If you're under 45, you've probably never heard of her. If you're over 45, you may have heard of her, but have somehow confused her with actress Kim Fields who played a character named Tootie on the 80's sitcom "Facts Of Life." But some of us still remember Totie Fields as a frequent guest on the 1960's and 70's television talk show circuit. Born "Sophie Feldman:" in Hartford Connecticut in 1930, Fields was a comedienne and singer in the old school variety tradition who got her big break when Ed Sullivan caught her act at the Copacabana (shout out to Barry Manilow!) in New York and booked her on his really big shew. The rest is minor celebrity history. Sadly, in the late 70s, Fields' health began to fail, starting with a blood clot that eventually led to the amputation of her left leg, which was followed by two heart attacks and the removal of her right breast after she was diagnosed with breast cancer in 1977. A year later, Fields was voted "Female Comedy Star of the Year" by the American Guild of Variety Artists and was poised to begin an engagement at the Sahara Hotel in Las Vegas when she suffered a fatal pulmonary embolism at her home. Fields was 48. Her ashes are still in Las Vegas. Sadly, the Sahara closed in March of this year. To see Fields in action (and in a really strange dress) hit this.
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