A nun of the Ananda Marga Universal Relief Team (AMURT) treating people injured in the Haiti earthquake.

Nun in cloister, 1930; photography by Doris Ulmann

A nun is a woman who has taken vows committing her life to her religion.^[1] She may be a woman who decided to dedicate her life to serve the other living beings or to be an ascetic who voluntarily chooses to leave mainstream society and live her life in prayer and contemplation in a monastery or convent. The term "nun" is applicable to Catholics – both eastern and western traditions – Orthodox Christians, Anglicans, Lutherans, Jains, Buddhists, Taoists, and Hindus. While in common usage the terms nun and sister are often used interchangeably, in some cases they are differentiated, a nun being a religious woman who lives a contemplative cloistered life of prayer and meditation for the salvation of others, while a sister, in Christian Catholic order like Mother Teresa's Missionaries of Charity, lives an active vocation of prayer and service, often to the needy, sick, poor, and uneducated.

Buddhism[link]

All Buddhist traditions have nuns, although their status is different among the various Buddhist countries. The Buddha is reported to have allowed women into the sangha only with great reluctance, predicting that the move would lead to Buddhism's collapse after 500 years, rather than the 1,000 years it would have enjoyed otherwise (this prophecy occurs only once in the Canon and is the only prophecy involving time in the Canon, leading some to suspect that it is a late addition.)^[2] Fully ordained Buddhist nuns (bhikkhunis) have more Patimokkha-rules than the monks (bhikkhus). The important vows are the same, however.

As with monks, there is quite a lot of variation in nuns' dress and social conventions between different Buddhist cultures in Asia. Chinese nuns possess the full bhikkuni ordination, Tibetan nuns do not, and in Theravada countries female renunciates are discouraged from even wearing saffron robes. Disparities may often be observed in the amount of respect and financial resources given to monks viz. nuns, with nuns receiving less of both in all countries with the possible exception of Taiwan. Despite barriers, some nuns succeed in becoming religious teachers and authorities.

Thailand[link]

Buddhist nuns in Rangoon, Burma.

In Thailand, a country which never had a tradition of fully ordained nuns (bhikkhuni), there developed a separate order of non-ordained female renunciates called mae ji. However, some of them has played an important role in dharma-practitioners' community. There are in Thai Forest Tradition foremost nuns such as Mae Ji Kaew Sianglam, the founder of Nunnery of Baan Huai Saai, who is believed to be enlightened^[3] as well as Upāsikā Kee Nanayon.^[4] At the beginning of the 21st century, some Buddhist women in Thailand have started to introduce the bhikkhuni sangha in their country as well, even if public acceptance is still lacking.^[5] Dhammananda Bhikkhuni,^[6] formerly the successful academic scholar Dr. Chatsumarn Kabilsingh, established a controversial monastery for the training of Buddhist nuns in Thailand.^[7]

Taiwan[link]

Chinese Buddhism possesses a full bhikkuni tradition. Thanks largely to the efforts of Master Cheng Yen of the Buddhist charity Tzu Chi (which utterly dominates philanthopic giving in Taiwan), Taiwan's nuns nowadays probably receive more public respect and support than monks.^{[citation needed]}

Researcher Charles Brewer Jones estimates that since 1952, when the Buddhist Association of the ROC organized public ordination, female applicants have outnumbered males by about three to one. He adds:

"All my informants in the areas of Taipei and Sanhsia considered nuns at least as respectable as monks, or even more so. [...] In contrast, however, Shiu-kuen Tsung found in Taipei county that female clergy were viewed with some suspicion by society. She reports that while outsiders did not necessarily regard their vocation as unworthy of respect, they still tended to view the nuns as social misfits."^[8]

Tibet[link]

This article is outdated. Please update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information. Please see the talk page for more information. (September 2010)

The August 2007 International Congress on Buddhist Women's Role in the Sangha, with the support of H. H. XIVth Dalai Lama, reinstated the Gelongma (Dharmaguptaka vinaya bhikkhuni) lineage, having been lost, in India and Tibet, for centuries. Gelongma ordination requires the presence of ten fully ordained people keeping exactly the same vows. Because ten nuns are required in order to ordain a new one, the effort to establish the Dharmaguptaka bhikkhu tradition has taken a long time.

It is permissible for a Tibetan nun to receive bhikkhuni ordination from another living tradition, e.g. in Vietnam. Based on this, Western nuns ordained in Tibetan tradition, like Thubten Chodron, took full ordination in another tradition.

The ordination of monks and nuns in Tibetan Buddhism distinguishes three stages rabjung-ma, getshül-ma and gelong-ma. The clothes of the nuns in Tibet are basically the same as those of monks, but there are differences between novice and gelong robes.

Christianity[link]

Roman Catholic[link]

Sisters in traditional habit singing Gregorian chant

A Catholic Sister in brightly coloured clothes rides a motor-bike, Basankusu, Democratic Republic of Congo.

In the Catholic Church, a nun is a woman who has taken solemn vows (the male equivalent is often called a monk or friar). The main distinction between a nun and a sister is that nuns have solemn vows and sisters have simple vows, which allows them to inherit property, unlike a nun. Also, as monastics, nuns commit themselves to the daily recitation of the Liturgy of the Hours throughout the day in church, usually in a solemn manner. Thus, for those making this commitment, they are distinguished within the monastic community under the title of choir nuns, as opposed to "lay Sisters", who are entrusted with the upkeep of the monastery, or even running errands outside the cloister.

Nuns are usually cloistered or enclosed to the degree established by the rule of the religious institute they enter;^[9] exceptions include one branch of Visitandines and the Ursulines. This is another distinction from Religious Sisters, which were first established by Saint Vincent de Paul and Saint Louise de Marillac, who founded the Daughters of Charity (usually referred to as the Sisters of Charity) in 1633.^[10] The Sisters of Charity and other Religious Sisters are usually involved in some form of apostolic work or ministry, traditionally that of nursing or teaching, or more recently counseling at-risk youth, which requires them to be out among the public.

In the Roman Catholic tradition, there are a large number of different orders of nuns and Sisters, each with its own charism or special character.

In general, when a woman enters a convent, monastery or abbey, she first undergoes an initial period of testing the life for a period of six months to a year called a postulancy. If she, and the order, determine that she may have a vocation to the life, she receives the habit of the order (usually with some modification, normally a white veil instead of a black, to distinguish her from professed nuns) and undertakes the novitiate, a period (that lasts one to two years) of living the life of a nun without yet taking vows.^[11] Upon completion of this period she may take her initial, temporary vows.^[12] Temporary vows last one to three years, typically, and will be professed for not less than three years and not more than six.^[13] Finally, she will petition to make her "perpetual profession", taking permanent, solemn vows.^[14]

In the various branches of the Benedictine tradition (Benedictines, Cistercians, Camaldolese, and Trappists among others) nuns take vows of stability (that is, to remain a member of a single monastic community), obedience (to an abbess or prioress), and "conversion of life" (which includes poverty and chastity). The "Poor Clares" (a Franciscan order) and those Dominican nuns who live a cloistered life take the threefold vows of poverty, chastity and obedience. Most orders of nuns not listed here follow one of these two patterns, with some orders taking an additional vow related to the specific work or character of their order (for example, to undertake a certain style of devotion, praying for a specific intention or purpose).

Nuns at Work in the Cloister, by Henriette Browne

Cloistered nuns (Carmelites, for example) observe "papal enclosure" ^[15] rules and their monasteries typically have walls separating the nuns from the outside world. The nuns rarely leave (except for medical necessity, or occasionally for purposes related to their contemplative life) though they may have visitors in specially built parlors, often with either a "grill" or half-wall separating the nuns' side from the visitors', that allow them to meet with outsiders. They are usually self-sufficient, earning money by selling jams or candies or baked goods by mail order, or by making liturgical items (such as vestments, candles, or hosts to be Consecrated at Mass for Holy Communion).

They often undertake contemplative ministries—that is, a monastery of nuns is often associated with prayer for some particular good or supporting the missions of another Order by prayer (for instance, the Dominican nuns of Corpus Christi Monastery in the Bronx, N.Y. pray in support of the priests of the Archdiocese of New York). Yet Religious Sisters can also do this form of ministry, e.g., the Maryknoll Missionary Sisters have small houses of contemplative Sisters, some in mission locations, who pray for the work of the priests, brothers and other Sisters of their Congregation; the Sister Disciples of the Divine Master are also cloistered Sisters who pray in support of their sister congregation, the Daughters of St. Paul in their media ministry.

A canoness is a nun who corresponds to the male equivalent, a canon. The origin and rules of monastic life are common to both. As with the canons, differences in the observance of rule gave rise to two types: the canoness regular, who lives in a religious house, taking the traditional religious vows, and the secular canoness, which was primarily a way of leading a pious life by daughters of aristocratic families who did not wish to take religious vows, and thus remained free to own property and leave to marry, should they choose. This latter way of life has disappeared in the modern age.

A nun who is elected to head her religious house is termed an abbess if the house is an abbey, with the exception of Poor Clares who have an abbess but no abbey perhaps from St. Clare's beginning her religious life "train" by the Benedictines, to whom St. Francis entrusted her, who have abbesses, a prioress if it is a monastery, or more generically may be referred to as the Mother Superior and styled "Reverend Mother". The distinction between abbey and monastery has to do with the terms used by a particular order or by the level of independence of the religious house. Technically, a convent is any home of a community of sisters—or, indeed, of priests and brothers, though this term is rarely used in the U.S. The term "monastery" is often used by communities within the Benedictine family, and "convent" (when referring to a cloister) is often used of the monasteries of certain other orders.

Traditional cloistered nuns' clothing consists of a tunic which is tied around the waist with a cloth or leather belt. Over the tunic some nuns wear a scapular which is a garment of long wide piece of woolen cloth worn over the shoulders with an opening for the head. Some wear a white wimple which "encircles" the face and a veil the most significant and ancient aspect of the habit. Some nuns such as Poor Clares wear a large rosary on their belt. Benedictine Abbesses wear a cross or crucifix on a chain around their neck. After the second Vatican Council, many orders chose to no longer wear the traditional habit, and as well did away with choosing a religious name. However, Catholic Church or Canon Law states (669.1) "As a sign of their consecration and as a witness to poverty religious are to wear their habit in accordance with the institute's own law."

The Vale of Rest ; by John Everett Millais, 1848 (Tate Gallery, London)

Distinction between a nun and a religious sister[link]

During the first millennium, nearly all communities of men and women were dedicated to prayer and contemplation. These monasteries, abbeys, or convents were built in remote locations or were separated from the world by means of a cloister. The mendicant orders, founded in the 13th century, combined a life of prayer and dedication to God with active works of preaching, hearing confessions, and service to the poor, and members of these orders are known as friars rather than monks. At that time, Church law did not allow women to leave the cloister if they had taken religious vows. Female members of the mendicant orders (Dominican, Augustinian and Carmelite nuns and Poor Clares) continued to observe the same enclosed life as members of the monastic orders.

Originally, the vows taken by profession in any religious institute approved by the Holy See were classified as solemn.^[16] This was declared by Pope Boniface VIII (1235–1303).^[17] The situation changed in the 16th century. In 1521, two years after the Fourth Lateran Council had forbidden the establishment of new religious institutes, Pope Leo X appointed a religious rule with simple vows for those tertiaries attached to existing institutes who undertook to live in a community. In 1566 and 1568, Pope Pius V rejected this class of congregation, but they continued to exist and even increased in number. After at first being merely tolerated, they afterwards obtained approval.^[16] Pope Leo XIII recognized as religious all men and women who took simple vows.^[18] Their lives were oriented not to the ancient monastic way of life, but more to social service and to evangelization, both in Europe and in mission areas. Their number increased further in the upheavals brought by the French Revolution and subsequent Napoleonic invasions of other Catholic countries, depriving thousands of religious of the income that their communities held because of inheritances and forcing them to find a new way of living the religious life. But members of these new associations were not recognized as "religious" until Pope Leo XIII's Constitution "Conditae a Christo" of 8 December 1900.^[19]

The 1917 Code of Canon Law reserved the term "nun" (Latin: monialis) for women religious who took solemn vows or who, while being allowed in some places to take simple vows, belonged to institutes whose vows were normally solemn.^[20] It used the word "sister" (Latin: soror) exclusively for members of institutes for women that it classified as "congregations"; and for "nuns" and "sisters" jointly it used the Latin word religiosae (women religious). The same religious order could include both "nuns" and "sisters", if some members took solemn vows and other simple vows.

Eastern Orthodox[link]

Saint Sophia of Suzdal, wearing the full monastic habit of a Schemanun

In the Eastern Orthodox Church there is no distinction between a monastery for women and a monastery for men. In Greek, Russian, and other Eastern European languages, both domiciles are called "monasteries" and the ascetics who live therein are "Monastics". In English, however, it is acceptable to use the terms "nun" and "convent" for clarity and convenience. The term for an abbess is the feminine form of abbot (hegumen)—Greek: hegumeni; Serbian: Игуманија (Igumanija); Russian: игумения, (igumenia). Orthodox monastics do not have distinct "orders" as in Western Christianity. Orthodox monks and nuns lead identical spiritual lives.^[21] There may be slight differences in the way a monastery functions internally but these are simply differences in style (Gr. typica) dependent on the Abbess or Abbot. The Abbess is the spiritual leader of the convent and her authority is absolute (no priest, bishop, or even patriarch can override an abbess within the walls of her monastery.) There has always been spiritual equality between men and women in the Orthodox Church (Galatians 3:28). Abbots and Abbesses rank in authority equal to bishops in many ways and were included in ecumenical councils. Orthodox monasteries are usually associated with a local synod of bishops by jurisdiction, but are otherwise self governing. Abbesses hear confessions (but do not absolve) and dispense blessings on their charges, though they still require the services of a presbyter (i.e., a priest) to celebrate the Divine Liturgy and perform other priestly functions, such as the absolution of a penitent.

Orthodox monastics, in general have little or no contact with the outside world, especially family. The pious family whose child decides to enter the monastic profession understands that their child will become "dead to the world" and therefore be unavailable for social visits.

There are a number of different levels that the nun passes through in her profession:

• Novice—When one enters a monastery the first three to five years are spent as a novice. Novices may or may not (depending on the abbess's wishes) dress in the black inner robe (Isorassa); those who do will also usually wear the apostolnik or a black scarf tied over the head (see photo, above). The isorassa is the first part of the monastic "habit" of which there is only one style for Orthodox monastics (this is true in general, there have been a few slight regional variations over the centuries, but the style always seems to precipitate back to a style common in the 3rd or 4th century). If a novice chooses to leave during the novitiate period no penalty is incurred.
• Rassaphore—When the abbess deems the novice ready, the novice is asked to join the monastery. If she accepts, she is tonsured in a formal service during which she is given the outer robe (Exorassa) and veil (Epanokamelavkion) to wear, and (because she is now dead to the world) receives a new name. Nuns consider themselves part of a sisterhood; however, tonsured nuns are usually addressed as "Mother" (in some convents, the title of "Mother" is reserved to those who enter into the next level of Stavrophore).
• Stavrophore—The next level for monastics takes place some years after the first tonsure when the abbess feels the nun has reached a level of discipline, dedication, and humility. Once again, in a formal service the nun is elevated to the "Little Schema" which is signified by additions to her habit of certain symbolic articles of clothing. In addition, the abbess increases the nun’s prayer rule, she is allowed a stricter personal ascetic practice.
• Great Schema—The final stage, called "Megaloschemos" or "Great Schema" is reached by nuns whose Abbess feels they have reached a high level of excellence. In some monastic traditions the Great Schema is only given to monks and nuns on their death bed, while in others they may be elevated after as little as 25 years of service.

Princess Praskovya Yusupova before becoming a nun Nikolai Nevrev, 1886

The Way of Humility: Russian Orthodox nun working at Ein Karem, Jerusalem

Anglican Communion[link]

Anglican religious orders are organizations of laity and/or clergy in the Anglican Communion who live under a common rule. The term "religious orders" must be distinguished from Holy Orders (the sacrament of ordination which bishops, priests, and deacons receive), though many communities do have ordained members.

The structure and function of religious orders in Anglicanism roughly parallels that which exists in Roman Catholicism. Religious communities are divided into orders proper, in which members take solemn vows and congregations, whose members take simple vows.

Religious communities throughout England were destroyed by King Henry VIII when he separated the Church of England from the papacy during the English Reformation (see Dissolution of the Monasteries). Monasteries were deprived of their lands and possessions, and monastics were forced to either live a secular life or flee the country.

With the rise of the Catholic Revival and the Oxford Movement in Anglicanism in the early 19th century came interest in the revival of "religious life" in England. Between 1841 and 1855, several religious orders for nuns were founded, among them the Community of St. Mary at Wantage and the Community of St. Margaret at East Grinstead.

In the United States and Canada, the founding of Anglican religious orders of nuns began in 1845 with the Sisterhood of the Holy Communion (now defunct) in New York.

In the Episcopal Church in the United States, there are two recognized types of religious communities, called Religious Orders and Christian Communities. The differences are as follows:

A Religious Order of this Church is a society of Christians (in communion with the See of Canterbury) who voluntarily commit themselves for life, or a term of years, to holding their possessions in common or in trust; to a celibate life in community; and obedience to their Rule and Constitution. (Title III, Canon 24, section 1)

A Christian Community of this Church is a society of Christians (in communion with the See of Canterbury) who voluntarily commit themselves for life, or a term of years, in obedience to their Rule and Constitution. (Title III, Canon 24, section 2)

In some Anglican orders, there are sisters who have been ordained and can celebrate the Eucharist.^[22]

Fiction and dramatizations featuring[link]

Nuns play an important role in the public's imagination. The following list of notable works where nuns play a major part ranges from A Time for Miracles which is literally hagiography to realistic accounts by Kathryn Hulme and Monica Baldwin to the blatant nunsploitation of Sacred Flesh. All the works use Catholic nuns save Black Narcissus (Anglican). All are outsiders' views with the exceptions of Dead Man Walking, a film based on a non-fiction book of the same title by Helen Prejean, and The Nun's Story, a book by Kathryn Hulme relating the experiences of ex-nun Marie Louise Habets.

See also[link]

Religion portal

• Monk, the male monastic
• Catholic religious order

References[link]

Sources[link]

• Simpson J. A. & Weiner, E. S. C. (1989) The Oxford English Dictionary, Clarendon Press, Oxford

Notes[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Nuns

• Blogs by Catholic nuns
• Vocation-Network.org information about Catholic religious communities and life as a sister, brother, or priest.
• VocationMatch.com helps those discerning a Catholic religious vocation sort through options and find the order or vocation that may be right for them.
• DigitalVocationGuide.org digital edition of VISION, the annual Catholic religious vocation discernment guide.
• Monastic Matrix: A Scholarly Resource for the Study of Women's Religious Communities 400-1600 C.E.
• Full Text + Illustrations, The Hermits and Anchorites of England by Rotha Mary Clay.
• Nuns of Medieval England, Full Text + Illustrations.
• Religious Orders including Female Religious. Full Text + Illustrations.
• Medieval Shrines of British Saints, including sainted women religious. Full Text + Illustrations.
• Nuns article from The Catholic Encyclopedia
• Instruction on the Contemplative Life and on the Enclosure of Nuns Verbi Sponsa of the Vatican's Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and for Societies of Apostolic Life
• A Biography of a Vajrayana Buddhist Nun
• Martin Luther's letter To Several Nuns, August 6, 1524. (Two reasons life at the convent and vows may be forsaken)
• Sakyadhita — The International Association of Buddhist Women
• The Ursulines Sisters
• The Dominican Monastery of Saint Jude
• Our Lady of the Holy Rosary Monastery in Buffalo NY (A Dominican contemplative monastery with Latin chant)

Sally Field
Field at the 62nd Academy Awards ceremony, 1990
Born	Sally Margaret Field (1946-11-06) November 6, 1946 (age 65) Pasadena, California, U.S
Occupation	Actress, singer, producer, director, screenwriter
Years active	1962–present
Spouse	Steve Craig (1968–1975) Alan Greisman (1984–1993)

Sally Margaret Field (born November 6, 1946) is an American actress, singer, producer, director, and screenwriter. In each decade of her career, she has been known for major roles in American TV/film culture, including: in the 1960s, for Gidget (1965–66) or Sister Bertrille on The Flying Nun (1967–70); in the 1970s, for Sybil (1976), Smokey and the Bandit (1977) and Norma Rae (1979); in the 1980s, for Absence of Malice (1981), Places in the Heart (1984) and Steel Magnolias (1989); in the 1990s, for Not Without My Daughter (1991), Mrs. Doubtfire (1993), Forrest Gump (1994) and Eye for an Eye (1996); and in the 2000s, on the TV shows ER and Brothers & Sisters (2006–11). She has also performed in numerous other roles.

Field won the Academy Award for Best Actress in a leading role on two occasions, Norma Rae (1979) and Places in the Heart (1984). Field's professional achievements also include winning three Emmy Awards: for her role in the TV film Sybil (1976); her guest-starring role on ER in 2000; and for her starring role as Nora Holden Walker on ABC's series Brothers & Sisters in 2007. She has also won two Golden Globes and the Screen Actors Guild Award for Best Actress. She also won the Best Female Performance Prize at the Cannes Film Festival, for Norma Rae (1979).

Early life[link]

Sally Field was born in Pasadena, California, daughter of Richard Dryden Field, an Army officer, and his wife, actress Margaret Field.^[1] Her parents divorced in 1950, and her mother later married actor and stuntman Jock Mahoney.

Field attended Portola Middle School, followed by Birmingham High School in Van Nuys, where she was a cheerleader. Her classmates included infamous financier Michael Milken, actress Cindy Williams (of Laverne & Shirley fame) and Michael Ovitz of Creative Artists Agency (CAA) and Walt Disney Studios fame.

Career[link]

Television[link]

Field got her start on television as the boy-crazy surfer girl in the mid-1960s surf culture sitcom series, Gidget. She went on to star as Sister Bertrille in The Flying Nun. In an interview included on the DVD release of The Flying Nun, she said that she would have preferred to continue playing Gidget. Field hated being on The Flying Nun because she wasn't treated with respect. After her iconic role on The Flying Nun, she had become typecast. Later, she starred opposite John Davidson in a short-lived series called The Girl with Something Extra (1973–74).

In 1971, Field starred in Maybe I'll Come Home in the Spring with David Carradine and a soundtrack by Linda Ronstadt. She played the role of a discouraged teen runaway who returned home after a year on the road with a bearded drug-abusing hippie named "Flack" (David Carradine).

She made several guest appearances, including a recurring role on the western comedy Alias Smith and Jones, starring Pete Duel (with whom she had worked on Gidget) and Ben Murphy, plus the Rod Serling's Night Gallery episode "Whisper".

Field in 1970s.

Having played mostly comedic characters on television, Field had a difficult time being cast in dramatic roles.^{[citation needed]} She studied with famed acting teacher Lee Strasberg, who had previously helped Marilyn Monroe go beyond the "bimbo" roles with which her career had begun.

Soon afterward, Field landed the title role in the 1976 TV film Sybil, the first of two films based on the book written by Flora Rheta Schreiber. Field's dramatic portrayal of Sybil, a young woman afflicted with Dissociative Identity Disorder, previously known as multiple personality disorder, in the TV film not only garnered her an Emmy Award^[2] (in 1977) but also enabled her to break through the typecasting she had experienced from her television sitcom roles.

Music[link]

While starring on The Flying Nun, Sally tried her hand at singing. Sally Field sang on the Soundtrack for The Flying Nun in 1967 and she even sang The Flying Nun theme song "Who Needs Wings to Fly". The same year, she cracked the Billboard Hot 100 with one single, Felicidad. Sally revived her singing career in 2008 when she sang on the soundtrack for "The Little Mermaid: Ariel's Beginning".

Film[link]

Field had made her film debut in 1962 with a small part in Moon Pilot. Her first major film role was in The Way West (1967). In 1977, she co-starred with Burt Reynolds, Jackie Gleason and Jerry Reed in that year's #2 grossing film, Smokey and the Bandit.^[3] In 1979, she played a union organizer in Norma Rae, a successful film that established her status as a dramatic actress. Vincent Canby, in his review of the film for the New York Times, wrote: "Norma Rae is a seriously concerned contemporary drama, illuminated by some very good performances and one, Miss Field's, that is spectacular."^[4] She won the Best Female Performance Prize at the Cannes Film Festival and the Academy Award for Best Actress.

Field did three more of Reynolds' films (The End, Hooper and Smokey and the Bandit II). In 1981, Field continued to change her image, playing a foul-mouthed prostitute opposite Tommy Lee Jones in the South-set film Back Roads, which received middling reviews and grossed $11 million at the box office. She won Golden Globe nominations for the 1981 drama Absence of Malice and 1982 comedy Kiss Me Goodbye.

Then came a second Oscar for her starring role in the 1984 drama Places in the Heart. Field's gushing acceptance speech is well remembered for its earnestness. She said, "I haven't had an orthodox career, and I've wanted more than anything to have your respect. The first time I didn't feel it, but this time I feel it, and I can't deny the fact that you like me, right now, you like me!"^[5] The line ending in "...I can't deny the fact that you like me, right now, you like me!" is often misquoted as simply, "You like me, you really like me!" which has subsequently been the subject of many parodies. (Field parodied the line herself in a commercial.^{[citation needed]}) The phrase, "You like me" was originally from her wry, understated, famous reply in the film Norma Rae, but many people^{[citation needed]} totally missed the subtle connection in her acceptance speeches, with that point in the film.

The following year, she co-starred with James Garner in the romantic comedy Murphy's Romance. In A&E's biography of Garner, she cited her on-screen kiss with Garner as the best cinematic kiss she had ever had.

Field appeared on the cover of the March 1986 issue of Playboy magazine, in which she was the interview subject. She did not appear as a pictorial subject inside the magazine, although she did wear the classic leotard and bunny-ears outfit on the cover. That same year she was awarded the Women in Film Crystal Award.^[6]

For her role as the matriarch, M'Lynn, in the film version of Steel Magnolias (1989), she was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for Best Actress. She had supporting roles in a number of other movies, including Mrs. Doubtfire (1993) in which she played Miranda Hillard, the wife of Robin Williams's character and the love interest of Pierce Brosnan's character Stuart 'Stu' Dunmyer. She followed this with the role of Forrest Gump's mother in Forrest Gump (1994), even though she is only 10 years older than Tom Hanks, with whom she had co-starred six years earlier in Punchline.

Her other films in the 1990s included Not Without My Daughter, a controversial suspense film, and Soapdish, a comedy in which Field, playing Celeste Talbert, the pampered star of a television soap opera, heads an all-star cast including Kevin Kline, Whoopi Goldberg, Elisabeth Shue and Robert Downey, Jr. In 1996, Field was awarded with the Berlinale Camera award at the 46th Berlin International Film Festival for her role as a grieving vigilante mother in Eye for an Eye for director John Schlesinger.^[7] She played Natalie Portman's mother in Where the Heart Is (2000) and appeared opposite Reese Witherspoon in Legally Blonde 2: Red, White & Blonde (2003).

Recent roles[link]

In November 2009, Sally appeared on an episode of The Doctors to talk about osteoporosis and her Rally With Sally Foundation.

On television, Field had a recurring role on ER in the 2000-01 season as Dr. Abby Lockhart's mother Maggie who suffers from bipolar disorder, a role for which she won an Emmy Award in 2001. After her critically acclaimed stint on the show, she returned to the role in 2003 and 2006. She also starred in the very short-lived 2002 series The Court.

Field's directorial career began with the television film The Christmas Tree (1996). In 1998, she directed the episode The Original Wives' Club of the critically acclaimed TV mini-series From the Earth to the Moon, also portryaing a minor role as Trudy, the wife of astronaut Gordon Cooper. In 2000, she directed the feature film Beautiful.

Field was a late addition to the ABC drama Brothers & Sisters, which debuted in September 2006. In the show's pilot, the role of matriarch Nora Walker had been played by actress Betty Buckley. However, the producers of the show decided to take the character of Nora in another direction, and Field was cast in the role. She won the 2007 Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series in her role as Nora Walker. The blockbuster soap also stars familiar actresses such as Calista Flockhart and Rachel Griffiths, in the roles of Nora's adult daughters, Kitty Walker and Sarah Walker, respectively, as well as unfamiliar actors, such as Welsh film actor Matthew Rhys tackling the very American role of Nora's son, Kevin Walker, and Dave Annable as Nora's youngest son, Justin Walker.

Field recently had a voice role as Marina del Rey, the primary antagonist in Disney's The Little Mermaid: Ariel's Beginning, which was released in August 2008.

Currently, Field can be seen on television as the compensated spokesperson for Roche Laboratories' postmenopausal osteoporosis treatment medication, Boniva.

She has been cast to portray Aunt May in the upcoming Marvel Comics film The Amazing Spider-Man and Mary Todd Lincoln in Steven Spielberg's upcoming film Lincoln, written by Tony Kushner.

Activism[link]

During her 2007 acceptance speech for her 2006-07 Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series, Field made an anti-war statement: "If the mothers ruled the world, there would be no goddamn wars in the first place!"^[8] Though the crowd present at the Emmy Awards heard it, viewers watching the telecast in the United States only heard "if mothers ruled the world there would be no ... ," due to the censoring of the rest of the statement (in the rest of the world, her remark was not bleeped). In the 2008 presidential election, she supported Hillary Clinton in her bid for the Democratic Party nomination.

Field is also a dedicated advocate for women's rights. She currently serves on the Board of Directors of Vital Voices Global Partnership, an international women's NGO, and has co-hosted the Global Leadership Awards six times.^[9]

Personal life[link]

Field married Steven Craig in 1968. The couple had two sons, Peter Craig, a novelist, and Eli Craig, an actor and director. They divorced in 1975. Sally Field was romantically involved with Burt Reynolds for many years, during which time they co-starred in several movies, including Smokey and the Bandit, Smokey and the Bandit II, and The End. In 1984, she married film producer Alan Greisman. They had one son, Sam. Field and Greisman divorced in 1993.

On October 29, 1988, she and her family survived a crash after their charter plane lost power on takeoff. They all survived with minor injuries.^[10]

Field suffers from osteoporosis and has become a vocal advocate for women's health issues, encouraging early diagnosis of such conditions through technology such as bone density scans.^[11]

Filmography[link]

Film[link]

Television[link]

Discography[link]

Singles[link]

• "Felicidad" (Billboard Hot 100 #94) / "Find Yourself A Rainbow" -- Colgems (1967)
• "Golden Days" / "You're a Grand Old Flag" -- Colgems (1968)
• "Gonna Build A Mountain" / "Months of The Year" -- Colgems (1968)
• "Just One Mistake" -- Walt Disney Records (2008)
• "Just One Mistake (Reprise)" -- Walt Disney Records (2008)

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Sally Field

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Sally Field

• Sally Field at the Internet Movie Database
• Sally Field at the TCM Movie Database
• Sally Field at AllRovi
• Two Weeks movie site
• Sally Field at Emmys.com
• Actress Sally Field On Hollywood, Family and Aging, an NPR Interview, June 3, 2009 (streaming audio)

Rino Gaetano
Background information
Birth name	Salvatore Antonio Gaetano
Also known as	Rino Gaetano
Born	(1950-10-29)October 29, 1950 Crotone, Italy
Died	June 2, 1981(1981-06-02) (aged 30) Rome, Italy
Genres	Rock, reggae, pop
Occupations	Singer-songwriter
Instruments	Vocals, guitar, piano
Years active	1973–1981
Labels	It, RCA Italiana
Associated acts	Francesco De Gregori, Antonello Venditti, Anna Oxa, Riccardo Cocciante
Website	http://www.rinogaetano.it/

Salvatore Antonio "Rino" Gaetano (Crotone,-October 29, 1950 - Rome-June 2, 1981), was an Italian singer-songwriter.

Biography[link]

Rino Gaetano was born in Crotone, in the southern Italian region of Calabria. At the age of nine, he had to follow his parents to Rome, where he spent the rest of his life.

After a few shows at Folkstudio, he was discovered by Vincenzo Micocci and released his first single in 1973, "I Love You Marianna" (with "Jacqueline" on the B-side) under the pseudonym 'Kammamuri', produced by Antonello Venditti and Piero Montanari. The title referred to Gaetano's fondness for his grandmother Marianna, who used to play with him as a child, but it was also interpreted as a pun on loving marijuana.

In 1974 he published his first album, Ingresso libero, to little commercial and critical success; however, the LP featured the same eccentric style that would go on to characterize his career. Success came the following year with the 45 rpm record "Ma il cielo è sempre più blu"; on the album, Gaetano mixed his unique musical talent with a typical "man from the street" attitude and socialistic ideals (then very common among the Italian youth). In 1976 his song "Berta filava" also became very popular, with a long pun on "the good old' times" when Berta would work hard and go out with men.

In 1978 Gaetano took part in the Sanremo Music Festival performing the song "Gianna" and reaching third place after Anna Oxa and Matia Bazar. Gaetano had originally planned to perform "Nuntereggae più", which was a highly-innovative (for the times) half-sung/half-spoken proto-rap against several Italian sportsmen, politicians and other high-profile figures; producers of the show refused to let him sing that one, pointing out that it also mentioned the then-active Red Brigades, so he picked "Gianna" instead. The song went on to dominate the charts for several weeks.

An extremely versatile artist, he played the role of the Fox from Pinocchio in a movie directed by Carmelo Bene and filmed in Rome during 1981.

His career was cut short by a car accident at the age of 30. On June 2, 1981, his car (a Volvo 343) crashed into a truck on the Via Nomentana street in Rome. After the crash, Gaetano was reportedly injured but still alive, but was then rejected by five hospitals, and died on the way to a sixth. He was buried in Verano Cemetery, just a few days before his wedding date. One of his own songs, "La canzone di Renzo", featured a similar death for one of the characters.

According to his friend and colleague Antonello Venditti, Gaetano, a noted cocaine consumer,^{[citation needed]} was under the influence^{[citation needed]} while at the wheel; his sister and family, however, reject the claim.

The first book on his life, also the first official biography, was published in 2001, 20 years after his death.

A a two-episodes TV movie about Rino Gaetano's life aired on RAI 1, on 11–12 November 2007.

Discography[link]

Studio albums[link]

• Ingresso libero (1974)
• Mio fratello è figlio unico (1976)
• Aida (1977)
• Nuntereggae più (1978)
• Resta vile maschio, dove vai? (1979)
• E io ci sto (1980)

Live albums[link]

• Q Concert (1981, with Riccardo Cocciante and New Perigeo)

Compilations[link]

• Gianna e le altre (1990; includes the previously unreleased "Solo con io" and "Le beatitudini")
• Superbest (1996)
• La storia
• Sotto i cieli di Rino (2003)
• Live & Rarities (2009, with some unpublished tracks)

Singles[link]

• "I love you Marianna" (1973)
• "Jaqueline" (1973)
• "Ma il cielo è sempre più blu" (1975), in two parts
• "Visto che mi vuoi lasciare" (1978)
• "Resta vile maschio, dove vai?" (1979)
• "Solo con io" (1980)
• "Le beatitudini" (1981)
• "Gianna" (1978)

Movie[link]

• Rino Gaetano. Ma il cielo è sempre più blu - Raifiction, 2007

Sources[link]

This article does not cite any references or sources. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (October 2010)

Further reading[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Rino Gaetano