Who is Chip Fields, mother of Alexis and Kim Fields?
Laverne ‘Chip’ Fields was born in New York City, USA on 5 August 1951 – her zodiac sign is Leo and she holds American nationality. She is an actress, singer, film producer and director, who is perhaps still best known for her portrayal of Lynetta Gordon in the comedy series “Good Times”, which aired from 1974 to 1979 and was created by Mike Evas, Norman Lear and Eric Monte. The series starred Ja’net DuBois, Ralph Carter and Bernadette Stanis, and followed a poor family trying to make ends meet – the series won one award and was nominated for seven others, including three Golden Globes.
Chip is the mother of two popular actresses – Kim Fields and Alexis Fields.
Early life and education
Chip was raised in New York City in a large family by her father who was taxi driver and her mother who was a seamstress – the family was poor and barely had the money for the most basic things.
Chip became interested in acting after she began watching TV with her brothers and sisters, and after learning that she can act at school, she immediately became a member of the school’s drama club. She enrolled at a local high school at which she was physically active to become ready for her roles, and after matriculation in 1969, she started working several jobs to financially support herself while attending auditions for roles in movies and TV series – five years would pass until Chip got an opportunity to launch her acting career.
Roles in TV series
Chip made her debut TV series appearance in 1975, when cast to play Girl in Bar in the episode “Face for a Shadow” of the anthology crime series “Police Story”. Two years later, she guest starred in single episodes of several series, such as the sitcom “Rhoda”, the daytime soap opera “Days of Our Lives” and the sitcom “What’s Happening!!”.
In 1978, she was invited to guest as Kelly Johnson in the episode “A Ransom in Diamonds” of the critically acclaimed detective series “Barnaby Jones”, which starred Buddy Ebsen, Lee Meriwether and Mark Shera, and followed both the business and private life of the detective Barnaby – the series was nominated for four awards including two Golden Globes.
Chip Fields on-set during filming of 2-parter "The Deadly Dust"
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Also in 1978 Chip played the supporting character Rita Conway in the series “The Amazing Spider-Man”, and then appeard in a single episode of many series, such as the police procedural “Hill Street Blues” in 1982, the police drama “T. J. Hooker” in 1984 and the sitcom “The Facts of Life” in 1986.
The year 1992 saw her guest star as Ms. Wilson in an episode of the comedy drama “Roc”, and in 1993, she was invited to play the supporting character Laverne Hunter, appearing in many episodes of the comedy series “Living Single”.
Three of Chip’s most recent roles in TV series have been in the episode “Escorting Ain’t Easy” of the sitcom “The Wayans Bros.” in 1998, the episode “Turkey Day Blues” of another sitcom “The Parkers” in 2000 and the episode “Fist of Funny” of the comedy series “Just Jordan” in 2007.
Roles in movies
Chip made her debut film appearance in 1974, when cast to portray Rioter on Hallway Stairs in the romantic comedy “Claudine”, which starred James Earl Jones and Diahann Carroll, and in the same year she played Harriet Morse in the film “Change at 125th Street”.
The year 1975 saw her play the supporting character Red Hat in the biographical comedy movie “The Happy Hooker”, based on the memoir written by Xaviera Hollander, and in 1977 Chip appeared in the movie “Freeman” directed by Lloyd Richards. She portrayed Caroline Brown in the crime drama “Blue Collar” in 1978, and in 1980 appeared as Yvonne Clements in the drama “The Night the City Screamed”.
Chip’s most recent role in a film has been in 2004, when she played The Woman in Church in the drama “Woman Thou Art Loosed”, directed by Michael Schultz.
Other credits
Chip has worked in different capacities on other films – she served as the dialogue coach for the teen hood drama “Menace II Society” in 1993, and in the same year was the producer’s consultant for many episodes of two sitcoms – “Hangin’ with Mr. Cooper” and “Living Single”. 1999 saw her direct the episode “The Road Less Traveled” of the sitcom “Sister, Sister”, then the following year she started working as a consultant for the sitcom “The Parkers”, while she also directed four episodes of the series.
Since 2001, Chip has mostly been focused on directing TV series. She started with the episode “You Better Watch Out” of the sitcom “Girlfriends”, and then in 2003 directed seven episodes of the sitcom “Romeo!” and five episodes of the comedy series “One on One”. The year 2005 saw her direct the episode “If You Can’t Stand the Heat” of the sitcom “All of Us”, and she then directed single episodes of both the teen comedy “Hannah Montana”, and the live action comedy “Ned’s Declassified School Survival Guide”.
Three of her most recent directing credits have been when she worked on two episodes of the comedy “Meet the Browns” in 2009, in 2012 when she directed 12 episodes of the sitcom “Tyler Perry’s House of Payne”, and in 2020 she directed six episodes of the comedy “Tyler Perry’s Young Dylan”.
Love life and marriage
Chip has been married twice. She avoids talking about her first husband- a man named John Randolph – but it’s believed that the two began dating while she was still a teenager. There is no definitive information as to the dates of their union, except that they married before she turned 20. On 12 May 1969 in New York City, Chip gave birth to daughter Kim, and daughter Alexis followed nearly 10 years later on 3 March 1979, apparently both fathered by John, but then the couple divorced, presumably sometime after Alexis was born.
In the early ‘90s, Chip met American film cameraman Erv Hurd, while they were working on the same movie together, and on 20 August 1994, they married in a private ceremony attended by their closest friends and family.
Chip and Erv have seemingly been leading a happy life together since they married, and as of September 2020, Chip is married to her second husband and has two daughters from her first marriage.
Hobbies and other interests
Chip is a family woman who, after the birth of her first daughter, decided to focus on raising her rather than on pursuing her acting career. She spends most of her free time with her daughters if they are free, but when not, Chip likes to go travelling to places she hasn’t so far visited in the US – she is also keen on travelling to Europe, but prefers to go with someone as she is not a huge fan of overseas flights.
She is a philanthropist, who has worked with several charity organizations and foundations while Chip is also a supporter of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA).
A few of her personal favorite actors and actresses are Will Smith, Denzel Washington and Natalie Portman, and some of her favorite movies include “Seven Pounds”, “I, Robot” and “Leon: The Professional”.
Net worth
Chip’s age is 69. She has long black hair and brown eyes, her height is 5ft 5ins (1.65m) and she weighs around 130lbs (59kgs). As of September 2020, her net worth has been estimated at over $1 million.
Who is Kim Fields?
Kim is perhaps still best known for her portrayal of the lead character Dorothy ‘Toothie’ Ramsey in the sitcom “The Facts of Life” which aired from 1979 to 1988 and which also starred Lisa Whelchel and Mindy Cohn – the story follows a former housekeeper Mrs Edna Garrett as she is teaching a group of teenage girls how to survive through that special period of life.
The series won six awards and was nominated for 17 others, including three Primetime Emmys.
Kim gained recognition in 1978, when she was invited to star in the sitcom “Baby, I’m Back”, then when it was cancelled after airing only a few episodes, she was invited to star in “The Facts of Life”. She took a break from acting as she wanted to enroll at Pepperdine University, from which she graduated in 1992, and in 1993 she was invited to guest star in a single episode of the critically acclaimed comedy series “The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air”, in which she was being seduced by the famous actor Will Smith. From 1993 to 1998, Kim starred as Regina Hunter in the sitcom “Living Single” and after the series was cancelled launched her career as a musician by joining the R&B band Impromp 2. She also began her directing career, and on 18 August 2015, Kim was invited to star in the reality series “The Real Housewives of Atlanta”.
In 1995, she married Jonathon Franklin Freeman, an American film producer, but they divorced in 2001 for unknown reasons. Kim went on to date the actor Christopher Morgan, and gave birth to their son Sebastian Alexander Morgan on 4 May 2007 – Kim and Christopher married on 23 July 2007 in a private ceremony, and on 3 December 2013, Kim gave birth to their son Quincy Morgan.
Who is Alexis Fields?
Alexis is not as famous as her sister Kim – she is perhaps best known for her portrayal of Nicole Wilson in the family comedy series “The Secret World of Alex Mack”, which aired from 1994 to 1998 and which starred Larisa Oleynik, Meredith Bishop and Darris Love. The story follows the adventures of the teenage girl Alex Mack, and the series won one award and was nominated for 12 others.
Happy Birthday to actress Alexis Fields!
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Alexis has appeared in around 22 movies and TV series – her first notable performance was in the comedy drama series “Roc”, in which she played Sheila Hendricks in 22 episodes in 1993. From 1996 to 1999, she played the supporting character Diavian Johnson when appearing in 27 episodes of the comedy drama “Sister, Sister”, and from 1998 to 2000 she starred as Sharla Morrison in the comedy series “Kenan & Kel”. Two of her most recent roles have been in 2016 in the episode “Greed Ex-Boyfriend” of the crime series “Dead of Night” in which she played Tiffany Durst, and in two episodes of the drama sport series “All American” in 2020, in which she played Denise Patterson. Alexis has recently been cast to appear in an upcoming untitled film.
Alexis has been married to non-celebrity Kevin Jackson since 2006, and they have two kids together.