William Claude Dukenfield (January 29, 1880 â€" December 25, 1946),
better known as W. C. Fields, was an American comedian, actor,
juggler, and writer. Fields' comic persona was a misanthropic and
hard-drinking egotist, who remained a sympathetic character despite
his supposed contempt for children and dogs.His career in show
business began in vaudeville, where he attained international success
as a silent juggler. He gradually incorporated comedy into his act and
was a featured comedian in the Ziegfeld Follies for several years. He
became a star in the Broadway musical comedy Poppy (1923), in which he
played a colorful small-time con man. His subsequent stage and film
roles were often similar scoundrels or henpecked everyman
characters.Among his recognizable trademarks were his raspy drawl and
grandiloquent vocabulary. The characterization he portrayed in films
and on radio was so strong it was generally identified with Fields
himself. It was maintained by the publicity departments at Fields'
studios (Paramount and Universal) and was further established by
Robert Lewis Taylor's biography, W. C. Fields, His Follies and
Fortunes (1949). Beginning in 1973, with the publication of Fields'
letters, photos, and personal notes in grandson Ronald Fields' book W.
C. Fields by Himself, it was shown that Fields was married (and
subsequently estranged from his wife), and financially supported their
son and loved his grandchildren.
better known as W. C. Fields, was an American comedian, actor,
juggler, and writer. Fields' comic persona was a misanthropic and
hard-drinking egotist, who remained a sympathetic character despite
his supposed contempt for children and dogs.His career in show
business began in vaudeville, where he attained international success
as a silent juggler. He gradually incorporated comedy into his act and
was a featured comedian in the Ziegfeld Follies for several years. He
became a star in the Broadway musical comedy Poppy (1923), in which he
played a colorful small-time con man. His subsequent stage and film
roles were often similar scoundrels or henpecked everyman
characters.Among his recognizable trademarks were his raspy drawl and
grandiloquent vocabulary. The characterization he portrayed in films
and on radio was so strong it was generally identified with Fields
himself. It was maintained by the publicity departments at Fields'
studios (Paramount and Universal) and was further established by
Robert Lewis Taylor's biography, W. C. Fields, His Follies and
Fortunes (1949). Beginning in 1973, with the publication of Fields'
letters, photos, and personal notes in grandson Ronald Fields' book W.
C. Fields by Himself, it was shown that Fields was married (and
subsequently estranged from his wife), and financially supported their
son and loved his grandchildren.
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