W.C. Fields
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.
Known For
Egbert Sousé
The Bank Dick
Self
Hollywood on Parade No. B-7
Self (archive footage)
The Movie Orgy
Professor Quail
International House
Humpty-Dumpty
Alice in Wonderland
I Know A Riddle
W. C. Fields
Follow the Boys
Professor Pufflewhistle
Tales of Manhattan
(archive footage)
The Hollywood Clowns
Harold Bissonette
It's a Gift
Larson E. Whipsnade
You Can't Cheat an Honest Man
The Great Man
Never Give a Sucker an Even Break
Eustace McGargle
Poppy
Richard Whitehead
Fools for Luck
Cuthbert J. Twillie
My Little Chickadee
T. Frothingill Bellows / S.B. Bellows
The Big Broadcast of 1938
J. Effingham Bellweather
The Golf Specialist
Wilkins Micawber
The Personal History, Adventures, Experience, & Observation of David Copperfield the Younger
Gabby Gilfoil
Two Flaming Youths
Pool Sharks
Dentist
The Dentist
Mr. Snavely
The Fatal Glass of Beer
Mr. Dilweg
The Pharmacist
Cornelius O'Hare
The Barber Shop
Ambrose Wolfinger
Man on the Flying Trapeze
Mr. Stubbins
Mrs. Wiggs of the Cabbage Patch
Rollo La Rue
If I Had a Million
Bela Toerrek
Her Majesty, Love
Sheriff John Hoxley
Six of a Kind
A British Sergeant
Janice Meredith
Augustus Winterbottom
Tillie and Gus
Commodore Jackson
Mississippi
Sam Bisbee
You're Telling Me!
The President
Million Dollar Legs
Samuel Bisbee
So's Your Old Man
Professor Eustance McGargle
Sally of the Sawdust
Self (archive footage)
Oops, Those Hollywood Bloopers!
Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
Hollywood Out-takes and Rare Footage
Elmer Prettywillie
It's the Old Army Game
Elmer Finch
Running Wild
W.C. Fields
Sensations of 1945
W.C. Fields: Straight Up
(archive footage)
Going Hollywood: The '30s
'David Copperfield' (archive footage) (uncredited)
Hollywood: The Selznick Years
W.C. Fields
Song of the Open Road
Self
The Circus: Premiere
(archive footage)
Hollywood Heaven: Tragic Lives, Tragic Deaths
Ring Master
Tillie's Punctured Romance
The Great McGonigle / Squire Cribbs in 'The Drunkard'
The Old-Fashioned Way
Self (archive footage)
Mae West and the Men Who Knew Her
Wilkins Micawber in 'David Copperfield' (archive footage)
The Big Parade of Comedy
W.C. Fields: 6 Short Films
Himself
How to Break 90 #3: Hip Action
Self
Show-Business at War
Self (archive footage)
Cavalcade of the Academy Awards
Self (archive footage)
Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?
(archive footage)
That's Entertainment, Part II
Pa Potter
The Potters
Self (archive footage)
The Silver Screen: Color Me Lavender
Professor Royle
That Royle Girl
(archive footage)
Down Memory Lane
Self (archive footage)
Hooray for Hollywood
Self (Archival Footage)
Hidden Hollywood II: More Treasures from the 20th Century Fox Vaults
Personal Info
Known For
Acting
Known Credits
63
Gender
Male
Birthday
1880-01-29
Place of Birth
Darby, Pennsylvania, USA
Also Known As
William Claude Dukenfield