Interpretations

Testimonials

Electionals

New to Astrology?

Instruction

Books for Sale

Forecasts

Payment

Newsletter

Message Board

FAQ

Resources

Home

Like this site?

Tell a friend!

ANOTHER SHIFT FOR SHERRY STRINGFIELD

by Brian Habit

November 4, 2001

Sherry Stringfield seemed to enjoy professional success as part of the ER cast during the television series’ early years. Along with fellow cast members, she won the Screen Actors Guild Award in both 1995 and 1996 for Outstanding Ensemble Performance in a Drama Series. She also received three Emmy nominations and a Best Actress Award from Viewers for Quality Television for her portray of sometimes challenging, sometimes tender-hearted, and always caring Dr. Susan Lewis.

Over the course of the show’s first three seasons, Stringfield’s character butted heads with Dr. Kerry Weaver over issues of patient care, adopted her infant niece Susie when the child’s drug-abusing mother abandoned her, dated one doctor and left another one waiting at the train station. About her character, Stringfield has said that she admires her calm in high-stakes situations and her dedication to caring for others.

But in 1996 Stringfield walked away from her apparent success on television to have a more satisfying life off screen. And now she has come back for another stint on the show starting this season. Transits to Stringfield’s natal chart, especially Saturn triggering her Sun, have marked a series of shifts in her life, personally and professionally.

A Wild Child Matures

Sherry Stringfield was born on June 24, 1967, in Colorado Springs, CO (time unknown). She has the Sun in changeable Cancer, the Moon in unpredictable Aquarius (unless she was born soon after midnight), and Venus and Jupiter in dramatic Leo. Mercury joins the Sun in Cancer and has a square to Mars in Libra, suggesting some mental if not also physical restlessness, and a trine to Neptune in Scorpio, indicating natural ability to portray emotional experiences convincingly. The combination of personal planets in Cancer and Leo suggests an expressive, creative person. Mars in Libra adds an inclination to weigh decisions or balance actions, and Saturn in Aries indicates drive and initiative. The planets are scattered in Stringfield’s chart, suggesting that she might go off in multiple directions at once or work to balance multiple areas of her life.

In high school, Stringfield divided her time between athletics and drama class until a teacher convinced her to focus her energy on a musical production. The Emmy-nominated actress has said that she was wild as a student and thrived on the stage, where she could express herself with creativity and a great deal of animation and entertain others. Stringfield is remembered for "streaking" at her high school’s National Honor Society induction meeting following graduation.

Saturn's Touch

Once Stringfield reached college, she experienced a series of Saturn transits to her Sun:

Saturn opposed her Sun exactly in April and December, 1988. It was a time for a new start in a process of challenges involving her personal ambitions. Saturn represents time pressure, career, responsibility, reality-testing, accomplishment, maturing. At that time, she was a student at the Acting Conservatory of the State University of New York at Purchase. Stringfield racked up New York stage credits, including Goose and TomTom, as well as Hurlyburly and A Dream Play at the Acting Conservatory. She went on to earn her B.F.A. in 1989. Afterwards, she was a regular on the soap opera The Guiding Light (1989–92) and NYPD Blue (1993–94).

Saturn trined her Sun. This was exact in February, 1994. This occurred during the months leading up to Stringfield’s appearance in the ER series premiere in September, 1994. It was a time to lay the groundwork and make progress toward a climax later, when Saturn conjoined her Sun. In addition, transiting Neptune was opposing her Mercury and sextiling her Neptune.

Saturn squared her Sun. This was exact in April, 1996, October, 1996, and January, 1997. The new start that she made when Saturn opposed her Sun in 1988 faced their first major crisis. Her goals were challenged. Responsibilities and realities weighed heavily on her, dampening her sense of vitality. It was a time of either passing the test of a trial by fire or making a necessary course correction in response to such pressure.

And make an adjustment she did. Stringfield left ER, last appearing in an episode on November 21, 1996. "It was such a great experience," she says. "(But) all I did was work, and when I wasn't working, I was running desperately to catch up." (People.com) Stringfield notes, “Just because you're on a number one show, doesn't mean your life stops." (extratv.com) Like many others who have found stardom, she grew weary of the pressure of such a public life, as well as the long workdays on the set, and during the show’s third season, she decided to leave it to spend more time with her family and have a more “normal” life.

Changing Gears and Finding Balance

After leaving the show, Stringfield seems to have accomplished what she set out to do. “I got a life. I mean, I married, I have a baby. Wow." (extratv.com) She moved back to New York. Stringfield experienced her Saturn return in 1997, a classic coming-of-age time astrologically. While Saturn sextiled her Sun, it was a time to reap some of the benefit from having overcome crises earlier through effort. This aspect was exact in July, 1998, September, 1998, and March, 1999. She married Larry Joseph in October, 1998. Her sense of identity was stimulated by concrete life change. In March, 2001, while Uranus squared her Neptune, Stringfield gave birth to a daughter. And, though her life was perhaps more low-key after leaving ER, she kept her professional life going, too.

ER’s producers blocked Stringfield from doing working in TV for the remainder of her contract, which hadn't expired when she left the series. "It did bug me," she says. "They thought I was going to make them look bad by getting my own show." (People.com website). Instead, she taught acting at her alma mater (SUNY-Purchase), directed two plays, did voiceover work, and appeared in 54 (1998), Border Line, and Autumn in New York (2000).

When Stringfield’s return to ER was announced in June, 2001, she told Variety, "I just felt like really working again, and it was the obvious choice for me." Saturn sextiled her Saturn, stimulating her to take steps to advance professionally. In addition, Jupiter conjoined her Sun, expanding her vitality and sense of identity. She says, “I was so moved by the birth experience, and kept telling my husband, ‘I wish I’d been an obstetrician, I missed my calling.’ And I was sitting there nursing, and I was like, ‘You know, I’d love to play a doctor.’” (extratv.com).

Stringfield signed on for the three remaining years of ER's NBC deal. Between October, 2002, and June, 2003, Saturn will conjoin Stringfield’s Sun. This will be exact in June, 2003. At that time she can expect to experience either the climax or collapse of what she started while an acting student. She can also expect to have a lot of responsibility and to work hard. At that time, we may see the culmination of Stringfield’s success in both her professional AND private lives.

© Brian Habit - The Proud Phoenix, 2001 (All Rights Reserved)

Return to the list of articles