Kim Victoria Fields (born May 12, 1969) is an
AmericanThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
actressAn actor or actress is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity...
. She is best known for her roles as Tootie Ramsey on the long-running
NBCThe National Broadcasting Company is an American television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices in Burbank,California...
sitcom
The Facts of LifeThe Facts of Life is an American sitcom that originally ran on the NBC television network from August 24, 1979 to September 10, 1988. A spin-off of the sitcom Diff'rent Strokes, the series' original premise focused on the character, Edna Garrett , as she becomes housemother to seven girls at the...
, and as Regine Hunter on the
FoxThe Fox Broadcasting Company , commonly referred to as Fox , is an American television network owned by Fox Entertainment Group, part of Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation. Launched on October 9, 1986, from 2004 to 2009 Fox was the highest-rated broadcast network in the 18–49 demographic...
sitcom
Living SingleLiving Single was an American television sitcom which aired for five seasons on FOX from August 1993 until January 1998. The show centered on the lives of six African American friends who share personal and professional experiences while living in a Brooklyn brownstone...
. She is the daughter of actress/producer
Chip FieldsChip Fields, who is sometimes credited as Chip Hurd or Chip Fields-Hurd, is an American actress, director, consultant, and dialogue coach, who has appeared in popular films, television shows, and Broadway theatre. She is best known for portraying Penny Gordon's abusive birth mother in a four-part...
and the older sister of actress Alexis Fields.
Before appearing on Facts of Life, Fields starred on a short-lived sitcom called
Baby, I'm BackBaby, I'm Back is an American sitcom that premiered January 30, 1978 on CBS, and abruptly cancelled on April 17, 1978 midway through its first season, due to poor ratings...
and appeared in a commercial for
Mrs. Butterworth'sMrs. Butterworth's is a brand of pre-packaged syrups and pancake mixes owned by Pinnacle Foods. The syrups come in distinctive bottles shaped in the form of a matronly female, Mrs. Butterworth....
pancake syrup.
She later appeared on
Good TimesGood Times is an American sitcom that originally aired from February 8, 1974, until August 1, 1979, on the CBS television network. It was created by Eric Monte and Michael Evans and produced by Norman Lear...
as a friend of Penny Gordon Woods.
Kim Victoria Fields (born May 12, 1969) is an
AmericanThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
actressAn actor or actress is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity...
. She is best known for her roles as Tootie Ramsey on the long-running
NBCThe National Broadcasting Company is an American television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices in Burbank,California...
sitcom
The Facts of LifeThe Facts of Life is an American sitcom that originally ran on the NBC television network from August 24, 1979 to September 10, 1988. A spin-off of the sitcom Diff'rent Strokes, the series' original premise focused on the character, Edna Garrett , as she becomes housemother to seven girls at the...
, and as Regine Hunter on the
FoxThe Fox Broadcasting Company , commonly referred to as Fox , is an American television network owned by Fox Entertainment Group, part of Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation. Launched on October 9, 1986, from 2004 to 2009 Fox was the highest-rated broadcast network in the 18–49 demographic...
sitcom
Living SingleLiving Single was an American television sitcom which aired for five seasons on FOX from August 1993 until January 1998. The show centered on the lives of six African American friends who share personal and professional experiences while living in a Brooklyn brownstone...
. She is the daughter of actress/producer
Chip FieldsChip Fields, who is sometimes credited as Chip Hurd or Chip Fields-Hurd, is an American actress, director, consultant, and dialogue coach, who has appeared in popular films, television shows, and Broadway theatre. She is best known for portraying Penny Gordon's abusive birth mother in a four-part...
and the older sister of actress Alexis Fields.
Acting
Before appearing on Facts of Life, Fields starred on a short-lived sitcom called
Baby, I'm BackBaby, I'm Back is an American sitcom that premiered January 30, 1978 on CBS, and abruptly cancelled on April 17, 1978 midway through its first season, due to poor ratings...
and appeared in a commercial for
Mrs. Butterworth'sMrs. Butterworth's is a brand of pre-packaged syrups and pancake mixes owned by Pinnacle Foods. The syrups come in distinctive bottles shaped in the form of a matronly female, Mrs. Butterworth....
pancake syrup.
She later appeared on
Good TimesGood Times is an American sitcom that originally aired from February 8, 1974, until August 1, 1979, on the CBS television network. It was created by Eric Monte and Michael Evans and produced by Norman Lear...
as a friend of Penny Gordon Woods. Her real life mother,
Chip FieldsChip Fields, who is sometimes credited as Chip Hurd or Chip Fields-Hurd, is an American actress, director, consultant, and dialogue coach, who has appeared in popular films, television shows, and Broadway theatre. She is best known for portraying Penny Gordon's abusive birth mother in a four-part...
, starred on
Good Times as the mother of
Janet JacksonJanet Damita Jo Jackson is an American recording artist and actress. Born in Gary, Indiana, and raised in Encino, Los Angeles, California, she is the youngest child of the Jackson family of musicians...
's character, Penny. Interestingly the two Fields women never starred in the same episodes. Kim's episodes on
Good TimesGood Times is an American sitcom that originally aired from February 8, 1974, until August 1, 1979, on the CBS television network. It was created by Eric Monte and Michael Evans and produced by Norman Lear...
were "The Snow Storm" and "The Physical".
Fields's most notable role was that of Tootie on the sitcom
The Facts of LifeThe Facts of Life is an American sitcom that originally ran on the NBC television network from August 24, 1979 to September 10, 1988. A spin-off of the sitcom Diff'rent Strokes, the series' original premise focused on the character, Edna Garrett , as she becomes housemother to seven girls at the...
. From 1979 to 1988, she played Tootie Ramsey on the program. Even decades later, many still recognize her catchphrase, "
We are in trou-ble!" She was also known for the braces she wore on the series for five seasons. When the show began filming, Fields was so short that the producers put her in roller skates during the first season so that they could avoid difficult camera angles. Ironically, however, she lost a role as Arnold Jackson's girlfriend on
Diff'rent StrokesDiff'rent Strokes is an American television sitcom that aired on the NBC television network from November 3, 1978 to May 4, 1985, and on ABC from September 27, 1985 to March 7, 1986.-History:...
, because she was taller than
Gary ColemanGary Wayne Coleman is an American actor, best known for his role as Arnold Jackson in the American sitcom Diff'rent Strokes . He works as the Secretary Controller for Simmons Media Group in Salt Lake City, Utah....
.
Her real life mother
Chip FieldsChip Fields, who is sometimes credited as Chip Hurd or Chip Fields-Hurd, is an American actress, director, consultant, and dialogue coach, who has appeared in popular films, television shows, and Broadway theatre. She is best known for portraying Penny Gordon's abusive birth mother in a four-part...
portrayed Diane Ramsey, Tootie's mother, on
Facts of Life as well as playing Regine's mother on
Living SingleLiving Single was an American television sitcom which aired for five seasons on FOX from August 1993 until January 1998. The show centered on the lives of six African American friends who share personal and professional experiences while living in a Brooklyn brownstone...
.
After taking time away from acting to attend
Pepperdine UniversityPepperdine University is an independent, private, medium-sized university affiliated with the Churches of Christ. Seaver College, the School of Law, the Graduate School of Education and Psychology, the Graziadio School of Business and Management, and the School of Public Policy are located on the...
, she had a starring role in the hit
FoxThe Fox Broadcasting Company , commonly referred to as Fox , is an American television network owned by Fox Entertainment Group, part of Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation. Launched on October 9, 1986, from 2004 to 2009 Fox was the highest-rated broadcast network in the 18–49 demographic...
sitcomA situation comedy, usually referred to as a sitcom, is a genre of comedy programs which originated in radio. Today, sitcoms are found almost exclusively on television as one of its dominant narrative forms...
Living SingleLiving Single was an American television sitcom which aired for five seasons on FOX from August 1993 until January 1998. The show centered on the lives of six African American friends who share personal and professional experiences while living in a Brooklyn brownstone...
from 1993 to 1998 as Regine Hunter.
Fields guest-starred on television series such as
One on OneOne on One is an American sitcom that aired on the now-defunct UPN. The series stars Flex Alexander as a single sportscaster, who becomes a full-time dad when his ex-wife decides to accept a job out of the country and his teenage daughter moves in with him. The series was based in Baltimore and in...
,
The Golden PalaceThe Golden Palace is an American sitcom that originally aired on CBS during the 1992-1993 season. The show was a spin-off of the sitcom The Golden Girls.-Synopsis:...
, and appeared as herself on HBO's
The ComebackThe Comeback is a television series produced by HBO that stars actress Lisa Kudrow as sitcom actress Valerie Cherish in modern-day Los Angeles, California. It was created by Kudrow and Michael Patrick King, a former executive producer of Sex and the City...
.
On February 1, 2007, Fields was reunited with
Lisa WhelchelLisa Diane Whelchel is an American actress best known for her role in the television series The Facts of Life as the preppy and wealthy Blair Warner.- Life and career :...
on WFAA-TV's
Good Morning Texas. Fields was in Dallas to promote her appearance in the production
Issues: We've All Got 'Em when Whelchel was introduced as a surprise guest. It marked the first time in six years (since
The Facts of Life ReunionThe Facts of Life Reunion is a 2001 made-for-television movie based on the 1979-1988 sitcom The Facts of Life reuniting original cast members Charlotte Rae, Lisa Whelchel, Mindy Cohn and Kim Fields thirteen years later...
movie) that Fields and Whelchel even had contact.
Director
With her degree from
Pepperdine UniversityPepperdine University is an independent, private, medium-sized university affiliated with the Churches of Christ. Seaver College, the School of Law, the Graduate School of Education and Psychology, the Graziadio School of Business and Management, and the School of Public Policy are located on the...
she began directing. Fields directed the
All ThatAll That is an American live-action, sketch comedy-variety show that aired on the Nickelodeon cable television network featuring short comedic sketches and weekly musical guests. The theme song for All That was performed by TLC...
spinoff and a number of
Kenan & KelKenan & Kel is an American television sitcom that originally aired on Nickelodeon from 1996 to 2000. The show starred two friends and former All That cast members Kenan Thompson and Kel Mitchell. Sixty-two episodes and a made-for-TV movie were produced over four seasons...
episodes. She also appeared in two episodes of the series.
Music
In 1984, during the run of
Facts of Life, Fields released two singles on the Critique Records label: the
discoDisco is a genre of dance music that that had its roots in clubs that catered to African American, psychedelic and other communities in New York City and Philadelphia during the late 1960s and early 1970s...
/
Hi-NRGHi-NRG is high-tempo disco music , as well as a more specific, derivative genre of electronic dance music that achieved mainstream popularity in the mid to late 1980s...
"He Loves Me He Loves Me Not" (which became a minor club hit), and "Dear Michael".
After the cancellation of
Living Single, Fields began performing rap music and R&B with a group called Impromp2.
As of 2006 she changed her look and style considerably, sporting either a large blonde afro or platinum blonde braids or dreadlocks. She performs under the stage name of "Blondielocks" and she released a CD called
Smooth is Spoken Here.
Personal life
Fields was born in
New YorkNew York is the most populous city in the United States, and the center of the New York metropolitan area, which is among the most populous urban areas in the world. A leading global city, New York exerts a powerful influence over worldwide commerce, finance, culture, fashion and entertainment...
,
New YorkNew York is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States and is the nation's third most populous. The state is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
. She dated fellow
Living Single cast member
John HentonJohn Henton is an American actor and comedian and a graduate of Shaw High School. Henton is an avid Cleveland Browns fan, as noted on the television series, Living Single. Henton never entertained the thought of a career in comedy...
for one year, and was married to Johnathon Franklin Freeman from 1995 to 1998. Her sister is actress Alexis Fields from
Sister, SisterSister, Sister is an American television sitcom about identical twin girls , separated and adopted at birth, who one day come face-to-face after 14 years apart. The series premiered during the 1993-94 season on ABC, was briefly canceled after the 1994-95 season; but The WB renewed the show for the...
.
She attended Burbank High School (Burbank, California).
Fields gave birth to her first child, Sebastian Alexander Morgan, by her then boyfriend, Broadway actor Christopher Morgan, on May 4, 2007. The couple introduced their son the following week in
People magazine. On July 23, 2007, they were married in a private ceremony officiated by Pastor
Donnie McClurkinDonnie McClurkin is an American gospel music singer and minister. He has won two Grammy awards, ten Stellar awards, two BET awards, two Soul Train awards, one Dove award and one NAACP Image award for his work....
.