W. C. Fields | |
|---|---|
 Fields in 1938 | |
| Born | William Claude Dukenfield January 29, 1880 Darby, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
| Died | December 25, 1946 (aged 66) Pasadena, California, U.S. |
| Resting place | Forest Lawn Memorial Park, Glendale, California, U.S. |
| Other names |
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| Occupations |
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| Years active | 1898–1946 |
| Spouse |
Harriet Hughes (m. 1900) |
| Partner(s) | Bessie Poole (1916–1926) Carlotta Monti (1933–1946; his death) |
| Children | 2 |
| Website | wcfields |
William Claude Dukenfield (January 29, 1880[1] – December 25, 1946), better known as W. C. Fields, was an American actor, comedian, juggler and writer.[2]
Fields's career in show business began in vaudeville, where he attained international success as a silent juggler. He began to incorporate 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 trademarks were his raspy drawl and grandiloquent vocabulary. His film and radio persona was generally identified with Fields himself. It was maintained by the publicity departments at Fields's studios (Paramount and Universal) and was further reinforced by Robert Lewis Taylor's 1949 biography W. C. Fields, His Follies and Fortunes. Beginning in 1973, with the publication of Fields's letters, photos and personal notes in grandson Ronald Fields's book W. C. Fields by Himself, it was shown that Fields was married (and subsequently estranged from his wife), financially supported their son and loved his grandchildren.
- ^ "Fields always observed his birthday on January 29 and his death certificate confirms this. ... When Fields married Harriet Veronica Hughes in San Francisco, on April 8, 1900, he was twenty years old and, under California law, could not enter into a marriage without parental consent. He therefore gave his birthdate as April 9, 1879, and often used this date thereafter. However, when he applied for a passport later that same year, he swore under oath that his correct birthdate was January 29, 1880." Curtis, James. W. C. Fields: A Biography. New York: A. Knopf, 2003, p. 525
- ^ Obituary Variety, January 1, 1947, p. 46.