Her debutwas as the title role in the TV series Gidget (1965-66), which was about a boy-crazy southern California surfer girl. Next came her role as Sister Bertrille in The Flying Nun (1967-70), which was about a nun whose habit permitted her to fly. Sally's first feature film was The Way West in 1967.
Sally hoped to persue more serious acting after type-casting experienced after The Flying Nun, so she studied for three years at the Actor's Studio. She returned to television in Alias Smith and Jones (1971-73) and later The Girl with Something Extra (1973-74). In 1977, she won her first Emmy for her title role in Sybil. In 1979, she won the Best Actress Academy Award (Oscar) and a Cannes Best Actress Prize for her famed title role as labor union organizer Norma Rae.It was upon winning her second Academy Award for Places in the Heart (1984), that she made her well-remembered acceptance speech, which ended:
"I can't deny the fact that you like me! You really like me!"
In 1989, Sally played a doting housewife and mother in Steel Magnolias, co-starring with Julia Roberts, Shirley MacLaine, Daryl Hannah, Dolly Parton, and Olympia Dukakis. Performances in the 1990's included Mrs. Doubtfire (1993), in which Sally played the ex-wife of cross-dresser Robin Williams, and her performance as the mother of Tom Hanks' title character in Forrest Gump (1994). She also starred in Soapdish (1991), with Whoopi Goldberg and Kevin Kline, Not Without My Daughter (1991), and the thriller Eye for An Eye (1996), with Kiefer Sutherland.
Sally has her own production company, Fogwood Films, and has produced several films, including the following; Dying Young (1991), A Woman of Independent Means (TV miniseries, 1995), and The Christmas Tree (TV, 1996). Her directing projects for television include The Christmas Tree (1996) and an episode of From the Earth to the Moon (1998), in which she worked again with Tom Hanks. In 2000, Sally starred in Where the Heart Is with Natalie Portman, Ashley Judd, Joan Cusack, and Stockard Channing. She also directed her first feature film, Beautiful (2000), with Minnie Driver.
Sally was linked romantically with Burt Reynolds in the 1970s and 1980s. The two were involved in a very visible, long-term relationship after she co-starred with him in 1977's Smokey and the Bandit. It was rumored that they would marry, however, they never did. Instead, Sally was married to screenwriter Steven Craig (from 1968 to 1975) and had two sons, Peter and Eli. Eli (a.k.a. Elijah Craig) recently made his acting debut as "Chuck" in The Rage: Carrie 2. Sally was married to producer Alan Greisman from 1984 to 1993 and had another son, Samuel.
Sally's latest project is the film Say It Isn't So!
which opened March 23rd in the U.S. She will also return for three more "ER" episodes, beginning April 26th.
Sally has signed on to be in a new ABC drama called "The Bench."
The May 2001 issue of Reader's Digest includes an interview with Sally.
