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W. C. Fields
William Claude Dukenfield (January 29, 1880 – December 25, 1946), better known as W. C. Fields, was an American actor, comedian, juggler and writer. His 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 physical comedy, raspy drawl, large nose, 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 was born William Claude Dukenfield in Darby, Pennsylvania, the oldest child of a working-class family. His father, James Lydon Dukenfield (1841–1913), was from an English family that emigrated from Sheffield, Yorkshire, England, in 1854. James Dukenfield served in Company M of the 72nd Pennsylvania Infantry Regiment in the American Civil War and was wounded in 1863. Fields's mother, Kate Spangler Felton (1854–1925), was a Protestant of British ancestry. The 1876 Philadelphia City Directory lists James Dukenfield as a clerk. After marrying, he worked as an independent produce merchant and a part-time hotel-keeper.
Claude Dukenfield (as he was known among his family) had a volatile relationship with his short-tempered father. He ran away from home repeatedly, beginning at the age of nine, often to stay with his grandmother or an uncle. His education was sporadic and did not progress beyond grade school. At age 12 he worked with his father, selling produce from a wagon, until the two had a fight that resulted in Fields running away once again. In 1893, he worked briefly at the Strawbridge and Clothier department store, and in an oyster house.
Fields later embellished stories of his childhood, depicting himself as a runaway kid nicknamed Whitey, who lived by his wits on the streets of Philadelphia from an early age, but his home life is believed to have been reasonably happy. He had already discovered in himself a facility for juggling, and a performance he witnessed at a local theater inspired him to dedicate substantial time to perfecting his juggling. At age 17, he was living with his family and performing a juggling act at church and theater shows.
In 1904 Fields's father visited him for two months in England while he was performing there in music halls. Fields enabled his father to retire, purchased him a summer home, and encouraged his parents and siblings to learn to read and write so they could communicate with him by letter.
Inspired by the success of the "Original Tramp Juggler", James Edward Harrigan, Fields adopted a similar costume of scruffy beard and shabby tuxedo and entered vaudeville as a genteel "tramp juggler" in 1898, using the name W. C. Fields. His family supported his ambitions for the stage and saw him off on the train for his first stage tour. To conceal a stutter, Fields did not speak onstage. In 1900, seeking to distinguish himself from the many "tramp" acts in vaudeville, he changed his costume and makeup and began touring as "The Eccentric Juggler". HIs juggling act is reproduced in some of his films, notably in the 1934 comedy The Old Fashioned Way.
Fields's first biographer Robert Lewis Taylor described a succession of dishonest, fly-by-night managers who victimized Fields while in his teens, which hardened Fields and made him more cautious, vigilant, and cynical about show-business people. Fields joined the Irwin Bros. Burlesquers, a touring troupe of variety artists under the management of Fred Irwin. Fields was pleased to find that Fred Irwin was actually reputable, and was respected by professionals and patrons alike. "Manager Fred Irwin has long been in high favor with the patrons of the People's [Playhouse] by reason of the excellent programme he invariably offers." That August 1899 quote from the Cincinnati Enquirer contains the earliest known mention of "W. C. Fields" as an entertainer; the 19-year-old juggler was listed fifth among the eight acts announced on Irwin's bill. The earliest surviving appraisal of his act dates from September 1899, where Fields is now listed first: "The prominent features of [Irwin's] bill are the finished work of W. C. Fields, the tramp juggler..." The Pittsburgh Commercial Gazette elaborated on the Irwin show, "W. C. Fields, the tramp juggler, being the drawing card. His makeup is ideal with that of the up-to-date tramp, and his juggling of rubber balls, hats, boxes, and various other articles, while the orchestra kept time with him, is a unique feature."
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W. C. Fields
William Claude Dukenfield (January 29, 1880 – December 25, 1946), better known as W. C. Fields, was an American actor, comedian, juggler and writer. His 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 physical comedy, raspy drawl, large nose, 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 was born William Claude Dukenfield in Darby, Pennsylvania, the oldest child of a working-class family. His father, James Lydon Dukenfield (1841–1913), was from an English family that emigrated from Sheffield, Yorkshire, England, in 1854. James Dukenfield served in Company M of the 72nd Pennsylvania Infantry Regiment in the American Civil War and was wounded in 1863. Fields's mother, Kate Spangler Felton (1854–1925), was a Protestant of British ancestry. The 1876 Philadelphia City Directory lists James Dukenfield as a clerk. After marrying, he worked as an independent produce merchant and a part-time hotel-keeper.
Claude Dukenfield (as he was known among his family) had a volatile relationship with his short-tempered father. He ran away from home repeatedly, beginning at the age of nine, often to stay with his grandmother or an uncle. His education was sporadic and did not progress beyond grade school. At age 12 he worked with his father, selling produce from a wagon, until the two had a fight that resulted in Fields running away once again. In 1893, he worked briefly at the Strawbridge and Clothier department store, and in an oyster house.
Fields later embellished stories of his childhood, depicting himself as a runaway kid nicknamed Whitey, who lived by his wits on the streets of Philadelphia from an early age, but his home life is believed to have been reasonably happy. He had already discovered in himself a facility for juggling, and a performance he witnessed at a local theater inspired him to dedicate substantial time to perfecting his juggling. At age 17, he was living with his family and performing a juggling act at church and theater shows.
In 1904 Fields's father visited him for two months in England while he was performing there in music halls. Fields enabled his father to retire, purchased him a summer home, and encouraged his parents and siblings to learn to read and write so they could communicate with him by letter.
Inspired by the success of the "Original Tramp Juggler", James Edward Harrigan, Fields adopted a similar costume of scruffy beard and shabby tuxedo and entered vaudeville as a genteel "tramp juggler" in 1898, using the name W. C. Fields. His family supported his ambitions for the stage and saw him off on the train for his first stage tour. To conceal a stutter, Fields did not speak onstage. In 1900, seeking to distinguish himself from the many "tramp" acts in vaudeville, he changed his costume and makeup and began touring as "The Eccentric Juggler". HIs juggling act is reproduced in some of his films, notably in the 1934 comedy The Old Fashioned Way.
Fields's first biographer Robert Lewis Taylor described a succession of dishonest, fly-by-night managers who victimized Fields while in his teens, which hardened Fields and made him more cautious, vigilant, and cynical about show-business people. Fields joined the Irwin Bros. Burlesquers, a touring troupe of variety artists under the management of Fred Irwin. Fields was pleased to find that Fred Irwin was actually reputable, and was respected by professionals and patrons alike. "Manager Fred Irwin has long been in high favor with the patrons of the People's [Playhouse] by reason of the excellent programme he invariably offers." That August 1899 quote from the Cincinnati Enquirer contains the earliest known mention of "W. C. Fields" as an entertainer; the 19-year-old juggler was listed fifth among the eight acts announced on Irwin's bill. The earliest surviving appraisal of his act dates from September 1899, where Fields is now listed first: "The prominent features of [Irwin's] bill are the finished work of W. C. Fields, the tramp juggler..." The Pittsburgh Commercial Gazette elaborated on the Irwin show, "W. C. Fields, the tramp juggler, being the drawing card. His makeup is ideal with that of the up-to-date tramp, and his juggling of rubber balls, hats, boxes, and various other articles, while the orchestra kept time with him, is a unique feature."
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