Shirley Anne Field Dies: ‘Alfie’, ‘Saturday Night And Sunday Morning’, ‘Santa Barbara’ Actor Was 87

Greg Evans
·2 min read
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British actor Shirley Anne Field, whose long career included memorable performances in such 1960s classic Angry Young Men genre dramas as Saturday Night and Sunday Morning and Alfie — as well as a pivotal, several-month stint on the NBC soap Santa Barbara — died Sunday, Dec. 10, of natural causes. She was 87.

Her family announced her passing In a statement to the BBC. “It is with great sadness that we are sharing the news that Shirley Anne Field passed away peacefully on Sunday… surrounded by her family and friends. Shirley Anne will be greatly missed and remembered for her unbreakable spirit and her amazing legacy spanning more than five decades on stage and screen.”

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Shirley Anne Field, Albert Finney, ‘Saturday Night And Sunday Morning’ (1960)
Shirley Anne Field, Albert Finney, ‘Saturday Night And Sunday Morning’ (1960)

Born June 27, 1936, in the Forest Gate district of East London, Field began working as a model in the early 1950, moving into acting by the middle of the decade with roles in such films as Loser Takes All and It’s A Wonderful World (both 1956).

In 1960 she had several roles – including in the unnerving horror film Peeping Tom that would later go on to become a cult favorite – before her breakthrough performance as Tina Lapford opposite Laurence Olivier The Entertainer, also released in 1960.

Shirley Anne Field, ‘Santa Barbara’ (1987)
Shirley Anne Field, ‘Santa Barbara’ (1987)

An acting career of more than 50 years followed, with film credits including Saturday Night and Sunday Morning starring Albert Finney (1960) The Damned (1962), Alfie (1966), House of the Living Dead (1974) and, in 1986, the Daniel Day-Lewis arthouse hit My Beautiful Laundrette. TV credits over the decades include a 1987 stint as Pamela Capwell Conrad the on American soap Santa Barbara, and appearances on Murder, She Wrote, Bramwell, and a recurring role on Where the Heart Is in 2001. Her final credit was the short film Beautiful Relics in 2014.

Information on survivors was not immediately available.

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