuclear war and how life would be af ...

'' (1952) and played dozens of roles in various television series.

Early years

Field was born in

Houston Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 ...

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...

, the daughter of Joy Beatrice (née Bickeley) and Wallace Miller Morlan. Late in the 1930s, her family and she moved to

Pasadena, California Pasadena ( ) is a city in Los Angeles County, California, northeast of downtown Los Angeles. It is the most populous city and the primary cultural center of the San Gabriel Valley. Old Pasadena is the city's original commercial district. ...

Career

Field was discovered at the

Pasadena Playhouse The Pasadena Playhouse is a historic performing arts venue located 39 S. El Molino Avenue in Pasadena, California, United States. The 686-seat auditorium produces a variety of cultural and artistic events, professional shows, and community engage ...

by talent scout Milton Lewis for

Paramount Pictures Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American film and television production company, production and Distribution (marketing), distribution company and the main namesake division of Paramount Global (formerly ViacomCBS). It is the fifth-oldes ...

. Following a successful screen test, she was offered an 18-month contract. She then attended

Pasadena Junior College Pasadena City College (PCC) is a public community college in Pasadena, California. History Pasadena City College was founded in 1924 as Pasadena Junior College. From 1928 to 1953, it operated as a four-year junior college, combining the las ...

, studying voice training and acting, while acting in films. Early in her career, she acted in a series of ''Musical Parade''

short film A short film is any motion picture that is short enough in running time not to be considered a feature film. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences defines a short film as "an original motion picture that has a running time of 40 minutes ...

s for Paramount and had small roles in 26 full-length films from 1946 to 1953. She appeared, often more than once, in television series, among which were two roles as defendants on the CBS drama series ''

Perry Mason Perry Mason is a fictional character, an American criminal defense lawyer who is the main character in works of detective fiction written by Erle Stanley Gardner. Perry Mason features in 82 novels and 4 short stories, all of which involve a c ...

''. In 1959, she played title character Eva Martell in "The Case of the Borrowed Brunette". In 1960, she played Linda Osborne in "The Case of the Nine Dolls". Other television appearances included a 1950 episode of ''

The Lone Ranger The Lone Ranger is a fictional masked former Texas Ranger who fought outlaws in the American Old West with his Native American friend Tonto. The character has been called an enduring icon of American culture. He first appeared in 1933 in ...

'' entitled "Greed for Gold", ''

Wagon Train ''Wagon Train'' is an American Western series that aired 8 seasons: first on the NBC television network (1957–1962), and then on ABC (1962–1965). ''Wagon Train'' debuted on September 18, 1957, and became number one in the Nielsen ratings ...

'', ''

Bonanza ''Bonanza'' is an American Western television series that ran on NBC from September 13, 1959, to January 16, 1973. Lasting 14 seasons and 432 episodes, ''Bonanza'' is NBC's longest-running western, the second-longest-running western series on ...

'', '' The Virginian'', ''

The Range Rider ''The Range Rider'' is an American Western television series that was first broadcast in syndication from 1951 to 1953. A single lost episode surfaced and was broadcast in 1959. ''The Range Rider'' was also broadcast on British television durin ...

'', '' Yancy Derringer'' starring her husband

, '' To Rome With Love'' starring John Forsythe, '' Lawman'' starring

Barry Sullivan Barry Sullivan may refer to: *Barry Sullivan (American actor) (1912–1994), US film and Broadway actor *Barry Sullivan (stage actor) (1821–1891), Irish born stage actor active in Britain and Australia *Barry Sullivan (lawyer) Barry Sullivan is ...

and

Clu Gulager William Martin Gulager (; November 16, 1928 – August 5, 2022), better known as Clu Gulager, was an American television and film actor and director born in Holdenville, Oklahoma. He first became known for his work in television, appearing in ...

, ''

Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse ''Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse'' is an American television anthology series produced by Desilu Productions. The show ran on the Columbia Broadcasting System between 1958 and 1960. Three of its 48 episodes served as pilots for the 1950s televisio ...

'', and the 1963 '' Twilight Zone'' episode "

The New Exhibit "The New Exhibit" is an episode of the American television anthology series '' The Twilight Zone''. In this episode a museum worker (played by Martin Balsam) takes a set of wax figures into his home, where they begin to show the homicidal tendenci ...

", among many others. She also appeared in the science-fiction films ''Captive Women'' and ''The Man from Planet X''. In February 1956, Field co-starred with her husband Jock Mahoney in the ''

Death Valley Days ''Death Valley Days'' is an American old-time radio and television anthology series featuring true accounts of the American Old West, particularly the Death Valley country of southeastern California. Created in 1930 by Ruth Woodman, the program ...

'' episode "Swamper Ike".

Personal life

In 1942, Field married Richard Dryden Field, an Army officer, and had two children by him: television and film actress

and physicist Richard D. Field. On January 21, 1952, Field married actor

in Tijuana, Mexico, thereafter billed in her acting work as "Maggie Mahoney". Together they had a daughter, Princess, a director of television shows, such as '' ER'' and '' Shameless''. Field and Mahoney divorced in June 1968. Around 1968, when her elder daughter Sally turned 22, Field virtually ended her acting career to focus on her family.

Death

Field, aged 89, died of cancer at her home in Malibu, California, on November 6, 2011, which was her daughter Sally Field's 65th birthday.Margaret Field, Actress and Mother of Sally Field, Dies at 89
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Filmography

Selected television

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Field, Margaret 1922 births 2011 deaths Actresses from Texas American film actresses American television actresses Deaths from cancer in California People from Houston 21st-century American women