Childrens Quotes Biography
Source(google.com.pk)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.
- IMDb Mini Biography By: Ed Stephan <stephan@cc.wwu.edu>
Spouse (1)
Harriet Hughes (8 August 1900 - 25 December 1946) (his death) (1 child)
Trade Mark (1)
Usually portrayed rather pessimistic, aggressive and suspicious-natured men with great fondness of alcohol. Yet, this same character was at the same time dogged by his wife and he rarely managed to speak up against her. He is remembered for his hatred of children, but did in fact frequently possess great fatherly affection for his daughter.
Trivia (47)
Interred at Forest Lawn, Glendale, California, USA, in the Great Mausoleum, Holly Terrace entrance, Hall of Inspiration.
He was the second choice to play the title role in The Wizard of Oz (1939). There are still some arguments as to why he turned the part down. Some sources say that he refused to play "The Wizard" because MGM wouldn't pay the salary he wanted, but according to Doug McClelland, author of "Down the Yellow Brick Road", Fields was too busy writing and acting in his latest film for Universal Pictures - You Can't Cheat an Honest Man (1939) - to be loaned out to MGM to play the part.
Had a lifetime disdain for music; this he attributed to having to hear his father's singing day and night as a child, loudest when "the old patriarch" was drunk (companion Carlotta Monti claimed Fields once hit her with a cane, to stop her humming with a guitar). When expected to sing in a role, he almost always made a complete farce of both the lyrics and his performance.
Pictured on a 15¢ US commemorative postage stamp in the Performing Arts and Artists series, issued 29 January 1980 (100th anniversary year of his birth).
Grandfather of Ronald J. Fields, who edited a biography titled "W.C. Fields by Himself". The book dispelled many longstanding stories about Fields, including ones of his living for years on the street. Young Fields did indeed run away from home after fights with his father, but usually no farther than his grandmother's, and he would return home the next day. He stayed with his grandmother just before beginning his professional career as a juggler.
Enshrined in the Juggling Hall of Fame.
The lawyer Larsen E. Pettifogger in the comic strip "Wizard of Id" is drawn to look like him.
While stories of Fields' alcohol consumption (and the consequences thereof) were a regular part of his act, and he was rarely seen without a drink at hand, nobody could recall ever actually seeing him drunk, or out of control.
Reportedly had hidden microphones installed along the front walk to his Hollywood home; Fields would slip into a small room to listen to guests talking as they departed. When someone spoke negatively about him, Fields would amuse himself by alluding to what they'd said, the next time he saw them.
Stopped drinking for over a year during his career, when a friend died of alcohol-related causes, but eventually went back to it.
Fields' wife Hattie became his partner in his juggling act after their marriage; he sent her home to his parents when she became pregnant. After Fields returned from the road, they discovered they'd grown apart, but Hattie wouldn't give him a divorce, and when Fields refused to "find a regular job", she began badmouthing him to their young son, William Jr.. Fields predicted that the boy would grow up to see the truth of the situation (Fields never failed to support his family, however much or little he was earning)... and it happened. While father and son rarely saw each other over the years, Fields was proudly introduced to his firstborn grandson (W.C. Fields III) before his death.
Could juggle or balance practically anything he could lift or carry; Fields unnerved his despised mother-in-law by keeping a lit cigar, a candle (in holder), or a beer bottle balanced atop his head at mealtimes, never seeming to notice its presence.
Although one of his most famous quotes is "Never work with animals or children." he secretly admired children.
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Childrens Quotes Children Quotes Tumblr And Sayings From The Bible For Parents Love For Tattoos Funny And sayings For Parents Islam About Learning
Childrens Quotes Children Quotes Tumblr And Sayings From The Bible For Parents Love For Tattoos Funny And sayings For Parents Islam About Learning
Childrens Quotes Children Quotes Tumblr And Sayings From The Bible For Parents Love For Tattoos Funny And sayings For Parents Islam About Learning
Childrens Quotes Children Quotes Tumblr And Sayings From The Bible For Parents Love For Tattoos Funny And sayings For Parents Islam About Learning
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