Depending on your age, your favorite Sally Field role might date back to 1965 and "Gidget," the teenage surfer whose antics always landed her in hot water. A gidget, fans learned, was a girl who wasn't very tall but wasn't a midget. Get it? Then came the role of Sister Bertrille, the flying nun whose ability to take flight resulted from her weight, a scant 90 pounds, and her wacky headgear that looked like a paper airplane built by committee. The plots were a stretch, but Sally's likability factor kicked in--viewers liked her, they really liked her--and both sitcoms were hits.

Some 40 years and 28 motion pictures later, her star hasn't dimmed. She's successfully made the transition from cute-as-a-button ingenue to serious film actress and has earned two Academy Awards in the process. Besides her Oscar-winning roles in Norma Rae and Places in the Heart, she's starred in such audience favorites as Smokey and the Bandit, Mrs. Doubtfire and Forrest Gump. Most recently she's returned to television as Nora Walker in ABC's Sunday night drama Brothers & Sisters and has a recurring role as Maggie Wyczenski in NBC's ER. As if these activities aren't enough to keep her busy, she's signed on as an advocate for women's health, a cause she took up with gusto after learning that she has osteoporosis. It turned out that the petite stature that qualified her for early TV fame also made her a likely candidate for chronic bone loss.

The Post caught up with Sally on the eve of her 60th birthday, a milestone she describes as "significant." Now a grandmother, she's as fit as in her Gidget days; her weight still qualifies her for liftoff in the Sister Bertrille tradition, and her likability score remains off the charts.

Post: Your osteoporosis was diagnosed in early 2005. Was this a shock or had you been having problems?

Sally Field: I'm lucky to have a really good doctor. If I don't make an appointment for an annual physical exam, he calls me and asks, "Where are you?" For about a year he had been watching my bone density, in addition to looking at my blood pressure, cholesterol and all the other things you should be watching as you get older. He knew there was a strong possibility that I might have a problem with bone loss because I'm a prime candidate. I'm over 50, small, Caucasian, and it's in my family. For a while, my bone density was borderline, then it went to osteopenia, which is a precondition, and then in 2005 it took a fast dive and was full-fledged osteoporosis.

Post: People respond to bad news in different ways. Some are fired up, others are reduced to teats. How did you react?

Sally Field: I remember driving home in the car and calling all three of my sons. I tried to make light of it. I said, "Oh, my bones! I haven't a leg to stand on!" But in reality I knew it was a sign. A little flag went up and I realized. OK, I've entered a new stage of life where taking care of my health has to be a real commitment, not something I take for granted anymore. I decided to fight back by getting information. I wanted to know more about osteoporosis. I wanted to know how it could impact me. I wanted to learn how best to take care of myself. What I found out was that one out of two women over the age of 50 will experience an osteoporosis-related fracture at some time in their lives. The good news is that bone is a living thing and the body constantly loses old bone and builds new bone. Osteoporosis occurs when your body loses more bone than it's capable of building. With treatment. I'm now back to a normal level of bone loss.

Post: You've remained tiny and fit throughout your career. Did it actually take the osteoporosis diagnosis to make you health conscious?

Sally Field: I've always been health conscious because I didn't want to gain weight. People say I'm tiny, but I never felt tiny. I fought the weight issue my whole life. When I was starting out in the business at age 17 or 18, I knew nothing about nutrition and fitness. Women didn't exercise back then; it just wasn't something that was part of our day. I didn't understand that walking, running, and pumping iron can help maintain weight. I thought you lost weight by eating nothing but cucumbers! Later, by doing a lot of reading, I learned that's not a good thing. It's all about eating right and exercising.

Post: How would you describe your diet today?

Sally Field: My diet is insanely healthy. I've probably moved too far to the other extreme. People tell me to lighten up. I live in the mountains near Santa Monica and I love working in the garden, I'm growing greens and vegetables In my back yard. I take my lunch to work. I eat mostly salads … I make these great big salads. I'm possessed! I also include things like soy milk in my diet that I never used to eat.

Post: Your current schedule obviously requires a lot of energy. What prompted you to take on the demanding role of Nora in Brothers & Sisters?

Sally Field: The author, Jon Robin Baitz, is a spectacular writer. I've been a longtime fan of his plays, and I think it's interesting that we now have contemporary American playwrights moving to television. Before Brothers & Sisters came along, my interests were headed toward the theater. But Brothers & Sisters is all about a dysfunctional family whose members deeply love each other and are bonded together. My whole life is about family. Yes, work is important, but at the heart of everything is family.

Post: There's an adage that says women stand on the shoulders of those who came before them. In other words, past generations have cleared the way for the current generation to succeed. On whose shoulders do you stand?

Sally Field: Probably on my mother's shoulders. As far as actresses go, the generation that I grew up watching was one generation removed from my own. I've always been a huge fan of movies from the '30s and '40s. I watched Rosalind Russell, Irene Dunne, Katharine Hepburn and Bette Davis. I admired them greatly and studied their ability to move from drama and into comedy.

Post: You made similar transitions from comedy to drama and back to comedy again. Was that done by chance or design?

Sally Field: I don't think you can design those things, especially not in my business, The only thing you can do is keep getting better. You keep your head up, do things for the right reasons, and always strive to improve.

Post: Do you feel any need to pass along to up-and-coming actors all the lessons you've learned? Have you ever wanted to mentor young talent or write a book about your experiences?

Sally Field: I've been on the board at [Robert Redford's] Sundance Institute for 10 years or so. I work with actors and young directors at the Sundance theater labs all the time in the summer. I guess that's mentoring, in a way. I haven't taken people under my wing exactly, but I try to hand off whatever information that I have. As far as a hook goes, no, not right now; maybe later in my life. To say I might write a book is like casually announcing, "Well, maybe I'll climb Mount Everest." It's a really difficult task! I know how hard it is because my oldest son is a novelist; in fact, all three of my sons are writers, so I don't take it lightly. Maybe someday … but not right now.

Post: You've succeeded in every aspect of your business--acting, producing and directing. Looking ahead, is there something out there that you would really like to accomplish?

Sally Field: Right now I'm excited to be doing Brothers & Sisters. Beyond that, I really don't know. I don't look at life like that. I sort of wait for roads to present themselves. It's hard to fathom a road before it becomes apparent. I'm in a good place; I feel fine, but at the same time. I'm conscious that life doesn't stand still. I'm trying to move with it, adapt and keep on keeping on. Life is never perfect. It goes up and down, and you have to ride it like a roller coaster.