Tommy Fields

Tommy Fields (28 June 1908 – 3 June 1988) was a British actor, variety entertainer and music hall performer. He was the younger brother of Gracie Fields.

Early life Fields was born Tom Stansfield, the youngest of four children and only son of Frederick Stansfield (1874–1956) and his wife Sarah Jane 'Jenny' Stansfield née Bamford (1879–1953), in Rochdale, Lancashire. His great-grandfather, William Stansfield (b.1805), of Hebden Bridge, Yorkshire, was a descendant of the Stansfield family of Stansfield, Yorkshire. As a boy Field enjoyed being with his father on his allotment where Fred Stansfield operated as an illegal bookmaker and 'rat worried'.

Stage career While his older sisters, including Gracie were on tour with their manager Archie Pitt (also the husband of Gracie Fields), Tommy Field remained at home with his parents until it was time for him to join his sisters in their act on stage. His own wish was to join the Royal Navy, but he was overruled by his mother, and he made his first stage appearance in 1921 at Oldham. In 1924 he joined his sisters' review act Mr Tower of London, initially selling postcards of his sisters for a penny during the interval, and in time joining them on stage. In the revue Mr Tower of London he garnered good reviews as the ticket conductor in the 'Mr Tower’s Omnibus' scene.

In 1926 Tommy Fields joined his sisters Gracie and Edith as the principal comedian in Archie Pitt's new revue By Request, and when they were joined by accordionist Nino Rossini (1901–1965), he and Tommy Fields decided to form a new double act, Fields and Rossini, with Tommy Fields playing the violin and performing eccentric dancing and Rossini playing his accordion and performing comedy. a musical version of Charley’s Aunt. He continued to perform with his sister Gracie Fields, the last time in 1957 in Hughie Green's Saturday Spectacular. In 1962 he played the pantomime dame Widow Twanky in Aladdin at the Pavilion Theatre in Bournemouth opposite Adam Faith in the title role.

Film and television His film and television roles included: Sidney Pearson in Look up and Laugh (1935); Tommy Barcroft in The Penny Pool (1937); Member of the Three Bolas in Keep Smiling (1938); Jack Hylton's Monday Show (1958); Gracie Fields: Sing As We Go (1984)

Personal life He was married three times: to dancer Cynthia Rawson in 1947, with whom he had two daughters, Melanie Stansfield (1951–) and Isla Stansfield (1953–); to dancer Dorothy Whiteside in 1930, with whom he had a son, Michael Frederick John Stansfield (1934–2008), and Annette Thornton in 1967, with whom he had a daughter, Marisa Stansfield (1968–). He died in Lewes in Sussex in June 1988 and was buried in the churchyard of St Laurence's Church at Telscombe Village in Sussex.