Sally Field's Transformation To Gray Hair Has Been Stunning

After emerging on the scene in the 1960s, Sally Field became one of the most acclaimed movie stars in the world in the '70s and '80s. Field's life has not always been easy, and she definitely faced some hurdles early in her career, which is why people loved to root for her when she was at the height of Hollywood. In the decades since she won her second Academy Award, she has continued to prove why she is considered one of the best actresses of all time.

Nowadays, Field may appear in fewer movies and television shows, and a lot of time has passed since audiences fawned over her in the '70s and '80s, but she still commands the spotlight when she makes a public appearance. In recent years, Field has proudly showcased her gray hair, which has been inspiring to see. The actress still looks stunning with gray hair, but let's take a look back at her career and see all the other hairstyles Field has worn over the years.

Sally Field started acting at a young age. She was just 18 years old when she got cast in "Gidget," in which she played the lead character who was growing up on the beaches in Malibu. Even though the series only lasted one season, Field caught the attention of viewers, and it served as her breakthrough in the entertainment industry. In the show, the actress had a classic bouffant haircut that fell just above her shoulders. The bouffant style allowed her hair to puff up at the top, which was a popular look for women in the 1960s.

In various episodes of the short-lived series, Field can also be seen rocking pigtails, which perfectly showcased her character's youth and bubbly personality. With this classic '60s hairstyle, it was hard not to be enamored by the up-and-coming actress, which is likely why she was cast in another sitcom not long after "Gidget" was canceled in 1966.

After "Gidget," Sally Field played the main character in "The Flying Nun," which ran from 1967 to 1970. Unfortunately, unlike in her first sitcom, Field's hair was covered most of the time in "The Flying Nun." This is because her character wore a cornette, a piece of headwear that nuns wear. The protruding sides of the cornette were meant to resemble horns, but Field's hat in the sitcom looked more like wings. Wearing her cornette, her character could actually fly when the winds were strong in "The Flying Nun." Therefore, even though her bangs can always be seen in her costume, Field didn't really have a chance to show off any distinctive hairstyles in this show.

While the young actress enjoyed starring in "Gidget," Field has been open about how much she disliked working on "The Flying Nun." In fact, she actually wanted to turn down the part, but her stepfather pressured her to accept it. In an interview in O, The Oprah Magazine, she said, "I didn't want to do it. I was trying to figure out who I was, but I knew who I wasn't: a flying nun. I was almost 19, and my sexuality needed to be explored. So I said no, which I thought was incredibly brave. But my stepfather said, 'Don't get on your high horse. If you don't take this part, you may never work again.'"

After her time on "The Flying Nun" in the late '60s, Field knew she wanted to leave television behind and star in movies. At the time, she was concerned that she was going to constantly be typecast and never be able to escape television. Therefore, in the '70s, the actress tried to reinvent herself, and this started with changing her hairstyle.

Instead of keeping the shorter hairstyle she had in the '60s, she grew out her hair as she was in her 20s and starting to seriously pursue movie stardom. She garnered much acclaim and even won an Emmy for the 1976 made-for-television movie "Sybil," in which Field played a character who suffers from dissociative identity disorder. In a 1977 interview with The New York Times, the actress claimed that "Sybil" proved "that the all‐American girl next door can also be crazy, wacko." Following the success of "Sybil," Field starred in several other movies in the late '70s, such as "Smokey and the Bandit," "Heroes," and "Norma Rae," which earned her the first of two Academy Awards.

While Sally Field was mostly known as a beautiful movie star in the '70s, she is nearly unrecognizable in "Norma Rae." In the film, Field plays a working-class woman who is underpaid at a textile mill and tries to rally her coworkers to unionize. It wouldn't have made sense for Field to stun in this role with her flowing hair and movie star looks, so she has a much more rough-around-the-edges look in "Norma Rae."

In certain scenes in the movie, Field looks like she hasn't showered in days, which may be why her character's hair tends to be up in a bun. Just like "Sybil," "Norma Rae" made viewers take Field seriously as an actress. She won best actress at the Cannes Film Festival, where the film premiered, and ended up winning her first Oscar, as well. By the late '70s, after the release of "Norma Rae," it was clear that Field was far from the girl who starred in various silly sitcoms in the '60s.

Thanks to the acclaim she earned from "Norma Rae," Sally Field was one of the most popular actresses of the 1980s. She fully embraced being at the center of Hollywood in the early '80s; she starred in several major movies, had a relationship with fellow actor and frequent collaborator Burt Reynolds (which drew a lot of attention from the press), and even got the chance to meet Queen Elizabeth II.

She had a brief chat with Queen Elizabeth II at a screening of "Absence of Malice," which Field starred in, in 1982. For this screening, Field wore a gorgeous teal gown and had her long hair in an updo style, which successfully showcased a more sophisticated and mature side of her personality. Field and the late Queen Elizabeth II looked like they could've been sisters when they were photographed smiling at each other at the screening.

Sally Field underwent a significant transformation away from her brunette locks and had curly blond hair in the 1984 movie "Places in the Heart," which earned her her second Academy Award. She kept this hairstyle for several months after the movie was released, and still rocked it onstage when she accepted her Oscar. On a quick glance, Field looks more like a 1980s Meg Ryan lookalike while celebrating at Hollywood's most prominent award ceremony. However, this look cannot be ignored since Field's Oscar acceptance speech is easily one of the most infamous moments of her career.

As reported by Vanity Fair, during her speech, Field said, "I haven't had an orthodox career, and I've wanted more than anything to have your respect. This time I feel it. And I can't deny the fact that you like me. Right now, you like me!" Even though she was clearly overwhelmed by joy since she earned the respect of her peers, this speech has become a recurring gag in pop culture, and Field is often misquoted as saying, "You like me. You really, really like me." This running joke may sometimes annoy Field, but at least she looked stunning with her blond curls on the stage.

About a year after winning her second Oscar, Sally Field posed for the cover of the March 1986 issue of Playboy magazine, which solidified her as a major sex symbol of the '80s. This cover proves that the actress hadn't fully transitioned back to her long brown hair yet after undergoing her transformation for "Places in the Heart."

At this point in time, Field stunned with a shoulder-length haircut. Some of her natural brunette was starting to sneak its way back, but she had clearly not fully abandoned her blond look yet. Therefore, on the cover of Playboy, Field smiled with a somewhat shaggy, dirty blond hairstyle. Much like her look during her second Oscar acceptance speech, this hairstyle is so interesting to see on Field since it is not what most fans would associate her with when they think of the actress.

In the late '80s and early '90s, Field usually sported her typical long brunette hair. However, she once again went back to short hair for "Mrs. Doubtfire," which was released in 1993. "Mrs. Doubtfire" was just one of many supporting roles Field had in the '90s. During this decade, the actress may not have been at the pinnacle of Hollywood anymore, like she was in the '80s, but she could still easily steal scenes in films.

Since Robin Williams was such a beloved actor, Mrs. Doubtfire may actually be one of the movies from which Field is most recognized. In the film, Field sports a shoulder-length bob haircut that was quite popular in the '90s. This hairstyle is actually reminiscent of Field's look in "Gidget" and some of her other early roles, so this was likely very exciting for longtime fans of the actress.

In addition to "Mrs. Doubtfire," "Forrest Gump" was one of Sally Field's standout supporting roles in the '90s. In the film, she played the mother of the titular character, which is interesting since she is only ten years older than Tom Hanks in real life. Furthermore, she previously played Hanks' love interest in the 1988 movie "Punchline." Even though her character was supposed to be slightly older than Hanks' in "Punchline," many people still raised their eyebrows when she was cast as his mother in "Forrest Gump."

In fact, some critics argued that Field's casting in "Forrest Gump" was a result of ageism and argued that the actress shouldn't have been confined to motherly roles just because she was over 40 years of age. However, Field pushed back on this argument in an interview with Newsweek and claimed that it made perfect sense for her to play Hanks' mother because of the structure of "Forrest Gump's" story. She said, "When we did 'Forrest Gump,' I play a younger version of myself when he was a little boy. Then I age in the middle when he's a young man and then I go to very old. So it was a great opportunity to play with those three ages of, without prosthetics and things." Since this was the case, she sports many different hairstyles in the movie. When she's playing an older version of Forrest's mother, she even wears a gray wig, which teased what Field would look like in her old age.

Since she is a natural brunette, it was surprising to see Field embrace a blond look in the '80s. However, it was perhaps even more shocking when Field made a public appearance with a hint of red in her hair in the early 2000s. In 2002, Field attended the White House Correspondents' Dinner with one of her sons, Eli Craig. In photos from the evening, Field's hair is arguably the lightest it's ever been in her professional career.

Admittedly, it doesn't seem like the actress was purposefully going for a ginger look on this particular evening. However, in a certain light, it can't be denied that her hair looks more red than brunette. This look proves that Field can pull off just about any hair color, be that brunette or blond, red or gray.

Even though Field's hair looked more auburn than usual in 2002, she mostly stuck with a brunette look in the early 2000s. After playing both leading and supporting characters in major movies since the late '70s, Field actually returned to television at the turn of the century. Firstly, she had a recurring role in "ER" from 2000 to 2006. Then, she starred as Nora Walker in "Brothers & Sisters," which ran from 2006 to 2011. Both of these roles earned her Emmy wins, further proving that she's been one of the most successful actors in Hollywood for the last 50-plus years.

During this time, Field usually played it quite safe with longer hair. Even though she was taking fewer risks, this was a mature look that consistently showed off her natural beauty. Sometimes, simple is better, and Field definitely proved that she could still turn heads as she walked red carpets and earned acclaim for her various shows in the early 2000s.

In the years following the finale of "Brothers & Sisters," Sally Field embraced her movie stardom once again by appearing in a few major releases. Firstly, she played Aunt May in both "The Amazing Spider-Man" movies, two projects that she didn't necessarily enjoy starring in. Then, she starred as Mary Todd Lincoln in Steven Spielberg's "Lincoln," which almost earned her a third Academy Award. After appearing in these movies, it became evident that some gray was sneaking into Field's hair.

One of the first times these streaks of gray were noticeable was when Field received the National Medal of Arts at the White House in 2015. During the ceremony, then-President Barack Obama honored Field and even said, "We like you. We really like you." This award proved just how much the actress has contributed to the entertainment industry, and it was nice to see her embrace her natural hair as she accepted it.

In recent years, Sally Field hasn't appeared in as many movies and television shows as she used to. In an interview with Closer Weekly in 2018, not long after the release of her memoir "In Pieces," the actress revealed that she never intended the book to be her "swan song." At the time, she admitted that she still has a desire to act but is definitely much pickier about the projects she chooses, saying, "I'm finding it harder and harder for projects to pull me out of my place to want to go be in that world again. Acting will always be, always be my lifeline."

Since this statement, Field has only appeared in two movies: 2022's "Spoiler Alert" and 2023's "80 for Brady," in which she starred alongside fellow Hollywood legends like Jane Fonda, Lily Tomlin, and Rita Moreno. These are two of the only movies in which Field can be seen with mostly gray hair. In "80 for Brady," specifically, it's obvious that Field had a blast sharing the screen with her co-stars, all while rocking a gray wig, proving that she can still command the screen in her old age.

While she was technically wearing a wig in "80 for Brady," it has become clear that Sally Field has stopped dyeing her hair and now rocks the gray look in her everyday life. She has fully embraced her gray roots while making several public appearances in 2025. Firstly, she radiated while attending a special screening of "Clown in a Cornfield" in May 2025. Then, at the Television Academy's 27th Annual Hall of Fame Ceremony in August 2025, her gray hair looked incredible paired with a blue and black dress and an eye-catching pearl necklace.

Field's look in recent years proves that she hasn't been afraid to embrace her gray hair. In an interview with NPR in 2016, she commented on the press coverage that she was receiving for her graying hair, saying, "I appreciate them saying [that wearing gray hair is 'brave'] rather than them trying to chop me to pieces. But I'm an old woman, 70 is old, and that's okay. I've gathered strength behind my years, I owned them, I've earned them, I've deserved them, I have a right to have them ... Behind my years I have value that doesn't come when you're 50 or 40 or 30 or 20, it doesn't come until you've been in that saddle for a number of years."

Based on these comments, it's clear that Field has a healthy relationship with her gray hair, rather than letting her natural roots make her insecure. Furthermore, she has embraced the aging process as a whole and owns the wisdom that she has garnered over her many years in the entertainment industry. Field has undoubtedly come a long way from playing bubbly teenage characters in the late '60s, and it's great to still see her stun on red carpets as she approaches her 80s.