W.C. Fields | WatchedThis

W.C. Fields

W.C. Fields

Acting

Biography

William Claude Dukenfield was the eldest of five children born to Cockney immigrant James Dukenfield and Philadelphia native Kate Felton. He went to school for four years, then quit to work with his father selling vegetables from a horse cart. At eleven, after many fights with his alcoholic father (who hit him on the head with a shovel), he ran away from home. For a while he lived in a hole in the ground, depending on stolen food and clothing. He was often beaten and spent nights in jail. His first regular job was delivering ice. By age thirteen he was a skilled pool player and juggler. It was then, at an amusement park in Norristown PA, that he was first hired as an entertainer. There he developed the technique of pretending to lose the things he was juggling. In 1893 he was employed as a juggler at Fortescue's Pier, Atlantic City. When business was slow he pretended to drown in the ocean (management thought his fake rescue would draw customers). By nineteen he was billed as "The Distinguished Comedian" and began opening bank accounts in every city he played. At age twenty-three he opened at the Palace in London and played with Sarah Bernhardt at Buckingham Palace. He starred at the Folies-Bergere (young Charles Chaplin and Maurice Chevalier were on the program). He was in each of the Ziegfeld Follies from 1915 through 1921. He played for a year in the highly praised musical "Poppy" which opened in New York in 1923. In 1925 D.W. Griffith made a movie of the play, renamed Sally of the Sawdust (1925), starring Fields. Pool Sharks (1915), Fields' first movie, was made when he was thirty-five. He settled into a mansion near Burbank, California and made most of his thirty-seven movies for Paramount. He appeared in mostly spontaneous dialogs on Charlie McCarthy's radio shows. In 1939 he switched to Universal where he made films written mainly by and for himself. He died after several serious illnesses, including bouts of pneumonia.

Filmography Movies

Acting

Poster for The Bank Dick
MOVIE

The Bank Dick

6.5(0.1K)
The Bank Dick
Egbert Sousé
Poster for Hollywood on Parade No. B-10
MOVIE

Hollywood on Parade No. B-10

Hollywood on Parade No. B-10
Self
Poster for The Movie Orgy
MOVIE

The Movie Orgy

6.6(0.0K)
The Movie Orgy
Self (archive footage)
Poster for International House
MOVIE

International House

5.5(0.0K)
International House
Professor Quail
Poster for Alice in Wonderland
MOVIE

Alice in Wonderland

6.1(0.1K)
Alice in Wonderland
Humpty-Dumpty
Poster for Follow the Boys
MOVIE

Follow the Boys

5.7(0.0K)
Follow the Boys
W. C. Fields
Poster for Tales of Manhattan
MOVIE

Tales of Manhattan

6.4(0.0K)
Tales of Manhattan
Professor Pufflewhistle (uncredited)
Poster for The Hollywood Clowns
MOVIE

The Hollywood Clowns

The Hollywood Clowns
(archive footage)
Poster for It's a Gift
MOVIE

It's a Gift

6.3(0.1K)
It's a Gift
Harold Bissonette
Poster for You Can't Cheat an Honest Man
MOVIE

You Can't Cheat an Honest Man

7.0(0.0K)
You Can't Cheat an Honest Man
Larson E. Whipsnade

Production

Poster for The Bank Dick
MOVIE

The Bank Dick

6.5(0.1K)
The Bank Dick
Screenplay
Poster for My Little Chickadee
MOVIE

My Little Chickadee

6.5(0.0K)
My Little Chickadee
Screenplay
Poster for Never Give a Sucker an Even Break
MOVIE

Never Give a Sucker an Even Break

7.0(0.0K)
Never Give a Sucker an Even Break
Story
Poster for The Golf Specialist
MOVIE

The Golf Specialist

5.3(0.0K)
The Golf Specialist
Writer
Poster for Pool Sharks
MOVIE

Pool Sharks

5.2(0.0K)
Pool Sharks
Writer
Poster for The Dentist
MOVIE

The Dentist

5.8(0.0K)
The Dentist
Writer
Poster for The Fatal Glass of Beer
MOVIE

The Fatal Glass of Beer

6.0(0.0K)
The Fatal Glass of Beer
Writer
Poster for The Pharmacist
MOVIE

The Pharmacist

5.8(0.0K)
The Pharmacist
Writer
Poster for The Barber Shop
MOVIE

The Barber Shop

6.4(0.0K)
The Barber Shop
Writer
Poster for Man on the Flying Trapeze
MOVIE

Man on the Flying Trapeze

6.2(0.0K)
Man on the Flying Trapeze
Director

Gallery

W.C. Fields portrait
W.C. Fields portrait
W.C. Fields portrait
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