Robert Fields(I)

Robert Fields has always been a far busier stage actor than a film performer, but this hasn't prevented him from appearing in a number of notable theatrical and made-for-television features. His acting debut came in 1958 when he was chosen for the role of Tony, one of the teenagers in The Blob (1958), an independently produced sci-fi/horror film being shot in Pennsylvania. Fields was a friend of Steve McQueen, who starred in the film, and their scenes together had a dynamism in the acting that made them one of the most effective parts of the movie, which has since developed a cult following. Fields was absent from films for the next decade but did a considerable amount of theater work, including Marat/Sade on Broadway. He next appeared on screen in The Incident (1967), a tense drama about a group of people victimized by a pair of thugs on a New York City subway. Following a bit part in the classic hit They Shoot Horses, Don't They? (1969), he co-starred with Sondra Locke in Cover Me Babe (1970). In 1973 he played an assistant district attorney in The Marcus-Nelson Murders (1973), which was one of the most watched made-for-television features of the decade. Fields also had a cameo in Looking for Mr. Goodbar (1977) and played major roles in such films as the international production Jet Lag (1981) and appeared in Bob Fosse's Star 80 (1983), but has had one of his most visible big-screen success to date with his performance as the male lead in Anna (1987), directed by Yurek Bogayevicz and starring Sally Kirkland.