Shirley Anne Field, the English actress who made waves in the 1960s for her star roles in for her film roles in The Entertainer and Alfie, died on Sunday at 87.
Field’s family wrote in a statement that she “passed away peacefully” with her family and friends at her side.
“Shirley Anne will be greatly missed and remembered for her unbreakable spirit and her amazing legacy,” the family said. A cause of death was not released.
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Field, a London native whose home was bombed during the Second World War, was raised in an orphanage. At five years old, she was too young to be evacuated with her older siblings when war broke out, and she lost ties with her mother and siblings into her 30s, she told the Glasgow Times in 2017.
Field modeled in her teenage years and was once crowned “Miss London” before her career as an actress launched, first with minor roles in the late 1950s.
Field’s breakout role came in the 1960 drama The Entertainer. She starred six years later opposite Michael Caine as Carla in Alfie, which was nominated for five Academy Awards.
She starred in movies and TV shows well into the 21st century, including appearances on Doctors (2010), Waking the Dead (2003), and The Kid (2010).
In total, Field’s family said she starred on “stage and screen” for more than five decades. Her last performance came in 2014 when she played a lead role in Beautiful Relics, a short film where a girl’s memories and imagination came to life as she helped her grandmother search for the places from her childhood. It was named the best short film at the Cornwall Film Festival.
