Chip Fields

Chip Fields, born Laverne Bernard on August 5, 1951, in Harlem, New York, is an American actress, singer, television director, dialogue coach, and producer. Raised by her uncle Louis Bernard alongside her elder sister Patricia Bernard, she attended the New York High School of Performing Arts. During her senior year, she became pregnant by her boyfriend Anthony Fields and transferred to Newark Prep to complete her diploma. She married Anthony Fields in 1969, and the couple's first daughter, Kim Fields, was born that same year. Fields and Anthony Fields divorced in 1974. In 1982, she gave birth to a second daughter, Alexis Fields. In August 1994, she married technical director Ervin Hurd.

Fields made her Broadway debut in May 1972, playing Carlotta in the comedy Tough to Get Help. The production opened and closed at the Royale Theatre on May 4, 1972, lasting only a single performance. In November 1975, she returned to Broadway in a revival of the musical Hello, Dolly! In 1987, she appeared on Broadway for a third time, taking on the roles of Sylvia and Barbara Ann in the gospel musical Don't Get God Started.

Between her Broadway engagements, Fields built a substantial television career. In 1976, she appeared on the sitcom Good Times as Rochelle, a girlfriend of J.J. in a season four two-part episode. The following year she returned to the series in a different role, portraying Lynnetta Gordon, the abusive birth mother of a child named Millicent "Penny" Gordon, across four episodes. During the casting process for the role of Penny, Fields had her daughter Kim Fields audition, but the part went to Janet Jackson. Fields's portrayal of Lynnetta Gordon became one of her most recognized television performances. In 1978, she was cast as a series regular on the live-action television series The Amazing Spider-Man, playing Rita Conway, a secretary at the Daily Bugle and friend of Peter Parker. The series ranked as the 19th-highest-rated show of its season, though CBS cancelled it following its second season of seven episodes. In the early 1980s, Fields made guest appearances on The Night the City Screamed, Hill Street Blues, The Facts of Life Goes to Paris, and T.J. Hooker. In 1984, she appeared in The Facts of Life as Diane Ramsey, the mother of Tootie Ramsey, a character portrayed by her daughter Kim Fields. In 1994, she appeared in multiple episodes of Living Single as Laverne Hunter, once again playing the mother of a character portrayed by Kim Fields.

Outside of performing, Fields founded a performance academy called The Rainbow Connection in 1983, specializing in drama and dance. She made her directorial debut in 1994, directing the season-two episode "Groom and Doom" of Hangin' with Mr. Cooper. She subsequently worked as a dialogue coach, acting consultant, and television director on productions including The Parkers, Girlfriends, One on One, All of Us, Romeo!, Just Jordan, Hannah Montana, Tyler Perry's House of Payne, and Meet the Browns.

Fields also pursued a recording career in the early 1970s, having been recruited by Ronnie Spector in 1973 to help reform The Ronettes. The group released two singles on Buddah Records: "Go Out and Get It" in 1973 and "I Wish I Never Saw the Sunshine" in 1974. Spector later disbanded the group, and Fields returned to her solo career. She also appeared as an extra in the 1974 film Claudine and in the television film Change at 125th Street that same year.