WC Fields (April 9, 1879 December 25, 1946) was one of the great american comedians and actors, his comic persona that of a charming drunk plagued by women, children and dogs.
wc was born william claude dukenfield in darby, pennsylvania. His father, tyrannical jim dukenfield, was adescendant of lord dukenfield of cheshire). field's mother, Kate Spangler Felton, was also of British descent. fim dukenfield, however, was working class in England. in the us, he sold vegetables from a cart, often assited by his young son, wc. (in interviews, wc fields said he first learned to juggle, by juggling his father's cart vegetables.)
wc fields left home at age 11, and entered vaudeville. by 21 wc fields was touring as a comedy juggling act, eventually headlining in North America, as well as Europe. In 1906, wc made his Broadway debut in The Ham Tree, a musical comedy, signing with florenz ziegfeld. wc fields married Harriet Hughes ("hattie") april 8 1900. son claude was born july 28 1904. by 1907, wc was separated from hattie. until his death, he corresponded with, and sent child-payments to hattie.
wc fields began his career as the "eccentric juggler" -- juggling hats, cigar boxes, and objects not associated with juggling. his billiard skit became very popular; wc would play his comic game of pool with bizarrely shaped cues, and a pool table custom built for special gags and stunts.
wc fields big break came in 1899 when he was offered a job by Fred Irwin, a New York burlesque producer. Fields demanded $35 a week -- a huge salary in those days -- and he got it. His act was a hit, and his salary continued to climb. wc went from vaudeville to silent films and one-reelers. fields was more than 50 years old, when he became a major film star in the mid-1930s. he drank martinis each day, and was quoted as once saying, "i never have anything stronger than gin before breakfast." his first theatrical hit came in 1923, in the broadway musical poppy. late, fields appeared in features and shorts. including the 1934 classic It's A Gift.
when wc fields wrote material for his films, his non de plumes were also colorful - Otis Criblecoblis, Mahatma Ganhdi Jeeves and chargles bogle. wc fields quote - "water! can't stand the stuff -- fish fornicate in it!" while he lacked a formal education, wc fields was well-read, and was a big fan of charles dickens. he was particularly happy to portray the character of mr. micawber in mgm's david copperfield in the mid 1930's. by 1935, Fields had become a major star, he negotiated a hefty $300,000, three-picture deal with paramount pictures. somewhat famously, wc fields turned down a role in the wizard of oz, saying the part -- that of the wizard -- was too small. his heavy drinking took its toll, and fields stopped working for a time. he made a comeback trading dueling barbs with charlie mcarthy, edgar bergen's talking dummy, on radio in 1938.
in 1941, fields wrote and starred in the most bizarre feature of his career, the dazzling never give a sucker an even break.sucker was not a box office success, and it received mixed reviews. Fields was dropped by Universal--mainly because he wasn't needed anymore. the year universal dropped fields, was the same year that abbott and costello were universal's biggest stars. with their release of their debut film, buck privates. wc fields was "Bill" to his friends, a fact evidenced in Never Give a Sucker an Even Break, in which he played himself. Edgar Bergen also called him "Bill" in the radio shows. in films in which he was portrayed as having a son, he sometimes named the character "Claude", after his own son. in england he was sometimes billed as "Wm. C. Fields", presumably to avoid controversy due to "W.C." being the British expression for "Water Closet" (toilet). wc fields died on xmas day 1946. his companion carlotta monti - who would later write book called WC Fields and Me - was at his side. following wc fields death, there was a nasty battle over his estate between various claimants, including Fields' estranged wife Hattie, his lover Carlotta Monti, and a woman who claimed Fields had married her in the 1890s wc fields in interred at forest lawn cemetary in glandale, california.
wc fields, silent films His Lordship's Dilemma (1915) (short subject)
Pool Sharks (1915) (short subject) (also writer)
Janice Meredith (1924)
Sally of the Sawdust (1925)
That Royle Girl (1925)
It's the Old Army Game (1926) (also writer)
So's Your Old Man (1926)
The Potters (1927)
Running Wild (1927)
A Trip Through the Paramount Studio (1927) (short subject)
Two Flaming Youths (1927)
Tillie's Punctured Romance (1928)
Fools for Luck (1928)
wc fields, sound films The Golf Specialist (1930) (short subject) (also writer)
Her Majesty, Love (1931)
Million Dollar Legs (1932)
If I Had a Million (1932)
The Dentist (1932) (short subject) (also writer)
The Fatal Glass of Beer (1933) (short subject) (also writer)
Hollywood on Parade No. 9 (1933) (short subject)
The Pharmacist (1933) (short subject)
International House (1933)
Hip Action (1933) (short subject)
The Barber Shop (1933) (short subject) (also writer)
Tillie and Gus (1933)
Alice in Wonderland (1933)
Six of a Kind (1934)
You're Telling Me! (1934)
The Old Fashioned Way (1934) (also writer)
Mrs. Wiggs of the Cabbage Patch (1934)
It's a Gift (1934) (also writer)
David Copperfield (1935)
Mississippi (1935)
Man on the Flying Trapeze (1935) (also writer and director)
Poppy (1936)
The Big Broadcast of 1938 (1938)
You Can't Cheat an Honest Man (1939) (also writer)
My Little Chickadee (1940) (also writer)
The Bank Dick (1940) (also writer)
Never Give a Sucker an Even Break (1941) (also writer)
Tales of Manhattan (1942) (scenes deleted)
Show Business at War (1943) (short subject)
Follow the Boys (1944)
Song of the Open Road (1944)
Sensations of 1945 (1944)
