Kim Fields article

[KarenTj24]

There's an article called "Kim Fields credits God for career guidance" in yesterday's Dallas Morning News. Unfortunately, you need to be a subscriber to view it on online........

[JonAndyrgr8]

OH, can u post it on here???

[KarenTj24]

<< Unfortunately, you need to be a subscriber to view it on online >>

I'm not a subscriber. Perhaps someone else is?

[Ags2000]

Spiritual show


Cover Girls, a touring musical about four women and their faith, will run at 8 p.m. Tuesday through Jan. 9; at 3 and 8 p.m. Jan 10; and at 3 and 7:30 p.m. Jan. 11. The show, starring Kim Fields (above), will be at NextStage at Grand Prairie, 1001 NextStage Drive. Tickets are $14 to $38. Call Ticketmaster at 214-373-8000 or metro 972-647-5700, or visit www.nextstage.com.

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[Ags2000]

Kim Fields credits God for career guidance
05:52 PM CST on Friday, January 9, 2004

By IRA J. HADNOT / The Dallas Morning News

Kim Fields has been spared the tortured path of some child celebrities who didn't make the transition to adult stardom successfully.

She gives God the credit for taking her from Tootie the prep school gossip in TV's The Facts of Life that aired from 1979 to 1988 to a comeback role on Living Single in 1993 as the sophisticated Regine Hunter.

And for her ability to work nearly steadily in the entertainment industry since she was 7 and beat out Janet Jackson for a role in a Mrs. Butterworth's syrup commercial.

This week, Dallas has been her temporary home base while starring in Cover Girls, an inspirational musical about the lives of four women. It is based on the book by Bishop T.D. Jakes of The Potter's House. The production opened this week at NextStage in Grand Prairie and ends Sunday before continuing to almost 30 cities across the country.

"It is a blessing that after all these years people want to see what I am doing, are interested in my life," Ms. Fields, 34, said as she breezed through a local Wal-Mart this week looking for a cell phone charger. It was just sunrise, and she had already done one television interview and was giving one on the phone. She displayed the home-girl approachability that has endeared her to many fans.

The New York native said she was saved by God at age 14 in an African Methodist Episcopal Church and that she has worked on her relationship with God ever since.

"I am not bound to a denomination, but I do take care of my spirit."

She received a bachelor's degree in communications and film with a minor in religion from Pepperdine University in 1990 and has run her own Christian production company, Victory Entertainment, since she was a college student.

"God has his hands on my life and that has been manifest by his mercy and love and the people he has placed in my life," she said. "My mom [actress Laverne "Chip" Fields] made sure that I didn't lose my mind and that I stayed grounded."

She knows that she beat the odds, considering the fate of other child stars of her generation. She escaped problems with drug addiction and depression. Her career matured.

"I was the little black girl on The Facts of Life, but I wasn't supposed to be the one to go on to do another series that would last for five years."

Or have roles in more than 40 films, television programs and guest appearances on talk and game shows. Or work as a director for Disney and Nickelodeon productions. She has won several NAACP Image Awards, as well.

"I don't seek roles that have a religious dimension," she said. "But I don't shy away from them either. It depends on the quality."

Her mother, who has worked with Bishop Jakes, and Clear Channel Entertainment, one of Cover Girls' sponsors, got her involved.

Dallas is a frequent destination for Ms. Fields. She was here last year as a narrator for the Civil Rights Movement Concert sponsored by the Black Academy of Arts and Letters. She and its founder, Curtis King, are currently working on another project. She will return within a week for a Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. program.

Ms. Fields described some of her challenges. She was in a serious car accident in 1992 that claimed the life of one of her close friends. Her marriage in 1995 to Jonathan Franklin Freeman ended in divorce three years later.

"There has been some personal stuff," she said. "I've had my wilderness period. There have been times when I have had terrific projects and then spells when I haven't. Sometimes you have to accept that the spirit is at work when you are not getting what you want. You can keep pushing, but you will wind up saying to yourself, 'God, I am glad you kept me from going there.' "

Ms. Fields knows she is frozen in time as Tootie for some of her fans. She said she is prayerful that another generation will see her as a woman who "approaches everything I do with an awareness that I am covered by God."

E-mail ihadnot@dallasnews.com

DETAILS: Cover Girls is playing through Sunday at NextStage, 1001 NextStage Drive, Grand Prairie. Tickets are $14 to $38; call Ticketmaster at 214-373-8000, or see www.ticketmaster.com. Written by Bishop T.D. Jakes, the play is produced by Mathew Knowles and also stars gospel singer Ann Nesby.



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Online at: http://www.dallasnews.com/religion/a...tie.81882.html

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