Kim Fields has the charm, razor-sharp wit and sense of humor of a young woman-all neatly tucked away in a little girl's body.

Friends and neighbors joined forces to throw a surprise party celebrating Kim's 13th birthday.
Because she has been acting for more than half of her 13 years, one wonders which is the real Kim Fields.

In the role of Tootie, Kim is teased by schoolmates Natalie (Mindy Cohn) and Blair (Lisa Whelchel), while on kitchen duty.
On NBC's "Facts Of Life", she plays the role of Tootie, the only Black of four girls enrolled at an expensive boarding school. Ironically, Tootie's part wasn't specifically written for a Black girl. As a matter of fact, Kim was the only Black who auditioned for it. She had previously auditioned for the part of Gary Coleman's girlfriend in "Diff'rent Strokes" but was rejected because she was too tall. Fortunately, the perseverance and professionalism acquired from several years of acting lessons eventually prevailed.

The independent youngster does her own hair, buys many of her own clothes and has been wearing makeup steadily since the ripe old age of 10. "I've been wearing makeup so long because I think I look pretty good with it on," she explained. The way Kim has it figured, the demands of being a child star in Hollywood are forcing her to mature faster than conventional children.

The process is even more demanding for Black children in the industry, according to Kim's" mother, Chip Fields, also an actress who played the villainous mother of Janet Jackson on a few episodes of "Good Times."

Kim has appeared on other tv shows, including "Diff'rent Strokes" with friend Todd Bridges.

According to Chip, "Janet, Kim, Todd Bridges and Gary are the only highly visible role models for Black children, and they are called upon to make so many appearances in the Black community. Sometimes, Kim makes two public appearances a day, presenting awards at schools and visiting hospitals."

"Since there are so few of them, the Black child stars have formed a very close-knit group, and Kim is closest to Todd Bridges."

Fans weren't the only ones linking Kim with Todd. She admitted to having a crush on Todd but realizes the two could never get along.
"I had a crush on Todd a blue moon ago," she admitted. "But now we're like brother and sister. Todd and I could never marry because he's a Gemini and I'm a Taurus and we're both stubborn."

Although the dates she's been on can be counted on one hand with loads of room to spare, she said, "When I get interested in guys, most of them are White."

This, her mother attributes to the fact that most of Kim's neighbors in Burbank are White. "Most of the Black guys I meet aren't mature enough," says the youngster. "I haven't found any who are appealing to me yet. So far, most of the guys I have things in common with are White. All my friends are White except Todd and Janet."

Even though she is nowhere close to the consenting age for marriage, Kim has already created a composite sketch of the ideal man for her.

"The perfect man for me has to be intelligent, have a great sense of humor, nice eyes, must be easy to get along with and he can't be a male chauvinist," she said.

To her feminist streak, add a bit" of militancy.

From time to time, Kim finds herself fighting with the show's writers over ethnic remarks. "I fight to get rid of the unnecessary ethnic remarks," she said. "Once they wanted me to say something like 'my grandparents haven't been the same since they saw Roots II.' I told them I would say it if it was stated that it raised their consciousness."

"Whenever I think something will be offensive, I tell the guys it just won't work. People aren't about ethnic jokes anymore. People are trying to work together as one and not make a big deal about race. That stuff is out dated."

At times, Chip is called in to review scripts that deal with Tootie's Black identity.

Kim recently became a big sister as Chip gave birth to daughter Alexis.

When not reading scripts or school material, Kim flips through all the Hollywood trade papers to keep abreast of the ratings. "No matter how young you are, you still worry about the ratings."

Despite the rapid rate of maturity that her environment has forced upon her, Kim still enjoys juvenile pastimes such as collecting stuffed animals, roller-skating and gathering memorabilia from her favorite movie, "The Wizard Of Oz."

"Some people say my innocence reminds them of Judy Garland in 'The Wizard Of Oz,'" she pointed out. "One day I went and took $100 out of the bank and went on Hollywood Boulevard and bought all the Judy Garland memorabilia I could find. That was one day. Who knows what would happen if I had a week."

Television is fine for now but "down the road, Kim has her eyes set on Broadway. "I'd love to do Broadway because of the challenge of live stage where there are lots of costumes and no cameras," she said enthusiastically.

Even with all the man-made glitter and glamour of Tinsel Town, Kim still has a clear picture of reality. She knows that "Facts" will not last forever. "I still want to stay in the entertainment business," she said. "I enjoy entertaining people because there's so much bad in the world. People need to know it's okay to laugh and be entertained and not just worry about the Falklands and Reagan's budget.