Field was born in Boston, Massachusetts, in 1913 (although her year of birth was for many years given as 1918, including at ), and began her acting career on the London stage in She Loves Me.

She returned to the United States and appeared in several stage successes, before making her film debut in 1939.

Her role as Mae, the only female character, in Of Mice and Men (1939) established her as a dramatic actress, and she played supporting roles in films such as Kings Row (1942), where she played a victim of incest, although due to the heavy censorship of the time, many young people would most likely not be able to gauge that.

She preferred performing on Broadway, but returned to Hollywood regularly, appearing in The Great Gatsby (1949), Picnic (1955), Bus Stop (1956), Peyton Place (1957), BUtterfield 8 (1960) and The Birdman of Alcatraz (1962). Her final film role was in Coogan's Bluff in 1968.

Her third and final marriage, to playwright Elmer Rice, ended in divorce; Field and Rice had 3 children.

She died from a cerebral haemorrhage in Hyannis, Massachusetts, aged 60.