The son of Sally Field has a theory about why he is gay that involves his mother's 1989 film Steel Magnolias. Field starred in the iconic film about a group of women coping following a devastating death, a movie that wrapped when her son Sam Greisman was just six months old.
It is a movie Field has fond memories of filming, and one that she frequently brought baby Greisman onto the set of, she has revealed to People. Now Field has revealed her son believes he may be gay as a result of all the time he spent on the set.
'He was on the set all the time and my friends took care of him. Sam has always said that that's probably why he's gay,' she told the outlet. Sam was even present at a party celebrating the film's wrap.
'There's a picture that I have hanging in my little office. It's of Shirley and Dolly and Julia and we're looking off because it was the wrap party and there was a big band, so it's all of our tight headshots, and on my chest is my little son Sam because he was six months old,' she said.
Field still looks back warmly on her time filming Steel Magnolias and the friendships she forged with her co-stars.
'We loved each other, all of us, we all just completely adored each other,' she said. 'We would go shopping on the weekends, all together! Even Dolly sometimes. We'd go to the market, we'd play games, we'd all get together at somebody's house.'
Actress Sally was just a teenager when she got her big break by wearing a bikini to play surfer Gidget in a 1960s TV series. She went on to star in Smokey and the Bandit with Burt Reynolds, and even dated him for several years. In his tell-all book, he called Field the love of his life.
A massive Hollywood career followed as she starred in Norma Rae, and worked with Julia Roberts and Dolly Parton on Steel Magnolias. Sally was born in Pasadena, California, and began her career on television, starring in the comedies Gidget (1965–1966), The Flying Nun (1967–1970), and The Girl with Something Extra (1973–1974).
She received the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Limited Series or Movie for the NBC television film Sybil (1976). Her film debut was as an extra in Moon Pilot (1962). That was followed by starring roles in The Way West (1967), Stay Hungry (1976), Smokey and the Bandit (1977), Heroes (1977), The End (1978), and Hooper (1978).
She won two Academy Awards for Best Actress for Norma Rae (1979) and Places in the Heart (1984). Other notable roles include in Smokey and the Bandit II (1980), Absence of Malice (1981), Kiss Me Goodbye (1982), Murphy's Romance (1985), Steel Magnolias (1989), Soapdish (1991), Mrs. Doubtfire (1993), and Forrest Gump (1994).
In 1985, she co-starred with James Garner in the romantic comedy Murphy's Romance. The following year, Field appeared on the cover of the March 1986 issue of Playboy magazine, in which she was the interview subject but she did not pose nude. In the 2000s, Field joined drama ER then starred in the series Brothers & Sisters (2006–2011).
From 1976 to 1980, Field had a relationship with Burt Reynolds, during which time they co-starred in four films: Smokey and the Bandit, Smokey and the Bandit II, The End, and Hooper. Following their 1980 breakup, Field and Reynolds continued to date on and off before splitting permanently in 1982. Field married her second husband, Alan Greisman, in 1984. Together, they had one son, Sam (b. 1987). Field and Greisman divorced in 1994.
