Sally Field's Real Name: Sally Margaret Field

Quick answer: Sally Field's full name is Sally Margaret Field. She was born on November 6, 1946, in Pasadena, California, and works under Sally Field—the civil form of her birth name.

Real name and early life

Biography.com and the Library of Congress identify Sally Margaret Field, born November 6, 1946, in Pasadena, California (Biography.com; LOC). Field is the family surname from her mother, actress Margaret Field; after her parents’ divorce her mother married stuntman-actor Jock Mahoney. She found refuge in school drama, attended a Columbia Studios workshop, and at 18 landed the lead in ABC’s Gidget (1965), followed by The Flying Nun.

Career highlights

Field reinvented herself after sitcom fame: an Emmy for the TV film Sybil (1976), romantic comedy hits with Burt Reynolds such as Smokey and the Bandit, and back-to-back Best Actress Oscars for Norma Rae (1979) and Places in the Heart (1984). Later work includes Steel Magnolias, Forrest Gump, ER, Brothers & Sisters (another Emmy), Mary Todd Lincoln in Spielberg’s Lincoln, Broadway’s The Glass Menagerie, and the memoir In Pieces (2018). She received Kennedy Center Honors in 2019. Billing stayed Sally Field; the documented full name is Sally Margaret Field.

Profiles aimed at general readers sometimes omit middle names; this page restores them from the cited authorities.

Major entertainment biographies and library name authorities remain the best check when fan sites disagree on middle names or early credits.

Name notes for searchers

Margaret is a middle name, not a separate professional surname. She did not adopt Mahoney as a stage name. Prefer Biography.com and LOC when databases list only Sally Field.

Additional major-press and reference coverage confirms the same civil or birth name used here.