# Sally Field's most iconic role? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 25, 2016, 2:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sally-fields-most-iconic-role/744143 "2016-01-25T02:00:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![installLSC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/54ee81/32.png) [@installLSC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/installLSC)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2016, 2:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sally-fields-most-iconic-role/744143/1 "2016-01-25T02:00:03Z")
Of all the [many roles](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000398/) in the career of Sally Margaret Field, which defines her career the most in your eyes? I vote “Gidget”, mainly because I fell head over heels in love with it when I discovered it a few years ago. What do you say? ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2016, 2:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sally-fields-most-iconic-role/744143/2 "2016-01-25T02:07:01Z")
The Flying Nun. ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2016, 2:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sally-fields-most-iconic-role/744143/3 "2016-01-25T02:08:34Z")
The Flying Nun. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2016, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sally-fields-most-iconic-role/744143/4 "2016-01-25T02:09:07Z")
> [@Ethilrist](#): > > The Flying Nun. This for me too. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2016, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sally-fields-most-iconic-role/744143/5 "2016-01-25T02:24:17Z")
Her best work is Norma Rae. Roles like that define the type of serious actress Field’s wanted to be. But, I agree her three years on tv overshadows any single movie appearance. I think Gidget is a better show than the Flying Nun. Gidget had slightly better writing and acting. imho ---
**Author:** ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2016, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sally-fields-most-iconic-role/744143/6 "2016-01-25T03:01:34Z")
Iconic: The Flying Nun Best: Brothers & Sisters, Soapdish ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2016, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sally-fields-most-iconic-role/744143/7 "2016-01-25T03:13:29Z")
She will \*\*always \*\*be Gidget to me! :o ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2016, 3:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sally-fields-most-iconic-role/744143/8 "2016-01-25T03:21:13Z")
There’s a cartoon I am fond of, of a man standing in front of his TV. He has a furious, raging, disgusted, insane expression. He has dropped his pants and is exposing himself to the TV, upon which you can see The Flying Nun on broadcast. Yeah…that’s how I will always remember Sally Field. ---
**Author:** ![Tangent](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tangent/32/3098_2.png) [@Tangent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tangent)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2016, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sally-fields-most-iconic-role/744143/9 "2016-01-25T03:22:05Z")
I’m too young to have seen either Gidget or The Flying Nun when they first aired, and I’ve never watched either in syndication. So I was first introduced to her in the _Smokey and the Bandit_ movies. She was one of my first celebrity crushes. When I think of her, it’s those movies I think of first. Other than that, I’d say her role as Momma Gump is also pretty iconic. ---
**Author:** ![JohnGalt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johngalt/32/184_2.png) [@JohnGalt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnGalt)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2016, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sally-fields-most-iconic-role/744143/10 "2016-01-25T03:22:37Z")
A Google search bring’s up this old SDMB thread from 2009: [Sally Field- That’s what she’s going to be remembered for???](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=529346&page=2) From that thread, I’d say the Flying Nun, then I see mentions of Sybil and Gidget. But one thing I most remember (not an iconic role) is her interview with Johnny Carson where he asks her how old she was when she lost her virginity. She giggles and them bashfully answers “14” which sends the crowd wild (the SDMB link says it was “12”), while she hides her face. “I was a cheerleader!” was her next line. I wish I could find the clip online. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2016, 3:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sally-fields-most-iconic-role/744143/11 "2016-01-25T03:23:52Z")
_Smokey and the Bandit_. Not really. Even though I saw her in other things like those already mentioned, I first took notice of her in _Sybil_. ---
**Author:** ![the\_diego](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7bcc69/32.png) [@the\_diego](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/the_diego)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2016, 3:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sally-fields-most-iconic-role/744143/12 "2016-01-25T03:26:55Z")
The Flying Nun ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2016, 3:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sally-fields-most-iconic-role/744143/13 "2016-01-25T03:42:38Z")
> [@the\_diego](#): > > The Flying Nun Yup. ---
**Author:** ![Battle\_Pope](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4bbf92/32.png) [@Battle\_Pope](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Battle_Pope)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2016, 3:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sally-fields-most-iconic-role/744143/14 "2016-01-25T03:46:14Z")
> [@Ethilrist](#): > > The Flying Nun. Nailed it. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2016, 4:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sally-fields-most-iconic-role/744143/15 "2016-01-25T04:02:55Z")
I remember reading somewhere that she hated every day she worked on _ **The Flying Nun** _. A letter-writing campaign that would probably work today failed to get\*\*\* Gidget\*\*\* renewed for another season. It came too late. Hard to believe she was all of fifteen on that show. I was in fifth grade at the time and fell head over heels in love with her! ---
**Author:** ![Happy\_Lendervedder](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/happy_lendervedder/32/8488_2.png) [@Happy\_Lendervedder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Lendervedder)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2016, 4:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sally-fields-most-iconic-role/744143/16 "2016-01-25T04:06:09Z")
For me, Mama Gump. ---
**Author:** ![the\_diego](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7bcc69/32.png) [@the\_diego](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/the_diego)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2016, 5:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sally-fields-most-iconic-role/744143/17 "2016-01-25T05:38:17Z")
The only interview I read about her was when she was already in her thirties. She said people used to Gidget and TFN keep talking to her like she was a kid, even in her thirties, even when she already had kids. So maybe it was just the typecasting. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2016, 7:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sally-fields-most-iconic-role/744143/18 "2016-01-25T07:15:05Z")
I guess I’m not with the crowd on this one. I think it’s _Norma Rae_. ---
**Author:** ![Lobot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ce7236/32.png) [@Lobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobot)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2016, 7:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sally-fields-most-iconic-role/744143/19 "2016-01-25T07:58:09Z")
I’d say The Flying Nun, with Gidget second. ---
**Author:** ![bienville](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4bbf92/32.png) [@bienville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bienville)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2016, 8:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sally-fields-most-iconic-role/744143/20 "2016-01-25T08:53:22Z")
For “iconic” I’m gonna go with Gidget (wish there was a poll with this Thread). She definitely deserves credit for growing out of the child star mold and taking on challenging roles, but she’s always Gidget first for me- in an endearing way, not a dismissive way. Surprised by all the votes for The Flying Nun. I know that it ran more than twice as long as Gidget did, but I only know that as T.V. trivia, it doesn’t _feel_ right to me. As I was growing up in the 80s, Gidget was shown in re-runs all the time. Occasionally, one of the UHF stations would pick up The Flying Nun and run it for a short length of time but it would get run then discarded then run then discarded. Gidget was a syndication hit. When I first saw the 1959 movie, I thought “A _blonde_ Gidget? This is stupid!” I could accept that it was a different actress but, to me, Gidget was a brunette and that’s all there was to it. When the 1985 series The New Gidget aired, my astute 10 year old self said, “It ain’t Sally Field, so I’m not watching it!” So, for me, most iconic would be Gidget. Moving on to other favorites, I’d like to mention her several guest appearances on ER. That was the stretch of time that I watched that show most regularly- thanks in no small part to my eternal crush on Maura Tierney. Since Sally Field played Maura Tierney’s character’s mother, I always knew that a Sally Field episode would be an Abby-heavy episode and that was just fine with me. Sally Field was excellent on that show. Gave some of the best performances of her career. Since no one’s mentioned it yet, I’ll say that I am _eagerly_ looking forward to the upcoming movie [Hello, My Name Is Doris](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3766394/). I first saw the trailer a couple weeks ago and I immediately said “I am _so_ there!” I still want to date Sally Field, every bit as much as I did when I was 10 years old. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sally-fields-most-iconic-role/744143.md?page=2)