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Punched off a Train by Clint Eastwood and the Path to Resilience | Stuntwoman Marneen Fields

Susan Lambert Hatem: Hello listeners. You know, Sharon and I went back and forth on whether we should record something and we really didn't know what to say. But at the same time, I hate to not say anything. So I'm going to paraphrase some quotes I found online and I hope it's helpful. In the darkest of times, hope has the power to sustain us. Hope is the pathway to resilience. When the world is experiencing great turmoil, please remember that humanity's strength lies in resilience and our unwavering spirit to overcome.  

Throughout the span of history, people have faced unimaginable challenges and have emerged stronger. Acts of kindness, compassion and bravery have shone brightly even in the most despairing moments. In the face of adversity, communities must come together, individuals must rise to the occasion and stories of hope must be found. They are all around, even when overshadowed by anguish and feelings of hopelessness.  

You are not alone. Collective action can give us purpose and healing in fearful times. Prioritize your mental and physical health. Be in the world, look for joy, share a hug. Together we look for ways toward healing, restoring our faith in humanity and moving forward.

Melissa Roth: Weirding wing media.

[Music] [Singing] Amy Englehardt: 80s TV Ladies, So sexy and so pretty. 80s TV Ladies, Steppin’ out into the city. 80s TV Ladies, often treated kind of sh-[wolf whistle]. Working hard for the money in a man’s world. 80s TV Ladies!

Melissa Roth: Welcome to 80s TV Ladies where we look back in order to leap forward. Here are your hosts, Susan Lambert, Hatem and Sharon Johnson.

Susan Lambert Hatem: Hello, I'm Susan.

Sharon Johnson: And I'm Sharon. You know Susan, you missed a lot when you missed the 40th anniversary of Scarecrow and Mrs. King reunion last October.

Susan Lambert Hatem: Yes, Sharon, and it's not something I feel bad about at all. Just because you and Melissa met Martha Smith, Bruce Boxleitner, Eugenie Ross Lemming, Brad Buckner and so many of our fans in person. And I didn't. I'm perfectly fine with that.

Sharon Johnson: Ah, well, it was for a good cause. In your case. I mean, I totally understand, totally, totally understand your feeling, but we also had the opportunity to meet an amazing lady that we're going to be talking about today.

Susan Lambert Hatem: Would she be an amazing 80s TV lady?

Sharon Johnson: By goodness, yes, she is. Absolutely. I love that.

Susan Lambert Hatem: Who is it, Sharon?

Sharon Johnson: Her name is Marneen Fields and she's an award-winning actress, singer and stuntwoman. She started working in television in 1976 and went on to appear in over 150 films, TV series, music videos and worked with actors and producers like Clint Eastwood, Stanley Kramer, Priscilla Presley, Tom Jones.

Susan Lambert Hatem: James Garner, Shirley Jones, Michael Caine, Jeff Goldblum, Dick Van Dyke and of course, Bruce Boxleitner. She was a stuntwoman on shows like Scarecrow, Mrs. King, Lou Grant, Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew Mysteries, The Man from Atlantis, The Fall Guy, Murder, She Wrote, Dynasty and a ton of films, including Clint Eastwood's The Gauntlet.

Sharon Johnson: Ms. Fields is also a screenwriter, songwriter, composer, singer and author. Her story is a fascinating one of talent and resilience.

Susan Lambert Hatem: We are thrilled to welcome Marneen Fields to 80s TV. Ladies, thank you for joining us.

Marneen Fields: Thank you very much for having me. I'm so thrilled.

Sharon Johnson: We're so happy to finally have the chance to talk with you and hear all about your life and various careers.

Marneen Fields: Yes.

Sharon Johnson: Because you've done so many things. You're a singer, a songwriter, you're a filmmaker, you're an actress, and you've been a stunt woman. So many different things. By any chance, do you have a favorite or any of those at the top of your list of things that.

Marneen Fields: You do well, anything to do with music? Singing, is my passion, and it's where it's most challenging for me, and it's what I always wanted to do since I was a little girl. I wanted to be a famous singer since first grade,

00:05:00

Marneen Fields: and I learned my first song, but I didn't think I could make it. And while I was in college on a gymnastics scholarship, I would go past the music room, and I always wanted to be in there. Instead of going to the gym to do the gymnastics, I wanted to be the girl at the piano doing all the scales. So it took a long time. And after a bad car accident that ended my stunt career and derailed my acting career temporarily, I got in touch with my childhood dream of becoming a singer.

Susan Lambert Hatem: That's amazing.

Sharon Johnson: Do you remember what it was when you were a child that made you think, oh, my gosh, I'd love to be a singer. I'd love to do this?

Marneen Fields: Well, in, first grade, they passed out instruments. And I was late that day. And I don't know why I was late, but I was late to school. And when I got there, all they had left was, and I'm little, you know, and all they had was a giant string bass. And so that was my instrument. And I took it back and forth to school. And kids in the neighborhood, neighborhood in Culver City, they still remember me dragging that bass back and forth to school every day in the little red wagon. And I was playing keyboards in my room, and I was also taking clarinet lessons. So everything.  

My dad was a square dance caller and, a country western singer, and he had the first national TV show in the 50s, based out of Minot, North Dakota. And so he said, At 2 years old, I used to tap him on the foot and say, no, daddy, it goes like this. I'd listen to him practice. And both my parents had beautiful voices, and my brothers, too. Real talented as singers and actors and speakers. And one, of my brothers is a comedian. And so it was always in the family. But it was that day in school and it was row, row, row your boat. And they passed out the music, and we did it in a round. Half did row, row, row your boat Row, row, row. And we went around. And it was just. Nothing else touched my heart as much. Growing up. Every song was my favorite song.  

And I had not lost my hearing yet. I didn't lose the left ear of my hearing till 18, and then I didn't lose half of the right ear until the 2000s. I remember I was in the. I was sweeping the garage one day, and what came on was, I love you more today than yesterday. And I was just. I went crazy. And so I knew at that moment, sweeping the garage and spinning around with the broom and that I was a musical performing artist. And I still love rock opera. And I hope I've got a lot of songs coming forward, and I hope, you know, the world gets to hear more of what I've composed. And it, you know, I still do a lot of other things, but that's my favorite.

Sharon Johnson: And no stage fright, is it? As a kid, I know for me, that was always a big deal. Performing in front of people or getting up in front of people always gave me pause.

Marneen Fields: Oh, well, that, you know, that is such a great question, because nobody's asked me that. But there was, you know, I was like, in Girl Scouts and Brownies, I think this was in Brownies. And they chose me to do the color guards progression. And they're going to take the stage and all this. And so I got out on the stage and I said. I was supposed to say, color guards advance, and everyone was going to, And instead I came out on the stage. And this is typical of me still to today. I can make these kind of errors. I say, color guards dismissed. Nobody. No, no, nobody advanced.  

And so that was really frightening for me. I don't have any stage right now because of the years that have gone into all of this from the gymnastics and. But that memory always sticks with me that I'm going to get up there and I'm going to end it before it begins.

Sharon Johnson: But you didn't let it stop you, which clearly. So that's great.

Marneen Fields: Well, yeah, I didn't let it stop me, but. Oh. Oh, my God. There. I still remember that day, if I think about it, and the embarrassment.

Susan Lambert Hatem: I'm curious. I want to go back to. You lost your hearing. You were a stunt woman without hearing. Like, does that affect your balance and just really your ability to work?

Marneen Fields: Yeah, that's very true. Well, I lost all the hearing in the left ear at 18 years old. And it took 80 decibels, just leaving a fraction without entering the equilibrium nerves. Had it killed the equilibrium

00:10:00

Marneen Fields: nerves, I would not be Marneen Fields because I was a champion college gymnast on balance beam, then also floor exercise. What got me to be the number one gymnast at Utah State University was I was able to perform moves similar to Olga Corbett, if you remember her, those back layouts to the straddle. And I practiced real hard. for it. I would have been better as a swimmer. I probably could have made the Olympics. But, yeah, it affected. I was on a show and I remember that I went the wrong way. So I got really worried that had that been explosions and I went the wrong way or I didn't hear. But then shortly after that, I had the car accident and my stunt career was ended overnight as quickly as it had begun. And, my stunt career and stunt acting, that's like a wonder to behold, which you guys know. You know, it's like, oh, my God. And my phone rang off the hook for 15 years. Can you do this? Can you. Are you available? Can you do this? Can you do this? And it was so exciting. And all the stars.  

And then as I had the car accident, the career ended as suddenly overnight. And the phone didn't ring again for 12 years as I went through horrific abdominal operations, fighting for my life. And that's when I crawled to the microphone and sat on my bed and learned 150 songs. And I said, if I ever get back on my feet, I'm going to sing. And, I never thought I'd get back on my feet. But in 1999, I met a doctor who saved my life. He performed the final operation. And this was five major abdominal operations, losing everything internally. UCLA would not do the surgery. They said it was too dangerous. And he did it. I survived and I was healed by Jesus. And I got stronger. And, I've been pain free and got back on my feet, got baptized. And it's just a miracle, but it's been very difficult.

Susan Lambert Hatem: Yeah. How do you like. That's. That's a Lot. You seem like a very persistent person. I'm always curious about how strong stunt women are and how much they risk in terms of injury and then recovery. And what you go through in healing from stuff is you always have that sort of the. The dark night of the soul.

Sharon Johnson: Right.

Susan Lambert Hatem: In the times that I've been injured or sick or not. Well, you really have to push through. How do you do that? What works for you?

Marneen Fields: Well, I love that term, dark night of the soul. Wow. Because I was The Fall Girl, something always went wrong. But I wasn't badly injured. I would recover. There were lots of whiplashes. There were lots of bruises. Like, I fought with Freddy Krueger, and his steel fingernails. And they always put the woman, they had me in a pair of shorts. And we did this fight scene. And so I got home, I had massive bruises. But, you know, all that mattered that day was that after we did that fight so many times, I felt like a champion. I like, you know, wow. But the car accident, which I was.

Susan Lambert Hatem: Hit, which was not. It was not a film. You had a. Just a car accident. Yeah.

Marneen Fields: I was just driving home one day, and an uninsured motorist in a big white truck ran a red light in the rain. And I was the second car through the light. And it just so happens it was on Vineland and Moorpark in Studio City. And there was a dip. I'd probably be dead. But he came, he took the. He hit me right here. I looked up, I said, oh, my God, he's going to hit me. And I went. I felt an angel in the car. First of all, I felt a very powerful force in that car. And I turned my back. All I could think of was to turn my back, like as if it was a high fall, and give him. Give my back. And I was strong, little champion. I was solid. M. But I was real tiny. I had the little popeye muscles, 115 pounds. And I turned my back, but as he came through the front door, and he took the whole left side of the car off, and I got shoved somehow into the gear shift, and my seat snapped, and the seat belt locked me in, and he. Then I hit the dip. So he then slid in the back door, and the whole back door

00:15:00

Marneen Fields: sliced the back seat. So if anyone would have been sitting there, they'd be dead completely. But, then it spun the car, so there was this horrible vertigo. And it took me a block, like a whole block, and I ended up somewhere. And the next thing I remember, the bluest eyes. Are you okay. These gorgeous blue eyes. And he got me cut out of the seatbelt. And the ambulance came. They transferred me. Hospitals. I was in and out of consciousness for, like, five days. I don't remember being transferred from hospitals. And that's. That's when things were really bad.  

And I laid in neck and pelvic traction for 10 months in the hospital. I didn't know what. And I got out of that. And it took me a year to hang laundry again because my arms were on the steering wheel. But I started to get stronger. And about two years into it, I went back to work. And so I would get on stage to do my theater stuff, and I couldn't remember the lines, so I went on large doses of vitamins and choline and inositol to get my brain functioning back. And I'll still mess up. I still get.  

You know, I went back to work, you know, on Fall Guy and didn't do real hard stuff. But then I got called to play a Murder, She Wrote, doubling Linda Hamilton from the Terminator as a tennis pro. So I was real good at tennis, and I was, like, almost a pro from high school. And so I got out there, and I'm the tennis pro. And at one point, I go up for the ball, and I just kind of fall back. Well, I hit my bottom, and I'm there on the set. And I went into the most excruciating pain. And I didn't dare tell anyone.  

So I got into the bathtub that night, and my stomach now had blown up the size of a watermelon. And I'm like, oh, no, something's really wrong. So we called the ambulance, and they rushed me in emergency surgery. And for 12 years, I had a bleeding disorder and in heights of excruciating pain.  

And so I lived on my residuals, and I took work as a spiritual, advisor. Laying on my bed, sitting on my bed, and still trying to bring money in, Just losing everything. no one will ever know. And when I moved, I would have to get down on the floor and push the boxes with my legs. I was too weak to stand up. When you go through 12 years of that, you come out of it very peaceful, and you come out of it. I was never violent to begin with, but you don't have a lot of the negative emotions that other people are running around with because you've barely made. You know, it's a miracle.

Sharon Johnson: But it would be really, I think, understandable if, having gone through all of that, you did or were still carrying A number of negative emotions. I think it's remarkable that you're not and how much better that makes things for you on a day to day basis.

Marneen Fields: So that's how I then became a songwriter is because during all this and crawling to the microphone, and learning, and I sang Barbra Streisand every day because I thought if I try hard enough, one day I'll sound like her. But you know what? I'll never say I don't have the instrument. I'm. I'm alto soprano. I do sing a few of her songs, but not either. You don't hear Barbra Streisand, but I was like, I will become the best singer I can be. Which is the same with gymnastics. I didn't do one hand standard flip flop. I did thousands upon thousands. And, you know, it sounds like you.

Susan Lambert Hatem: Were able to use that resilience to really focus on what you love and get better and better at it and sort of that constant seeking for stuff. I mean, it's just incredibly impressive. I'm incredibly. I. You know, my sister and I were talking about female stunt women and she's like, well, they're. And I'm. We're gonna have to bleep that because we don't have.

Marneen Fields: Yeah, I'm not your average stunt woman because I was so gentle and peaceful and I had the gymnastics talent. You know, I wasn't a motorcycle girl. I didn't grow up with horses. I had the swimming and the gymnastics and dance. but what's interesting is when you mentioned resilience. I created a short documentary about my life that I'm expanding into a full documentary, and it's the resilience of Marine Fields.

00:20:00

Susan Lambert Hatem: That's amazing. Well, so I have lots of, questions about the shows that you were on as a stunt woman. And I gotta tell you, you might be tiny and very filled with love, which I love, but you threw yourself around a lot.

Marneen Fields: It's unbelievable what I got called to do. You know, I did the feet first jump off the First Interstate bank building in a negligee and little fluffy slippers with a little heel. And that was 76 high at night.

Susan Lambert Hatem: Was that the Quincy one?

Marneen Fields: Yeah, the Quincy, Depth of Beauty.

Susan Lambert Hatem: Quincy, Depth of Beauty. Okay. How do you do that?

Marneen Fields: Mainly it's like, how did I get that job? I was, I was walking through the halls of Universal Studio. And what's so interesting is that sometimes I get stopped and people would say, you know, are you, Marneen Fields? Yes. And then one day I was stopped and she this girl says, what's your name? And I said, Marneen Fields. And she said, oh, you're in payroll every week. And I, you know, I worked all the time. So I was walking through the hall and a guy bolts out of the production office and he says, Marneen Fields, come here. He says, are you available Friday night? And I said, I thought about yes. And he says, are you able to do a high fall or high jump?

Susan Lambert Hatem: Sure.

Marneen Fields: Of course, I didn't think it was going to be 76 stories high on the edge of the building now. Now, the jump itself was only 20 or 30ft. And they brought in. It was in the gutter. And the building has since burned down, but it was the highest building. And just being on the ledge, and there's one photo up on my IMDb where I do three clips of that job and I have an arrow going to me way up there. And I'm like such a tiny speck. And I was on that ledge. And when I hit those boxes, they're supposed to collapse. Well, I hit the boxes and I started to bounce because I was so little and I'm in those heels. Luckily, I was a gymnast because I thought to sit my bottom down, otherwise I'd be dead. I would have went right off that edge. But many of my things were like that, and it was really frightening. And I was like kind of glancing down.

Susan Lambert Hatem: I do want to back up and start with where you started. So you were a gymnast and what made you decide to go into stunts?

Marneen Fields: Well, I was home from college on an ankle reconstruction surgery before any of this stunts took place. Somehow I did not ever say to myself, this can't be done. You've had that ankle surgery. This can't be done. You have this hearing impairment. This can't be done. It's just crazy, when you think about it now. But being a pioneering stunt woman, they didn't have things worked out back then. All of us, we all took it hard. We didn't have the airbag. I went into an airbag once as a gymnast. I had a spring floor once. I got to tumble one day on a spring floor. Whoa.  

The rest of it was all mine  - legs. And I got beat up by Wonder Woman on a show where I had to act like she had thrown me. No jerk off cables back then for use on me. I did high falls. I did a high fall from the boiler room swinging catwalk of the Queen Mary into only some blankets. Blankets because they couldn't get even a small twin mattress through the door. Well, here's some blankets to fall on 20ft.

Susan Lambert Hatem: What was that for?

Marneen Fields: Yeah, that was for Goliath Awaits.  

So I had this horrible ankle surgery which ended my last year of college at Utah State. My dad insisted that I come home to Ventura. And my older brother, Bobby Fields, he went down to a stunt school. Paul Stater Stunt School. And he says, I can't do this stuff, but my sister can. And so I went down and Paul Stater recognized a champion athlete and gymnast in me, took me under his wing and he discovered me. Paul Stater. And he discovered a lot of us, a lot of your most famous stuntmen, a few women, but mainly stunt men who became the top coordinators of the day. They came out of Paul's school and I was, 21 and Paul was already 65 or 67. And Paul did, we did a double person high dive with him over me, where we both go off the bridge at the same time on Man From Atlantis. And he was like 67 or something when he did that dive with me. And

00:25:00

Marneen Fields: just, an amazing man. And he got me into the Screen Actors Guild on a movie of the week called the Spell. I landed the acting role of one of the mischievous schoolmates. And then I also climbed the rope without my legs. But then I also had to do the high, backward high fall from the dangling rope onto a little mattress. And that's my first job in the industry. And that then word started to spread. And that's why I was. I had so much work. I'm so thrilled I did, because I miss that gymnastics. I don't miss the stunts.

Susan Lambert Hatem: Then you worked on Wonder Woman and, did you work with Lynda Carter?

Marneen Fields: Yes, she was the main person in the scene with me. She beat me up and threw all over her apartment, and I had to fly over the couches onto my back on the hardwood floor, you know. But I was trained on how to do all of this, the gymnastics. Very few women. I think I was the only real champion gymnast doing stunts those years, the early years. Now there's lots of them. But back then, you know, when I got my scholarship in gymnastics, there were only three in the whole United States that received that. They didn't give athletic scholarships to women back then.  

That's what's remarkable is like, okay, I didn't have a gymnastics coach learning back flip flops. I went into the gymnasium on the hardwood floor and I started with back walkover, both legs, back walk over them. One day I said, you know, I think I'm going to try that flip Flip flop. And same with balance beam. I remember practicing on the balance beam and doing front walkovers, which is a blind trick, in the man's storage.  

And I learned to tumble on old gray wrestler mats. And I would walk on my hands the same year I was playing that bass. And the Culver City kids remember this. They count to see how far I could go. They gather round, okay, walk on your, you know, guy. Walk on my hands while they walked on their feet. And. And that's a real sick. How far can she go? And I'm back. And I'm stronger today than ever now with my productions, and I want to prove I can go further.

Sharon Johnson: After that first job doing stunts, did you make kind of a decision at that point that that was the direction you really wanted to focus on?

Marneen Fields: I wanted to act, and I kept doing stunts because I got these stunt acting jobs. This small role and then the stunt or scream or just a couple lines of dialogue. And then Hall Stater discovered me in summer of 76. By December of 76 and early 77, I was one of the top stunt women in the world those years. Then in 1979, I met Victor French of Highway to Heaven and Little House on the Prairie. And he was everything that my mind understood as an actor.  

And so I became real serious about being a famous actress. And I was just on the brink when I had the car accident. I had landed some guest star roles. I had landed, a big role in the film Hellhole. And I was doing theater. I had just finished the 10th man on stage and a lot of, 15 plays in the Los Angeles area. You guys met me on the Scarecrow Mrs. King. And it was at that time I was ready to break as an actress and James Fargo, and they cast me right there to play Dorothy.

Susan Lambert Hatem: So you played DOROTHY In Scarecrow, Mrs. King? Yes. You broke Lee Stetson's heart before Kate Jackson.

Marneen Fields: That's right. That's right. And that was such a big day. And then that was 1985. And so you asked me earlier, you know, how did I keep going on the darkest night? And, had I not had this huge success? And what's so amazing is today it's all coming back. I'm winning awards and things for all of that that I did in the 70s and 80s.  

And there were powerful men that believed in me and told me, keep going, keep punching, stay in there. You can do it. My mom was very, very disabled, and she came to some gymnastics meeting, and she was there the day we filmed the Dorothy things. But she was severely disabled. And then my dad, very, very, abusive. So I was never allowed out even to talk

00:30:00

Marneen Fields: about any of what I did. I look at it now and I'm like, whoa. I, you know, was really something.

Susan Lambert Hatem: Yeah, I mean, the, The Man from Atlanta stuff is pretty amazing.

Marneen Fields: Yeah. Yeah. And I was a regular on that.

Susan Lambert Hatem: Yeah. And like, you were clearly a swimmer. Did you study scuba diving or.

Marneen Fields: Yeah, I'm an advanced certified scuba diver. Paul, took me out one day to be on the Poseidon Adventure to Shirley Jones, and he made me fill bags of oysters that he grabbed the oyster put until it was so heavy you could hardly swim. And then I took the advanced diver program. And I just want to say I was the worst in the class. It was really hard. I took the basic first, then I took the intermediate, then I took the advanced. And the advanced had, like, night dives. They drop you in the middle of the ocean and down at the bottom with your compass. You got to find a little bag on the ocean floor so no air. You got to take one deep breath, and you got to go down, down, down and look for this bag. And then you got to blow the bag till it surfaces. Till it surfaces. And that's one of the tests. And then you got to come up. So. Wow.

Susan Lambert Hatem: No, thank you. That's very impressive.

Sharon Johnson: Oh, my goodness.

Susan Lambert Hatem: I imagine you were one of the few women on these sets, and it sounds like there were a lot of guys that were incredibly supportive. But did it feel weird? Did you ever feel like, what am I doing here?

Marneen Fields: Yeah. I worked. I mean, so many days. I was the only woman out on something with, the group of stunt guys. So, you know, in your life where you're at, you usually meet guys to date. And so I dated a couple stunt guys because that's what. But, you know, I was young. This before the accident, and they broke my heart. Of course, two of them broke my heart, and I wanted to get married and, you know, but then I had the accident, couldn't have children, so whatever. that's life.  

That's what all the people say. But I wouldn't have become the broken hearted songwriter. I was meant to go through all this to be able to. I don't know. Who knows when you were doing those.

Susan Lambert Hatem: Swimming stuff, so much of it looked like it was really out on real water and not just in pools.

Marneen Fields: Yeah, we're out on Catalina island, and we. We weren't in tanks or anything. We're the real McCoy there. And I did an underwater fight scene with him. And I'm the first woman that was photographed, if not maybe possibly the only woman doing the man from Atlanta's swim. I play that alien that dives off the bridge. But I also did everything for Belinda Montgomery on this series. And I am the one who dove out of the helicopter to give him mouth to mouth resuscitation to pull him out. And he is so nice and oh my God, he was just so handsome back then. I hear he's going to remake man from Atlantis.

Susan Lambert Hatem: Oh, Patrick Duffy. I like that.

Marneen Fields: I did a lot of scuba stuff. I did a project UFO and Beyond the Poseidon for Shirley Jones.

Susan Lambert Hatem: And then you worked with Shirley Jones again on her show. Her Shirley show, which is.

Marneen Fields: Yeah, she asked for me after the beyond the Poseidon. And if you look at my face, I mean I look so much like her. And she was the most classy and sophisticated and the carriage and to stand next to her and I think in the late 70s, early 80s, she was driving like a Bentley or something that said, Mrs. Engels was the live license plate. I believe it was gold if I remember. But she was so great and it was quite an honor.

Susan Lambert Hatem: That's amazing. And then, you know, you wanted to be an actress. So you're actually also, when you're doubling someone, it's so important that you act like them, right?

Marneen Fields: Yes.

Susan Lambert Hatem: And when you're doing the doubling, you know, how would you prepare for basically being able to do that stuff as the role?

Marneen Fields: Well, one of the things as a stunt woman is you always keep your face away from camera so that, you know, you can't really be seen. But as an actress and as a stunt person, one of the things Paul Stater had amazing wife. And she taught us study them, studied their mannerisms.

00:35:00

Marneen Fields: And I looked. It was so weird because someone yesterday told me, you look like this person, this actress. And I looked like so many of the actresses. Like I doubled Kim Cattrall on Hardy Boy, Nancy Drew's back then. And she was. We were the same age or she was a year older than me or some brown hair. And I looked like just much like her as I looked like June Lockhart and also as much as I looked like Jane Seymour. And when I was as Jane Seymour, you know, they put me in the long wig and everybody, the hoots and hollers and oh, wow, you know, so there's something about her magical hair. But I looked like, I looked so much like so many of them. Linda Pearl, I doubled her and still look quite a bit like her. So I don't know what it was. I just guess it was. Just looked like a lot of different people. And then they put you in the.

Susan Lambert Hatem: Wig and, the outfit and m. There you are.

Marneen Fields: Yes.

Susan Lambert Hatem: And on, Lou Grant, you actually got to play a gymnast.

Marneen Fields: Yes. You've really studied what I did. I love it. Lou Grant, I got called in to play. I got cast as famous, Belgium gymnast Olga, and I got to do some, flip flops. And they didn't film it right. And I have this complaint about a lot of different things. I mean, they should have done those flip flops from this angle rather than me come. I mean, you see me. But they're flawless flip flops. And I would have liked to have seen them. And I wanted to add a flip or a twist or something. but I was so, so happy to get that.

Susan Lambert Hatem: But you didn't get to work with Ed Asner on that or.

Marneen Fields: No, just the other photographer and news reporter.

Sharon Johnson: Well, that's interesting that you were talking about how you might have shot your flip flops from a different angle. Perhaps even then, sort of the beginnings of thinking like a director was kind of there.

Marneen Fields: Well, Paul Stater taught us early in my career where to put the camera to get the best shot. And if you wanted a high fall, look higher, you place it low. Low angle.

Susan Lambert Hatem: Yeah. And what did you do on Battlestar Galactica? These are all my favorite shows. Right. So I grew up on these shows.

Marneen Fields: Well, Battlestar Galactica, I doubled, Jane Seymour and I did several episodes for her. Do you remember when they were in, like, the Egyptian tomb and there was the earthquake and it fell on them? Well, I was her, and all that stuff fell on me. And crash.  

I was a fighter pilot and I was one of the girls, that was a fighter pilot, no dialogue. But I was in the console room where there was, We got hit by other spaceship and I went over the rail and different falling and different things. And then also during a lot of explosion stuff where I'd be running through the camp and the girl you see in the air, in the explosions, getting blown up, that was me. And in one of those, I split my pants because I had the little girdle on under the pants. And I was so embarrassed that I ran and did this and there went the pants.  

My big stunt on Battlestar Galactica was the camel scene. There's a fight scene on camel instead of horseback. And I come out the door and I'm shooting. And imagine this. Okay. I, With One arm. He scoops me up onto the back of the camel. But I don't get to sit in the hump. I'm on the butt of the camel, and I've got one arm, and we're dodging in and out and all these bullets and everything, and I'm holding on for dear life. And right before I went to do that stunt that day, I got artificial nails for the first time, and of course, they ripped right off as I. But I was little back then and able to get scooped up onto the back butt of a camel that high. I had to clear it. And, we did it at night again. Night.

Susan Lambert Hatem: Now I'm trying to figure out which episode involved a camel. Now I have to do a Battlestar Galactica revisit. Why don't we take a little break?

Marneen Fields: Okay. Well, I could listen to you all day. Your voice is so beautiful.

Susan Lambert Hatem: thank you. All right, little break, and then we come back and talk about the movies and a little more tv. Okay, we're back.

Marneen Fields: I mean, this is really exciting to be recognized as one of the 80s TV Ladies. You know, coming from stunts, it's just really great.

Susan Lambert Hatem: And that's been really a great joy for us to be able to talk to you and to. To all the women that were so

00:40:00

Susan Lambert Hatem: vital to this time and were women were just becoming stunt women. Right. You were on the beginning of things, and that is a really exciting time. It's also really tough time, right. To be the first one through the door, the first one doing stuff, because there's not a lot of models to follow. Right. You're not like, oh, I'm, I know what my career is going.

Marneen Fields: To look like, especially the type of stunts I did. I mean, they had the horse girls and they had the cars and motorcycles, but big stunts on the small screen. And that's exactly what I did. I did big stunts because I did more TV and movies of the week than I did in the feature films. Like, you'll look at some stunt women, like someone like Debbie Evans, who's done a lot of motorcycles and cars, and, she's done more film, but I was just TV. So I really am a, you know, an 80s TV lady. 80s TV lady.

Susan Lambert Hatem: I was going to ask you about other stunt women that you either met or were like, oh, I'm always going up against her or just were mentors or. I mean, what it was to meet other stunt women at that time.

Marneen Fields: Well, I didn't meet very many. I didn't work with very many. That's for sure. I had a friend, Paula Moody Meyer. We, came out of the stunt school together and she died very tragically in a horse riding accident in her backyard. And she was like my one friend that was also a stunt woman. But we would go years I didn't see her. And, she was very small. I was small also, but she was much smaller than me. And she doubled as Sissy Spacek and Morgan Fairchild. And I got called one day to double Morgan Fairchild. Paula wasn't available on Time Express and it was the Vincent Price short lived series. I had to ride on the back seat of a bicycle built for two. And we have a bicycle accident with another bike colliding into us on the bridge at Columbia Ranch. And it throws us and the bike into the water. But keep in mind, now I'm in the trapped. I'm in the back seat of the bicycle build for two. It's blind. I can't see when he's going to hit us. And I got to clear that bike so it doesn't break my legs. So I can. And it's shallow water. I was always going into shallow water. The double dive with Paul had like six feet. But that bicycle built for two trick was probably one of the slipperiest potential for broken legs that you could ever. You should see it.

Susan Lambert Hatem: You got thrown off of a lot of things. Like Jim Garner threw you off of a plane in Rockford.

Marneen Fields: Well, no. James Garner. He threw me out of a jet feature at night on Rockford. I did two, ah, extremely difficult stunts for James Garner. And I've been hugged by him. And, all right, what does that.

Susan Lambert Hatem: Feel like, to be hugged by James.

Marneen Fields: Garner when the star is directing him? Clint Eastwood, Irwin Allen. When these, these incredibly brilliant, gracious, powerful. These men don't have a bad attitude. These men aren't small. They don't belittle you, you know, and Bruce box, you know, and they come running up and they hug you and they tell you how great and how did you do it? It's like no tomorrow. So James Garner, it's at, night, of course, you had to do everything.

Susan Lambert Hatem: At night in the dark, backwards.

Marneen Fields: So my seat catches on fire in the airplane. So I have that little battle first, and he races me to the door and then he pushes me out with like, no more. And I don't even have blankets on this one. I don't have an airbag. I don't have a mat. I don't have anything except the Runway. What? And it's at night. Wait yeah, it's at night and I'm in the jet, so I gotta go out and I gotta hit that Runway and, you know, and roll across it. Bang, bang, bang. And so this is really. You just aren't gonna believe this. We finish it and they bring the actors in and they bring a little block about this big and they put her on the block. They say, okay, you're gonna jump off the block and you're going to act like you've jumped into the scene. She jumps off the block and breaks her ankle. Ankle. And it was so devastating. I felt so bad for her. And I had just. I mean, that was a good 25, 30 foot feet first.

00:45:00

Susan Lambert Hatem: That's insane.

Marneen Fields: So then the other stunt on Rockford Files, another really, just unbelievable. I'm on the back of a motorcycle as a rape victim and he drives in, he spins around and he says, what do we do with her? And he says, we get rid of her. Now, keep in mind, I'm on the back of a motorcycle again, easy for broken legs. And he reaches around and goes like this. Throws me off the motorcycle. I gotta clear that motorcycle with both legs up and over and land on my stomach. Yeah, just an angel on my shoulder and God's protection, because I don't know how I cleared that motorcycle. But my big break came on the feature film the Gauntlet, where I got cast opposite Clint Eastwood and I got to beat him up. And he punches me backwards with a half twist off the moving train.

Susan Lambert Hatem: Off a moving train. Like a real life moving train?

Marneen Fields: Yeah, a real live moving train, and only into some sand. Props brought a little wheelbarrow and they threw the sand in front of the train where I was going to jump. And then they threw in some tumbleweeds. But the main thing about the stunt off the train in the Gauntlet is that I had to go backward out the door with a half twist. And the train is moving and you have to position your body so you're going the same direction the train's going or you'll get sucked back under the wheels and crushed today. Death.  

So I had to battle. And I can't describe to anyone what that was like, battling that train to keep my body going in that direction so I didn't get sucked back under. And then once the train leaves, the gravitational force leaves and, you just drop like a sack of potatoes. And then you're hitting the ground at the weight and speed you were traveling. So you're really hitting that ground and flying. But he loved it. And I've talked to him since. And they gave me all the still photos. That was one of the most difficult stunts a woman did on film that year, if not the most difficult. A young girl. And it launched my career overnight. They had me in my stunt in all the papers. They put a black and white of, Clint and Sondra on the lobby card and my stunt under it.

Susan Lambert Hatem: It's very impressive. It's very, very impressive. And that's a very kind of classic Clint Eastwood scene. Because before that stunt is, you're fighting with Clint Eastwood on the train, and then he sort of gets the upper hand. And she's like, you wouldn't punch a woman, would you?

Marneen Fields: Right, that's exactly it. And then Samantha Doane was, who I was doubling there, but I beat him up when he was tied against the wall there. And I don't know, might be one of the only women who ever got to beat him up, but love him, and I love his work. And I always say, and I always tell this, he was so drop dead gorgeous and handsome, I couldn't take my eyes off him. I've never seen anyone as handsome as he was that year. I was like, you know, here I am, 21. I've just. Have you honestly ever seen anyone as handsome as he was when he was younger and young?

Susan Lambert Hatem: Clint Eastwood. Yeah, young Paul New Newman. I mean, you know.

Marneen Fields: Yeah. Oh, my. Yeah, a young Paul Newman. Yeah, a young, well, Paul Newman at any age.

Susan Lambert Hatem: Yes. Well, what was your favorite memory from that time? What's your favorite stunt?

Marneen Fields: Well, that would have to be the, Scarecrow and Mrs. King. I would say that just everything about that job. And do you remember Dorothy died there with all the roses, with all the braces?

Susan Lambert Hatem: And that's why he can't stand roses. Oh, I know. Oh, I know.

Marneen Fields: And I got to my dressing room, and my mom was there that day, and there's a knock on the door, and it's Bruce, and he's got a dozen roses for me. Were you there, to hear the panel at the restaurant the evening of the 40 year?

Sharon Johnson: I was there, but Susan, unfortunately, was not.

Marneen Fields: You saw how we talked about it. And I was like, oh, my God, the handsome. He was so handsome. And he gave me a dozen roses. And I kept the roses for years till finally I kept just one rose. Then, as a silly young girl, I put it in a piece of, wax paper, and I wrote, with love, Bruce, or something, I forget, but it's in my book. And then he married Melissa Gilbert after that, and I was heartbroken.

Susan Lambert Hatem: And you were heartbroken. And I have to ask you about Riptide.

00:50:00

Susan Lambert Hatem: My husband's a big fan of Riptide.

Marneen Fields: Well, you know what's interesting is I was just going to tell you something about Riptide because I did an acting role on Riptide, playing the brokenhearted waitress Pauline, and I cry. So here's Riptide. And I had to run with spike heels down a cobblestone street. And it's so slippery and you're running at full speed down that cobblestone street. And I've got a manuscript in my arm. I've got the secret manuscript.  

So then I come to a barbed wire fence. A, ah, flimsy barbed wire fence fence. And it's, it's so flimsy and I've got the spike heels on. They're high for me. So I've got to go up to this fence manuscript in one hand and I got to scale this barbed wire fence, get over the top of it and it's got the spike, you know, and get over and drop and escape. So I run up to this dang barbed wire fence and this is like the only time in my career I had to do something a couple times because I'd always get it on one tank. But as I tried to climb that fence, those heels would fall off my heels and trap me like a spider. In a way, I'm trapped now on this barbed wire fence.

Susan Lambert Hatem: Now, it wasn't real barbed wire. It wasn't real.

Marneen Fields: Yes, it was. Yeah, it was.

Susan Lambert Hatem: What is happening in the 80s?

Sharon Johnson: What is happening?

Marneen Fields: It was real barbed wire.

Sharon Johnson: They threw her off a 76-story building, for goodness sake.

Marneen Fields: So that was the two Riptides that I did.

Susan Lambert Hatem: Oh my gosh.

Marneen Fields: These were all big budget shows. They were all prime time. So it wasn't like today where everything's non union. And I, mean this was like cream of the crop and all the residuals that have followed. I mean, each of these shows have continued to pay all these years. And those years that I was disabled, you know, I lived on those residuals and disability and different things. Then I did other jobs and had other money coming in, always working.

Susan Lambert Hatem: I'm curious about the movie that you wrote and directed. Who's Going to Take Care of Me?

Marneen Fields: Well, I'm still working on that now. That is my mom's true story. She was very disabled and unable to write, so she kind of told some of what she wanted. Wanted. She had a tumor removed from her stomach that was the size of a grapefruit. This was in 85. And she divorced my dad and she had a breakdown and she ran away. They diagnosed it as a viral schizophrenia. So she was missing for nine years. And I tried to bring her home. And I found her, within a couple weeks after my baptism. And one of the promises of baptism is that your family will be reunited. And she was my best friend, so I didn't hesitate going and bringing her home. And I was able to bring her home to safety and take care of her for 13 years. And when she was found, she had a brain lymphoma, now the size of a man's wallet. On her face, she was so cute and so sweet. But it's a real. I, only her film right now. I'm still raising funds and I'm. I'm finishing editing part one. So it's a story that needs to be told because it can help. It's not about being homeless. It's about the disease of schizophrenia.

Susan Lambert Hatem: I'm, fascinated. I was raised by a single mom. I think it's really fascinating when people talk about working with their mother or, you know, realizing the mother daughter relationship in different ways. And so portraying your mother, particularly in something this dramatic is such an interesting choice and such an interesting journey.

Marneen Fields: It's amazing story and I've written it. I'm real proud of it.

Susan Lambert Hatem: That's cool. Yeah. So I was just going to ask what's up next for you? And it sounds like working on this and singing.

Marneen Fields: Where can people find you on, IMDb? me slash Morning Fields.

Susan Lambert Hatem: Are you going to be singing somewhere?

Marneen Fields: Yeah, I've got a lot of live performances. I've booked Las Vegas. I'm just always working. I'm always working.

Susan Lambert Hatem: You're like, there's like an Energizer Bunny element where you just keep going.

Marneen Fields: I keep going.

Susan Lambert Hatem: You've had so much great things. Things.

Marneen Fields: Yeah. This stuff just keeps coming to me, you know, like, I don't turn down anything. That's how I've got so far.

Susan Lambert Hatem: Thank you so much

00:55:00

Susan Lambert Hatem: for sharing all.

Marneen Fields: Thank you guys.

Susan Lambert Hatem: Wonderful stories with us.

Marneen Fields: I know they're very unique and your journey. Yeah, thank you.

Sharon Johnson: Your story is remarkable on so many levels. And you're another one of the great 80s TV Ladies that we've had the joy of getting to meet and getting to know. So thank you.

Marneen Fields: Thank you. Thank you very much for saying that. Because that's what I need to hear so I can keep going with the stories as inspiring others and because it is a unique story.

Susan Lambert Hatem: Yeah. Your spirit is so amazing. I'm really, glad we got to talk with you.

Marneen Fields: Me too. I've had a great time.

Susan Lambert Hatem: Thanks.

Marneen Fields: Bye.

Sharon Johnson: In today's audiography, you can find Marneen's info on Instagram and Facebook @HeavenlyWaterFallProductions.

Susan Lambert Hatem: And you can, find Marneen's acting book on Amazon. Marneen is crowdfunding for the award winning script she is turning into a movie about her mother's story. You can help support her faith. Who's Going to Take Care of Me at crowdfunder.com slash who's going to take care of me? -  The links will be in our description.

Sharon Johnson: Once again, thank you all for listening. Do you remember the amazing stunts of 1980s television? Do you have any favorite stunts or stunt women you'd like us to try and track down? We're also looking for suggestions of any Star Trek Ladies you want us to talk with.

Susan Lambert Hatem: Send us your messages at our webinar website, eightiestvladies.com that's 8 0s tv l a d I e s dot com.

Sharon Johnson: We so appreciate your feedback. If you like our show, please leave us a rating and a review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. You can mention what shows or Ladies you'd like us to cover.

Susan Lambert Hatem: And don't miss our next episode, where we begin our look at Mama's family.

Sharon Johnson: We hope 80 TV Ladies brings you joy and laughter and lots of fabulous new and old shows to watch, all of which lead us forward toward being amazing Ladies of the 21st century.

[Music] [Singing] Amy Englehardt: 80s TV Ladies, So sexy and so pretty. 80s TV Ladies, Steppin’ out into the city. 80s TV Ladies, often treated kind of sh-[wolf whistle]. Working hard for the money in a man’s world. 80s TV Ladies!

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