Born in Minneapolis in 1947, Julianna Field was deaf from birth, although her parents were hearing. She was enrolled in the John Tracy Clinic at Los Angeles, and at young age met actor Spencer Tracy, whose wife operated the clinic. This encounter led her to become interested in show business. Since her father was an Army colonel, the Field family traveled to many different bases around the country, and she studied at several different schools, including the Kansas School for the Deaf, the Percy Hughes School in Syracuse, Kendall Demonstration Elementary School, and the California School for the Deaf. She attended Gallaudet and graduated in 1970, joining the National Theatre of the Deaf.

Early in her acting career, she changed her name from Field to Fjeld, the spelling originally used by her Norwegian ancestors. Fjeld left the NTD to go to Hollywood in 1977, and obtained roles in movies such as Goldengirl, Johnny Belinda, and Hear No Evil. She also worked at Los Angeles’s Mark Taper Forum, where she led the way in making hearing theater productions accessible to the deaf through the DATE (Deaf Audience Theatre Experience) program. While working at the Taper Forum, she also became a consultant and understudy for the original Los Angeles and Broadway runs of Children of a Lesser God.

While at the NTD, Fjeld had met author Joanne Greenberg and bought the film rights to her book In This Sign for $1. Fjeld spent the next ten years trying to find interest in making a movie based on the book. A screenplay was written by Darlene Craviotto, and Fjeld eventually managed to interest the Hallmark Company in filming the screenplay for their Hallmark Hall of Fame TV movie series. Marian Rees and Dorothea Petrie joined Fjeld as producers.

The movie based on In This Sign, retitled Love Is Never Silent, was originally offered to CBS, but the network wanted established stars to headline the project, while Fjeld insisted that the deaf roles in the movie must be played by deaf actors. The disagreement could not be resolved, so the production moved to NBC, which agreed to cast deaf actors, including Fjeld herself. This marked one of the highest-profile performances by deaf actors on television. Love Is Never Silent aired in December 1985 to critical acclaim and was nominated for five Emmys the next year, winning two.

Afterward, Fjeld embarked on a lecture tour and created her own theatrical company, White Rose Productions; white roses had long been her personal trademark. She has also worked as an artistic director for the NTD, a producer for Deaf Mosaic, and a counselor and educational coordinator for abused deaf women. As of this writing, she continues to work as a producer, director, and actor in the Bay Area.