“but so many gilpins and muzzlers are trying to declare themselves in, the deal will most likely end up in the latrine.”
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W. C. Fields
William Claude Dukenfield, 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…
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entertainment · American comedian, actor, juggler and writer (1880–1946) · film actor · stage actor · actor · comedian · cabaret performer · screenwriter · circus performer · film director · writer · juggler · also W. C. Fields, William Claude Dukenfield, W.C. Fields, William Claude Fields, Fields
Born 29 January 1880 · Died 25 December 1946 · Q352971
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2026· 1 entry
2022· 1 entry
The Atlantic: W. C. Fields: His Follies and Fortunes
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1973· 1 entry
With the publication of Fields's letters, photos, and personal notes in grandson Ronald Fields's book W
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1971· 3 entries
Frito-Lay replaced the Frito Bandito TV ad campaign with one featuring W
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Monti had small roles in two of Fields's films and in 1971 published a memoir, W.
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When Fields was seen as an anti-establishment figure, Dodd, Mead issued a reprint, minus the Soglow cartoons and now illustrated with photographs of author Fields
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1956· 1 entry
When the residue was nearly exhausted, and the estate of W
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1949· 1 entry
And his ashes interred at the Forest Lawn Memorial Park Cemetery in Glendale
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1946· 15 entries
Died 1946-12-25.
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On NBC's Edgar Bergen and Charlie McCarthy Show
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“There's not a man alive who hasn't wanted to boot a kid at least once in his life!”
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“Don't drink the water, fish fuck in it”
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Fields kept in regular contact with Hattie, mostly through letters, and voluntarily sent her a weekly stipend
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“A rich man is nothing but a poor man with money.”
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“I never worry about being driven to drink; I just worry about being driven home”
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“I am free of all prejudices. I hate everyone equally.”
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“The world is a very dangerous place. You're lucky if you get out of it alive.”
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“any man who hates dogs and little children can't be all bad”
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“If at first you don't succeed, try, try again. Then quit. There's no use being a damn fool about it.”
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“It was a woman who drove me to drink—and you know, I never bothered to thank her.”
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“No water—I never touch water. Fish make love in it.”
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“Start every day with a smile and get it over with.”
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Until his death in 1946, Fields kept in regular contact with Hattie, mostly through letters, and voluntarily sent her a weekly stipend.
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1944· 1 entry
Fields juggled for a few moments and then remarked, "This used to be my racket
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1941· 1 entry
While Fields was out of town, Christopher Quinn, the two-year-old son of his neighbors, actor Anthony Quinn and his wife Katherine DeMille, drowned in a lily pond on Fields's property
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1940· 2 entries
Fields was listed in the 1940 census as single and living at 2015 DeMille Drive (Cecil B.
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Co-starred with Mae West in My Little Chickadee, which was awaited eagerly by movie fans
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1939· 2 entries
The humorist Leo Rosten remarked of the comedian that "any man who hates dogs and babies can't be all bad"
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Brokered by promoter-producer Lester Cowan
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1937· 1 entry
In an article in Motion Picture magazine, he analyzed the characters he played:
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1935· 2 entries
Fields achieved this ambition when he was cast as Mr
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The strain of his busy film schedule and a succession of personal tragedies took a toll on Fields's health
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1933· 3 entries
Was translated into scenes for his esoteric satire The Fatal Glass of Beer
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A tongue-in-cheek revival of the 1844 temperance play The Drunkard—urging audience members to hiss the villain and cheer the hero—became a popular attraction in Los Angeles
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Fields met Carlotta Monti (1907–1993) and the two began a sporadic relationship that lasted until his death
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1932· 1 entry
Inherited the negative of the Fields version and the film went out of circulation permanently
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1931· 1 entry
Fields's Follies co-star Marilyn Miller was working for Warner Bros
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1928· 2 entries
Poole died of complications of alcoholism in October 1928, and Fields contributed to their son's support until he was 19 years of age.
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Appeared in The Earl Carroll Vanities
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1927· 1 entry
Made a negotiated payment to her of $20,000 upon her signing an affidavit declaring that "W
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1926· 1 entry
Fields's relationship with Poole lasted until 1926.
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1918· 1 entry
Began to combat this by registering his sketches and other comedy material with the Copyright Office of the Library of Congress in Washington, D
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1916· 1 entry
Fields met Bessie Poole, an established Ziegfeld Follies performer whose beauty and quick wit attracted him, and they began a relationship
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1915· 2 entries
Fields starred in two short comedies, Pool Sharks and His Lordship's Dilemma, filmed at the French company Gaumont's American studio in Flushing, New York
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Appeared on Broadway in Florenz Ziegfeld's Ziegfeld Follies revue, delighting audiences with a wild billiards skit complete with bizarrely shaped cues and a custom-built table used for a number of hilarious gags and s
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1913· 1 entry
Performed on a bill with Sarah Bernhardt, (who regarded Fields as "an artiste [who] could not fail to please the best class of audience"), first at the New York Palace and then in England in a royal performance for Ge
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1905· 1 entry
Fields made his Broadway debut in a musical comedy, The Ham Tree
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1904· 2 entries
Fields's father visited him for two months in England while he was performing there in music halls
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The couple had a son, William Claude Fields Jr. (1904–1971) and although Fields was an atheist—who, according to James Curtis, "regarded all religions with the suspicion of a seasoned con man"—he yielded to Hattie's wish to have their son baptized.
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1900· 1 entry
Seeking to distinguish himself from the many "tramp" acts in vaudeville, he changed his costume and makeup and began touring as "The Eccentric Juggler"
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1893· 1 entry
Worked briefly at the Strawbridge and Clothier department store, and in an oyster house
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1880· 1 entry
Born 1880-01-29.
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1879· 1 entry
Fields married a fellow vaudevillian, chorus girl Harriet "Hattie" Hughes (1879–1963), on April 8, 1900.
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