Shirley Anne Field (born Shirley Broomfield; 27 June 1936 – 10 December 2023) was an English actress who performed on stage, film and television from 1955 until her death. She was prominent during the British New Wave.

Early life Shirley Broomfield was born in Forest Gate, Essex (in the London Borough of Newham) on 27 June 1936. She was the third of four children, with two elder sisters and a younger brother, Earnest "Guy" Broomfield (c. 1939–1999).

At the age of six, Shirley was placed in the National Children's Home at Edgworth, near Bolton, Lancashire, 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 Early roles After a course at the Lucie Clayton School and Model Agency, Field 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.

Field first appearance in a film was as an extra in Simon and Laura (1955). She had small parts in All for Mary (1955), Lost (1956), Yield to the Night (1956) (directed by J. Lee Thompson), It's Never Too Late (1956), It's a Wonderful World (1956), The Weapon (1956), Loser Takes All (1956), The Silken Affair (1956), Dry Rot (1956), The Good Companions (1957) (again for Thompson), Seven Thunders (1957), and The Flesh Is Weak (1957). She was in episodes of The New Adventures of Martin Kane (1957) and International Detective.

Field's first sizeable film role was in Horrors of the Black Museum (1959). She had minor parts in Once More, with Feeling! (1960) and And the Same to You (1960). Field had a larger role in the controversial Peeping Tom (1960). She appeared on stage in The Lily White Boys with Albert Finney.

Stardom

In 1960, Field's breakthrough came when she was chosen by Tony Richardson to play the role of model Tina Lapford in The Entertainer (1960), starring Laurence Olivier, distributed by Bryanston Films. Half a century later, she clarified that she did not owe her break to Olivier: "It was Tony Richardson I owe it all to."

Field had a supporting role in Beat Girl (1960), then 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 for Bryanston, Saturday Night and Sunday Morning (1960). Director Karel Reisz described her as "difficult to play with". Co-star Finney had previously had a small role in The Entertainer. The film was a huge hit.

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.

Although offered a role in A Kind of Loving (1962), Field turned it down to play the female lead in a Hollywood financed film, The War Lover (1962), with Steve McQueen. Four decades later she admitted that the shoot was not ideal:

In the UK Field had the lead in Lunch Hour (1962), which was one of her favourite films.

For Hammer films, Field starred in The Damned (1963), directed by Joseph Losey. She went to Hollywood to play the female lead in an epic directed by J. Lee Thompson, Kings of the Sun (1963). Thompson had her under personal contract at this stage. She says she turned down roles in a James Bond movie and an Elvis Presley movie.

Field went to Italy to appear in The Wedding March (1966), then back in England made Doctor in Clover (1966) and Alfie (1966). She had a supporting role in Hell Is Empty (1967).

Later career Field starred in With Love in Mind (1970) and A Touch of the Other (1970), then made House of the Living Dead (1974).WITH LOVE IN MIND Monthly Film Bulletin; London Vol. 37, Iss. 432, (1 Jan 1970): 171.

By the late 1970s Field was more commonly seen on TV, in shows such as Centre Play, Shoestring, Buccaneer, Never the Twain and a long run on Santa Barbara as well as TV movies like Two by Forsyth. She had roles in films, inter alia, My Beautiful Laundrette (1985), Shag (1989), Getting It Right (1989), The Rachel Papers (1989), Hear My Song (1991), U.F.O. (1993), Taking Liberty (1993), Loving Deadly (1994), and At Risk (1994).

Her later television roles included Anna Lee: Headcase (1993), Murder She Wrote, Lady Chatterly, Rumble, Bramwell, Barbara, Madson, Dalziel and Pascoe, The Bill, Where the Heart Is, Waking the Dead, Monarch of the Glen, Last of the Summer Wine, Doctors. Her most recent films are The Kid, The Power of Three and Beautiful Relics.

Personal life and death On 7 July 1967, Field married the aristocratic RAF pilot and racing driver Charles Crichton-Stuart (1939–2001). They had a daughter, Nicola Crichton-Stuart, who was born in 1969. The marriage ended in divorce in 1975. Her autobiography, A Time for Love, was published in 1991.

On 14 November 1993, Field appeared on BBC Radio 4's Desert Island Discs, 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.BBC4, Desert Island Disc, 14 November 1993: "Shirley Anne Field" Retrieved 7 December 2012

In September 1999 Field's brother Guy was killed in his San Francisco home, by his girlfriend's son Harry Dalsey, the son of DHL founder Adrian Dalsey. Field flew to the US to begin a civil action alleging wrongful death.

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.Cinema Retro, September 2009: Field of Dreams Retrieved 7 December 2012

Field died on 10 December 2023, at the age of 87.

Filmography Film Years Title Role Notes1955 Simon and Laura Extra uncredited All for Mary Young Woman on Aeroplane uncredited Lost Miss Carter uncredited1956 Yield to the Night Extra uncredited It's Never Too Late Extra uncredited It's a Wonderful World Pretty Girl The Weapon Girl in Nightclub uncredited Loser Takes All Girl at Roulette Table uncredited The Silken Affair Young Lady uncredited Dry Rot Waitress in Cafe uncredited1957 The Good Companions Redhead The Flesh Is Weak Susan Seven Thunders Prostitute uncredited1959 Horrors of the Black Museum Angela Banks Upstairs and Downstairs Passenger uncredited1960 Once More, with Feeling! Angela Hopper And the Same to You Iris Collins Peeping Tom Pauline Shields The Entertainer Tina Lapford Beat Girl Dodo Saturday Night and Sunday Morning Doreen Man in the Moon Polly Jungle Street Jaqui 1962 The War Lover Daphne The Damned Joan 1963 Kings of the Sun Ixchel Lunch Hour Girl 1965 The Wedding March Laure 1966 Doctor in Clover Nurse Bancroft Alfie Carla 1967 Hell Is Empty Shirley McGee 1970 With Love in Mind Jane A Touch of the Other Elaine 1974 House of the Living Dead Mary Anne Carew1985 My Beautiful Laundrette Rachel 1988 Shag Mrs. Clatterback 1989 Getting It Right Anne The Rachel Papers Mrs. Smith 1991 Hear My Song Cathleen Doyle 1993 U.F.O. Supreme Commander 1994 Loving Deadly Madame At Risk Mrs. Nolan 1999 A Monkey's Tale The Governess Voice2000 Christie Malry's Own Double-Entry Mary 2010 The Kid Margaret 2011 The Power of Three Jenni

Television roles Years Title Role Notes1957 The New Adventures of Martin Kane Miss Craig Episode: "The Escape Story"1959 International Detective The Girl Episode: "The Conway Case"1966 Five More Madeleine Episode: "Shotgun"1977 Centre Play Joanne Clewes Episode: "Risking It"1979 Shoestring Barbara Knight Episode: "Knock for Knock"1980 Buccaneer Janet Blair 11 episodes1987 Never the Twain Stephanie Episode: "Affairs of the Heart" Santa Barbara Pamela Capwell Conrad 42 episodes1992 El C.I.D. Dolly Episode: "Nothing Is Forever" Murder, She Wrote Anne Gillen Episode: "The Wind Around the Tower"1993 Anna Lee: Headcase Mrs. Westerman TV film Lady Chatterley Mrs. Bolton All 4 episodes1995 Rumble Vatwoman Episode: #1.2 Bramwell Peggy Heart Episode: "The Threat of Reprise" Barbara Jean Episode: "Job"1996 Madson Elaine Dews 4 episodes1999 Dalziel and Pascoe Cissy Kohler Episode: "Recalled to Life"2000 The Bill Janice Laughlin Episode: "Crime and Punishment"2001 Where the Heart Is Linda 5 episodes2003 Waking the Dead Monica Reynolds 2 episodes2005 Monarch of the Glen Sadie Episode: #7.62008 Last of the Summer Wine Eva Episode: "Eva's Back in Town"2010 Doctors Flora Reid Episode: "Swansong"

References

Bibliography

External links Shirley Anne Field at the British Film Institute - Retrieved 2012-12-07 Shirley Anne Field at BFI Screenonline - Retrieved 2012-12-07

Field of Dreams, four-page interview with Shirley Anne Field in the September 2009 issue of Cinema Retro - Retrieved 2012-12-07