After Sally Field’s parents divorced, her mother married actor and stuntman Jock Mahoney, known for playing Tarzan. In her 2018 memoir, “In Pieces,” Field revealed that Mahoney sexually abused her until she was 14. “I felt both a child, helpless, and not a child. Powerful. This was power. And I owned it. But I wanted to be a child — and yet,” she wrote, as excerpted by Vulture.
In a 2008 interview with Oprah Winfrey for O, The Oprah Magazine, Field recounted how her stepfather would occasionally become physically abusive as well. “There was always the threat of violence in the air, and a few times, it turned physical. I never felt safe,” she said. As Field grew older, she gravitated toward acting.
Not only was the theatrical arts something she grew up around with her actor mother, but it also proved to be a solace from her unhappy home life. “In high school, acting is what I did to stay sane,” she explained in the interview. “It wasn’t about showing off; it was about revealing parts of myself that I couldn’t reveal anyplace else.” When Field was honored by her former high school in 2010 by naming its performing arts theater after her, she recalled (via CBS News) how the school’s drama department had “quite simply saved [her] life.”
If you or anyone you know has been a victim of sexual assault, help is available. Visit the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network website or contact RAINN’s National Helpline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673).
