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<a href="http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1G2-3404702151.html" title="Facts and informations about W. C. Fields">W. C. Fields</a>

W. C. Fields

W. C. Fields

The American comedian W. C. Fields (1879-1946) appeared in many of the classic early motion picture comedies.

The son of an immigrant Cockney vegetable peddler, W. C. Fields was born William Claude Dukenfield on April 9, 1879, in Philadelphia, Pa. At the age of 11 he became a vagrant on the city's streets. He survived by stealing, was frequently arrested, and so damaged his nose in alley fights that its swollen bulbosity later became part of his comic trademark, as did the hoarse voice that was partly produced by childhood colds.

Fields practiced juggling fanatically, becoming one of the most skillful performers in history. At 14 he got his first professional booking. Within 3 years he was an established entertainer and, driven by his obsessive fear of falling back into poverty, had begun his lifelong clamor for better pay and better billing.

By his early 20s (during which Fields entered a brief, though never legally dissolved, marriage) such comic inventions as his famous "pool table" act made him an international vaudeville star. Several years as a headliner in the Ziegfeld Follies and George White's Scandals (1915-1922) won him recognition as a "talking" comedian.

The starring role of Eustace McGargle in the 1923 hit play Poppy provided the rudiments of the comic character Fields would make his own. After completing his first four silent movies, which were unsuccessful, he returned to vaudeville, starring in Earl Carroll's Vanities. At 51 he headed for Hollywood—rich, famous, and determined to conquer the film industry.

It took Fields a year to get a job. His seven two-reelers for Mack Sennett led Paramount Pictures to give him a cameo part in a feature film; the comic sequence that Fields invented, with himself as the vengeful enemy of miscreant motorists, established his powerful screen personality. With International House (1932) he won a long-term contract for featured roles in 16 comedies, including Tillie and Gus and Million Dollar Legs (in which he met Carlotta Monti, his companion for the rest of his life).

In the mid-1930s Fields's rocklike constitution crumbled, partly because of his heavy drinking. During a convalescence he casually started a new career as a radio comedian, quitting 3 years later at the peak of nationwide popularity.

At 60 Field's health improved, and between 1938 and 1942 he enjoyed the (artistically) finest years of his life. He starred in David Copperfield, You Can't Cheat an Honest Man, My Little Chickadee, Never Give a Sucker an Even Break, and The Bank Dick.

After 1942 there were no more jobs. Fields spent his last days in a sanitarium. He died on Christmas morning, 1946. He left a character who entered American folklore: an engagingly pompous and malevolently cold-eyed humbug who spoke for all who ever secretly yearned to cheat at cards or retaliate against such institutions as the law, banks, and motherhood.

Further Reading

The best book about Fields is Robert L. Taylor's touchingly funny W. C. Fields: His Follies and Fortunes (1949). Carlotta Monti, W. C. Fields and Me (1971), is a memoir about Fields by his former mistress. Other useful works are Donald Deschner, The Films of W. C. Fields (1966), and William K. Everson, The Art of W. C. Fields (1967).

Additional Sources

Fields, Ronald J., W.C. Fields: a life on film, New York: St.Martin's Press, 1984.

Gehring, Wes D., W.C. Fields, a bio-bibliography, Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press, 1984.

Taylor, Robert Lewis, W.C. Fields: his follies and fortunes, New York: St. Martin's Press, 1989. □

Related newspaper, magazine, and trade journal articles from HighBeam Research

(Including press releases, facts, information, and biographies)

	Hollywood lawyer Bert Fields works both sides of studio lot.(Who's Who Law) Magazine article from: Los Angeles Business Journal; 2/10/1997; ; 700+ words ; ...town. A notable exception is Disney, against which Fields says he has seven suits pending. One studio official...doesn't look like a studio mouthpiece, you hire Bert. Fields offers evidence to support that assertion: I've sued...represented them. Given the potential for conflict, Fields routinely gets a ... Read more
	TV actress Kim Fields gives birth to a son.(NEWSMAKERS)(Brief article) Magazine article from: Jet; 5/28/2007; ; 209 words ; Famed actress Kim Fields, who has had memorable roles...Mt. Sinai Medical Center in New York City, and weighed in at 6 pounds...first saw him, the overjoyed Fields, said, Oh, my God. He's gorgeous. Fields, who was in labor for less...This is the first child for Fields, 37, and her ... Read more
	Kim Fields celebrates impending motherhood.(NEWSMAKERS) Magazine article from: Jet; 3/19/2007; ; 700+ words ; ...practically watched Kim Fields blossom right before our...become first-time parents. Fields and Morgan celebrated the...discomfort. He's so active. Fields and Morgan met a few years...of his first meeting with-Fields in Atlanta when he was in...was definitely captivated. Fields said the ... Read more
	Virginia Fields asks for more affordable housing projects.(Brief Article) Magazine article from: Real Estate Weekly; 6/21/2000; 286 words ; Warning that New York City will not attract new...Borough President C. Virginia Fields urged the membership of Associated...Builders and Owners of Greater New York and the Giuliani Administration...aggressive action now to develop new affordable housing, especially in Central ... Read more
	Estee Lauder purchases Rodan & Fields skin care. (Financial News). Magazine article from: Household & Personal Products Industry; 8/1/2003; 251 words ; ...Estee Lauder Companies Inc., New York, has acquired the Rodan & Fields skin care line launched in...Katie Rodan, MD, and Kathy Fields, MD. Terms of the deal were...president. Dr. Rodan and Dr. Fields will remain with the company... Read more
	Decked-out in Southeast San Diego. (Ted Fields seeks to redevelop his neighborhood) Magazine article from: San Diego Business Journal; 8/8/1988; ; 700+ words ; ...Richard) Nixon was on his black-capitalism push, said Fields. The organization, called the National Economic Management...selling their businesses and moving to the suburbs, Fields said. I found that the blacks and Hispanics who worked...applicants opened retail outlets, such as liquor stores. Fields, a ... Read more
	The henpecked hustler.(W.C. Fields)(Biography) Magazine article from: USA Today (Magazine); 11/1/2006; ; 700+ words ; ...best read it as a satire of happy endings.) While Fields is inspired in either comedic mode--huckster or antihero...the bread. Ironically, the same year Gift opened, Fields made what is arguably the comedian's best huckster...begins with a sheriff at the train depot about to serve Fields' showman, The ... Read more
	Kim Fields shares her plans on raising a son and opens up about her relationship. Magazine article from: Jet; 6/25/2007; ; 700+ words ; ...birthday. He weighed 6 pounds, 4 ounces. I was elated, Fields, 38, explained of the birth of her son. You put so...Though the birth of Sebastian was a touching time for Fields and Morgan, they also shared a funny moment in the...singing some of the songs as he was being born, laughs Fields, who admits ... Read more
	West Nile Virus threat expected again this summer.(New York State News) Newspaper article from: The Informed Constituent (Albany, NY); 6/1/2007; ; 700+ words ; With New York State's humid summer climate already in the...scientists have reported no bird or human cases in New York, but a local scientist, Dr. Ward Stone, Wildlife Pathologist for the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation... Read more
	Fields tells NYARM she wants licensing for managers.(Brief Article) Magazine article from: Real Estate Weekly; 6/6/2001; 404 words ; ...people attending the New York Association of...President C. Virginia Fields delivered a rousing...also discussed New York's tight housing...city, added Ms. Fields. You make the quality...managers and related fields in the greater New York metropolitan area... Read more

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