Interview with Al Campos, brother of Tony Fields!

Thanks again for agreeing to do an interview. Myself and a lot of other people who email me  through the SammiCurr.com website found out about Tony through "Trick Or Treat" but have since gone back and checked out all of the other things he was involved in. He was a very talented guy. :-)

Hey Tony, no problem, thank you for reaching out and asking. Yea he was very talented and he was so full of life, he had such a big personality, his laughter was so contagious.  I miss him so much.

You mentioned to me that you and Tony were half brothers. Did you grow up together? Were you close?

We did not grow up together, Tony and his 2 older sisters grew up in California, while my sister and I grew up in Nebraska. We finally met when I was 16 and after that yes we became close.

Tony seemed to be interested in performing from a young age, and moved to Hollywood to pursue that career. Did you keep in touch throughout his career?

Yes, after I met him we kept in touch. In fact he would call me and tell me about his roles that he had gotten , He was most proud of the role of Alex Duluca in a Chorus Line since that was one of the big roles after Solid Gold, and he was super excited he was going to work with Richard Attenbourough.

Tony did well in the dance world, landing a gig on Solid Gold and being in several Michael Jackson videos as well as being cast in a role in the film "A Chorus Line". Did he share any experiences with you?

He did! He told me that the scene in the music video "Beat It" where he grabs the girl by the hair and kisses her was  totally his idea, I remember he said hey if I'm gonna be in this video I'm going to do something to stand out.  Also about Chorus Line he was so honored to work with Richard Attenborough

Tony is best known for his leading role as Sammi Curr in "Trick or Treat" in 1986. What did you think of the film?

Oh I loved the film .., My best buddy at the time and I saw it the first day it was released. In fact I had called Tony to let him know we were going to see it and he wanted me to call him  right after I saw it to tell him what I thought of the film and I guess give him any criticism . Of course I loved it,  and thought he was great in the movie since that was and still is the genre of music I prefer

Did he share any stories of the filming with you?

Yea he called me me as they were filming and basically told me the whole  story of the movie on the phone, he even imitated Sammi's voice you hear in the movie.  

Was he happy with the role?

He was happy with the way it turned out, he had fun doing the press for it but he was surprised that it wasn't bigger than it was since it had Ozzy and Gene Simmons in it. Of course now it's a huge cult movie . I  like many other people actually watch it every Halloween as a tribute to my brother .

Tony continued to act after the "Trick or Treat" role, landing roles in feature films and TV roles and was doing very well. Was he happy with his career at this point?

Yes he was content.  

After Tony's health started to decline, he returned to his high school as a mentor to students. To this day, Davis High School still holds a "Tribute to Tony Fields" in the Arts program of the school, and there's even a scholarship available in his name. This just goes to show how much Tony was loved by his students. Are you involved in that in any way?

I am not involved in it, however I have been to several of the tributes over the years and I must say the students at Davis High school do an incredible job with the entire production of the show that they put together every year to honor the life and spirit of Tony.

Any stories or fun facts you'd like to share about Tony with the readers of Sammi Curr.com?

During one of his trips to visit our Dad in Wichita in between his filming jobs we were doing a workout video "to keep in shape". It was actually BUNS of STEEL.  In the video there were multiple people doing the exercises all at the same time.  We were in so much pain half way through - he started yelling at the tv. He gave each instructor a name he thought would fit the way they looked and behaved. It was absolutely hilarious and needless to say we did not finish the entire video. We were still  sore a few days later and he still referred to them by the names he gave them. He was letting them have it.

There was also another time he made an entertainment center for our dad's tv.  After he completed it and put everything on it he kept making comments about how he was  really nervous that it might not hold the weight of the tv. He was super concerned that one day he would walk into the living room With everything collapsed and ruined. It was a daily conversation.  He was so dramatic in his sharing that it was never the same story it was his delivery of the story that would always change and be so  over the top hilarious.

Thank you for your time Al, and remember how much Tony's character of Sammi Curr is still loved and revered by us 80s Metal kids and fans of the film. We'll continue to honor his memory every year here at SammiCurr.com!

Oh thank you for reaching out to me and thank you to all the fans of this movie for still loving it after all these years. It is so cool to me to see this movie have the cult following it does around the world .