FIELD, (William) Todd 1964-

PERSONAL: Born February 24, 1964, in Pomona, CA; married Serena Rathbun, July 25, 1987; children: three, including Alida P. (daughter). Education: Attended Southern Oregon State University; American Film Institute, M.F.A., 1995.

ADDRESSES: Home—ME. Agent—Endeavor Talent Agency, 9701 Wilshire Blvd., 10th Floor, Beverly Hills, CA 90212.

CAREER: Actor, producer, director, photographer, and jazz musician. Actor in films, including (as crooner) Radio Days, 1987; (as bellhop) The Allnighter, Universal, 1987; (as David Schreiner) Gross Anatomy (also known as A Cut Above), Buena Vista, 1989; (as Robert Wilson) Fat Man and Little Boy (also known as Shadowmakers), Paramount, 1989; (as Anthony Glenn) Eye of the Eagle 2: Inside the Enemy (also known as KIA), 1989; (as Johnson) Full Fathom Five, Concorde, 1990; (as Todd Brand) Back to Back, Concorde, 1990; (as Cecil) Queens Logic, Seven Arts, 1991; (as Richard) The End of Innocence, Skouras Pictures, 1991; (as The Dog) The Dog, 1992; (as Mike McCaslin) Ruby in Paradise, October Films, 1993; (as Duane) Sleep with Me, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM), 1994; (as Tim "Beltzer" Lewis) Twister, Warner Bros., 1996; (as Frank) Walking and Talking, Miramax, 1996; (as Chase) Farmer and Chase, Arrow Releasing, 1997; (as Jimmy Warzniak) Broken Vessels, Unapix Entertainment, 1998; (as Nick Nightingale) Eyes Wide Shut, Warner Bros., 1999; (as Todd Hackett) The Haunting, DreamWorks Distribution, L.L.C., 1999; (as Thad Davis) Net Worth, Curb Entertainment, 2000; (as Mr. Walsh) New Port South, Buena Vista, 2000; (as Toretti) Beyond City Limits (also known as Rip It Off), 2002; and (as Dr. Bell) Alphawave, 2002.

Actor in television series, including (as Andres Johansson) Lance et compte (also known as Cogne et gagne and He Shoots, He Scores), 1986; (as Kevin Davis) Take Five, Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS), 1987; (as Ray "Rake" Monroe) Danger Theatre, 1993; and (as David Caselli) Once and Again, American Broadcasting Company (ABC), 1999-2000. Actor in made-for-television movies, including (as Neil Barton/Adriano Pabrizi) Student Exchange, ABC, 1987; (as David Yates) Jonathan Stone: Threat of Innocence (also known as Frame Up), National Broadcasting Company (NBC), 1994; (as Bob Younger) Frank and Jesse, Home Box Office (HBO), 1994; and (as Donovan Miller/Austin Walker) Stranger than Fiction, Cinemax, 1999. Played Jason in television special Lookwell, Disney Channel, 1991. Guest star on television series, including Roseanne, Tales from the Crypt, and Chicago Hope.

Director of films, including Too Romantic (short film), Mercury Film, 1992; (with Alex Vlacos) The Dog, 1992; (also additional camera operator) When I Was a Boy (short film), 1993; Delivering (short film), 1993; (also camera operator) Nonnie and Alex, Sundance Channel, 1995; and (also producer and camera operator) In the Bedroom, Miramax, 2001. Also additional boom operator, The Rapture, Fine Line, 1991, and coproducer, Broken Vessels, 1998. Directed episodes of television series Once and Again, ABC, 1999-2001. Author of musical scores for films Nowhereto Run, Concorde, 1989; The Dog, 1992; Ruby in Paradise, October Films, 1993; and Broken Vessels, Unapix Entertainment, 1998, and songs for film Gross Anatomy, 1989.

AWARDS, HONORS: Special Jury award, Sundance Film Festival, best film prize, Aspen Film Festival, and special citation, Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, all for Nonnie and Alex; best film award, Los Angeles Film Critics Association, best first film award, New York Film Critics' Circle, and Academy Award nominations for best picture and best screenplay based on material previously produced or published, Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, all 2001, all for In the Bedroom; Satyajit Ray Award, Satyajit Ray Foundation, 2001; Franklin J. Schaffner Alumni Medal, American Film Institute, 2002.

WRITINGS:

SCREENPLAYS; SHORT FILMS, UNLESS OTHERWISE NOTED

(And director) Too Romantic, Mercury Film, 1992.

When I Was a Boy, Mercury Film, 1993.

Delivering, based on a short story by Andre Dubus, Mercury Film, 1993.

(With Richard Festinger; and director) In the Bedroom (feature film), based on the short story "Killings" by Andre Dubus, Miramax, 2001.

SIDELIGHTS: Todd Field, an actor possibly best known for his role as the piano player in director Stanley Kubrick's film Eyes Wide Shut, became one of Hollywood's hottest new writer/directors with the release of In the Bedroom, a film based on a short story by author Andre Dubus. (Field counts both Kubrick and Dubus among his mentors; tragically, both died during the production of In the Bedroom.)"I don't mind telling you that In the Bedroom didn't make me cry. It made me weep," reviewer Bob Ivry wrote in the Record. "Mature filmgoers with a hunger for an emotionally satisfying cinematic meal . . . will no doubt find In the Bedroom a work of virtuosity."

Set in a small town in coastal Maine, In the Bedroom examines the grief of two parents, Matt and Ruth Fowler (played by Oscar-winning actress Sissy Spacek and British actor Tom Wilkinson), after their young adult son Frank is brutally murdered by the estranged husband of an older woman, Natalie (played by Oscarwinning actress Marissa Tomei) with whom the young man had been having an affair. Because the killer is from a rich and powerful family in their small town, he is soon set free on bail, and instead of being tried for murder he is only going to be tried for manslaughter, which carries a sentence of around five years. This eats away at Matt and Ruth, and their search for a way to deal both with their grief and with this miscarriage of justice forms the heart of the film.

In the Bedroom was a labor of love for Field: it was made in his home town—the house where he, his wife, and their three children live when they are not in Los Angeles was even used as the setting for one scene—his wife and Spacek did a portion of the set designing, and Field handled a camera himself on some of the shots. "My hair has turned gray on this; I've lost fifteen pounds. I'm in debt up to my ears and I haven't worked [as an actor] in two years!," Field told David Ansen of Newsweek. But the result, most critics said, was stunning. Bob Longino of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution dubbed it "the most heartbreaking movie of the year—and easily one of the best," while reviewer Anthony Quinn of the London Independent noted that "Field has pulled off something here I thought no American film-maker would ever manage again: he makes violence feel genuinely shocking." Nigel Andrews of the London Financial Times declared: "I cannot remember a better film about the shock of loss."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Albuquerque Tribune (Albuquerque, NM), March 22, 2002, Jeff Commings, "Field Finds Himself Finding Favor as a Multi-hatted Man," p. C5.

America, March 4, 2002, Richard A. Blake, review of In the Bedroom, p. 23.

Atlanta Journal-Constitution, December 25, 2001, Bob Longino, review of In the Bedroom, p. C11; August 11, 2002, Bob Longino, review of In the Bedroom, p. L8.

Back Stage, December 21, 2001, David Sheward, "Crix Have Bedroom Eyes: Drama Only Frontrunner in Year-End Prizes," pp. 8-9.

Christian Century, February 13, 2002, Phil Christman, review of In the Bedroom, pp. 47-48.

Commonweal, January 11, 2002, Rand Richards Cooper, review of In the Bedroom, p. 19.

Cosmopolitan, October, 1993, Guy Flatley, review of Ruby in Paradise, p. 26.

Film Journal International, September, 2001, Kevin Lally, review of In the Bedroom, p. 51.

Financial Times (London, England), January 24, 2002, Nigel Andrews, review of In the Bedroom, p. 14.

Guardian (London, England), January 16, 2002, Howard Feinstein, interview with Field, p. 13; January 25, 2002, Peter Bradshaw, review of In the Bedroom, p. 12; March 1, 2002, David Lodge, review of In the Bedroom, p. 8.

Harper's Bazaar, October, 2001, Catherine Hong, interview with Field, pp. 161-162.

Independent (London, England), January 11, 2002, Matthew Sweet, interview with Field, p. S12; January 25, 2002, Anthony Quinn, review of In the Bedroom, p. 10.

Independent Sunday (London, England), January 27, 2002, Jonathan Romney, review of In the Bedroom, p. 9.

Insight on the News, December 17, 2001, Rex Roberts, review of In the Bedroom, pp. 32-33.

Knight Ridder/Tribune News Service, December 24, 2001, Bruce Newman, "Todd Field Makes a Splash with Directorial Debut In the Bedroom," p. K1420; August 20, 2002, Randy Myers, "In the Bedroom Director Todd Field Did It His Way," p. K2586.

Los Angeles Times, November 23, 2001, Kenneth Turan, review of In the Bedroom, p. F2; December 16, 2001, Susan King, "Bedroom Is Top Pick of L.A. Film Critics," p. B3; March 13, 2002, "Secrets of a Mysterious Trade," p. E2.

National Catholic Reporter, November 12, 1993, Joseph Cunneen, review of Ruby in Paradise, p. 16; January 25, 2002, Joseph Cunneen, review of In the Bedroom, pp. 14-15.

New Republic, December 17, 2001, Stanley Kauffmann, review of In the Bedroom, p. 28.

Newsweek, August 5, 1996, Karen Schoemer, review of Walking and Talking, p. 73; December 3, 2001, David Ansen, review of In the Bedroom, p. 72; January 21, 2002, Jeff Giles and David Ansen, "Break on Through to the Oscar Side: Two Hot Talents Reach Critical Mass," p. 50.

New Yorker, November 26, 2001, David Denby, review of In the Bedroom, pp. 121-123.

New York Post, November 23, 2001, review of In the Bedroom, p. 46; December 14, 2001, "New York Film Critics Pick Drive and Bedroom,"p.58.

New York Times, July 2, 1999, Steven Holden, review of Broken Vessels, p. B12; November 18, 2001, Laura Winters, review of In the Bedroom, p. AR15; November 23, 2001, Stephen Holden, review of In the Bedroom, p. E25; August 9, 2002, Peter M. Nichols, review of In the Bedroom, p. E26.

Observer (London, England), January 13, 2002, Demetrios Matheou, interview with Field, p. R7; January 27, 2002, Philip French, review of In the Bedroom, p. 7.

People, November 1, 1993, Leah Rozen, review of Ruby in Paradise, p. 16; December 3, 2001, review of In the Bedroom, p. 33.

Premiere, December, 2001, Glenn Kenny, review of In the Bedroom, p. 91.

Record (Bergen County, NJ), November 23, 2001, Bob Ivry, review of In the Bedroom, p. 3.

Rolling Stone, December 6, 2001, Peter Travers, review of In the Bedroom, pp. 155-156.

San Francisco Chronicle, December 23, 2001, Carla Meyer, interview with Field, p. 27; December 25, 2001, Edward Guthmann, review of In the Bedroom, p. D1; August 16, 2002, Edward Guthmann, review of In the Bedroom, p. D10.

Seattle Times, December 24, 2001, Moira Macdonald, "His Field Is behind the Camera," p. C4.

Sight and Sound, January, 2002, Charlotte O'Sullivan, review of In the Bedroom, pp. 44-45; February, 2002, Demetrios Matheou, interview with Field, p. 10.

Time, December 24, 2001, Richard Schickel, review of In the Bedroom, p. 79.

TV Guide, April 23, 1994, Myles Callum, review of Ruby in Paradise, p. 38.

US Weekly, November 26, 2001, Andrew Johnston, review of In the Bedroom, p. 72.

Variety, April 8, 1987, review of Take Five, p. 66; December 2, 1987, review of Student Exchange, p. 68; October 25, 1989, review of Gross Anatomy, pp. 29-30; February 8, 1993, Todd McCarthy, review of Ruby in Paradise, p. 75; October 16, 1995, Dennis Harvey, review of Farmer and Chase, p. 97; January 26, 1996, Todd McCarthy, review of Walking and Talking, pp. 64-65; April 27, 1998, Leonard Klady, review of Broken Vessels, p. 60; January 29, 2001, Todd McCarthy, review of In the Bedroom, p. 43.

Wall Street Journal, August 20, 1999, Carrie Dolan, review of Broken Vessels, p. W4; November 23, 2001, Joe Morgenstern, review of In the Bedroom, p. W1.

ONLINE

BBC News,http://news.bbc.co.uk/ (November 19, 2001), Rebecca Thomas, review of In the Bedroom.

MovieMaker Magazine,http://www.moviemaker.com/ (April 26, 2003), Paula Schwartz, "The Circus Comes to Town: Todd Field Talks about Shooting In the Bedroom on the Coast of Maine."*