Totie Fields, the wisecracking, self-deprecating comedian who became a beloved television star in the 1960s and1970s, built her career by turning her weight into her act—and went on to headline Las Vegas while battling a series of devastating health crises. Born Sophie Feldman in Hartford, Connecticut, on May 7, 1930, she was singing on local radio byage four. As a teenager, she worked the so-called “Borscht Belt” summer resorts in the Catskill Mountains, and soon after was performing comedy routines in Boston nightclubs. After marrying comic George Johnston in 1950 and having two daughters, Fields began to gain weight and made it the centerpiece of her material.
She joked constantly about her size: standing just4-foot-11 and weighing170 pounds, she told audiences she była married to a man for26 years “who walks into his own closet like an Amnesia victim… Everything is oh look. ” Her big break came when Ed Sullivan booked her on his variety show after spotting her at the Copacabana in New York City. She became a recurring guest on Sullivan’s program and later appeared frequently on the Mike Douglas Show,the Merv Griffin Show,andThe Tonight Show.
She also turned up on the Carol Burnett Show, Here’s Lucy, Ron and Martin’s Laugh-In,and the drama Medical Center. While taping an episode of the Mike Douglas Show in1974, she met the band KISS, who was making its first national TV appearance. Fields joked that it would be funny if lead singer Gene Simmons—under all that makeup—turned out to be a nice Jewish boy. Simmons, who isn’t only Jewish but was born in Israel, replied,“You should only know.
” The two became friends and remained close until her death. Fields also appeared on1970s game shows including Hollywood Squares and Tattletales,often alongside her husband. She once reflected on the genre’s later decline:“Some of the networks have tried to revive the game show format… I think they’ve had mixed results…
Back in the day… that was the greatest thing. ” Fields suffered from diabetes,and in March1976 she had surgery to remove a blood clot; when the procedure failed, she developed phlebitis,and in April of that year her left leg was amputated. While recovering, she suffered two heart attacks.
In October1977, doctors diagnosed breast cancer and removed her right breast. Despite everything, she kept performing. On August2,1978, Fields was preparing for a two-week engagement at the Sahara Hotel in Las Vegas. The night before opening, she was stricken athome by a blood clot suffer a pulmonary embolism.
She was rushed to Sunrise Hospital and Medical Center,but died atage48. Her ashes were interred at Mount Sinai Memorial Park Cemetery in Los Angeles. Fields, who often said“The show must go on,” embodied that motto to the end—a trouper who turned personal tragedy into laughter until her final hours.
