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W.C. Fields‌

Gender

Male

Birthday

calendar1880-01-29

Popularity

star5.4

W.C. Fields

Darby, Pennsylvania, USA

W.C. Fields

Darby, Pennsylvania, USA

Gender

Male

Birthday

calendar1880-01-29

Popularity

star5.4

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.

Movie Credits

The Bank Dick

The Bank Dick‌
star6.4
calendar 1940

Hollywood on Parade No. B-7

Hollywood on Parade No. B-7‌
star0.0
calendar 1933

The Movie Orgy

The Movie Orgy‌
star6.2
calendar 1968

International House

International House‌
star5.3
calendar 1933

Alice in Wonderland

Alice in Wonderland‌
star6.1
calendar 1933

I Know A Riddle

I Know A Riddle‌
star0.0
calendar 2004

Follow the Boys

Follow the Boys‌
star5.2
calendar 1944

Tales of Manhattan

Tales of Manhattan‌
star6.2
calendar 1942

The Hollywood Clowns

The Hollywood Clowns‌
star0.0
calendar 1979

It's a Gift

It's a Gift‌
star6.5
calendar 1934

You Can't Cheat an Honest Man

You Can't Cheat an Honest Man‌
star6.7
calendar 1939

Never Give a Sucker an Even Break

Never Give a Sucker an Even Break‌
star6.8
calendar 1941

Poppy

Poppy‌
star6.5
calendar 1936

Fools for Luck

Fools for Luck‌
star0.0
calendar 1928

My Little Chickadee

My Little Chickadee‌
star6.4
calendar 1940

The Big Broadcast of 1938

The Big Broadcast of 1938‌
star5.9
calendar 1938

The Golf Specialist

The Golf Specialist‌
star5.4
calendar 1930

David Copperfield

David Copperfield‌
star6.5
calendar 1935

Two Flaming Youths

Two Flaming Youths‌
star0.0
calendar 1927

The Pharmacist

The Pharmacist‌
star5.7
calendar 1933

The Dentist

The Dentist‌
star6.0
calendar 1932

The Barber Shop

The Barber Shop‌
star6.3
calendar 1933

The Fatal Glass of Beer

The Fatal Glass of Beer‌
star5.9
calendar 1933

Pool Sharks

Pool Sharks‌
star5.2
calendar 1915

Man on the Flying Trapeze

Man on the Flying Trapeze‌
star5.9
calendar 1935

Mrs. Wiggs of the Cabbage Patch

Mrs. Wiggs of the Cabbage Patch‌
star6.0
calendar 1934

If I Had a Million

If I Had a Million‌
star6.6
calendar 1932

Her Majesty, Love

Her Majesty, Love‌
star6.0
calendar 1931

Six of a Kind

Six of a Kind‌
star5.8
calendar 1934

Janice Meredith

Janice Meredith‌
star5.0
calendar 1924

Tillie and Gus

Tillie and Gus‌
star7.6
calendar 1933

Mississippi

Mississippi‌
star6.7
calendar 1935

You're Telling Me!

You're Telling Me!‌
star6.4
calendar 1934

Million Dollar Legs

Million Dollar Legs‌
star6.6
calendar 1932

So's Your Old Man

So's Your Old Man‌
star6.1
calendar 1926

Sally of the Sawdust

Sally of the Sawdust‌
star6.1
calendar 1925

Oops, Those Hollywood Bloopers!

Oops, Those Hollywood Bloopers!‌
star6.0
calendar 1982

Hollywood Out-takes and Rare Footage

Hollywood Out-takes and Rare Footage‌
star6.5
calendar 1983

It's the Old Army Game

It's the Old Army Game‌
star5.0
calendar 1926

Running Wild

Running Wild‌
star5.7
calendar 1927

Sensations of 1945

Sensations of 1945‌
star6.2
calendar 1944

W.C. Fields: Straight Up

W.C. Fields: Straight Up‌
star0.0
calendar 1986

Going Hollywood: The '30s

Going Hollywood: The '30s‌
star10.0
calendar 1984

Hollywood: The Selznick Years

Hollywood: The Selznick Years‌
star3.3
calendar 1961

Song of the Open Road

Song of the Open Road‌
star0.0
calendar 1944

The Circus: Premiere

The Circus: Premiere‌
star5.4
calendar 1928

Hollywood Heaven: Tragic Lives, Tragic Deaths

Hollywood Heaven: Tragic Lives, Tragic Deaths‌
star5.7
calendar 1990

Tillie's Punctured Romance

Tillie's Punctured Romance‌
star6.0
calendar 1928

The Old-Fashioned Way

The Old-Fashioned Way‌
star6.8
calendar 1934

Mae West and the Men Who Knew Her

Mae West and the Men Who Knew Her‌
star0.0
calendar 1994

The Big Parade of Comedy

The Big Parade of Comedy‌
star6.3
calendar 1964

W.C. Fields: 6 Short Films

W.C. Fields: 6 Short Films‌
star7.0
calendar 2000

How to Break 90 #3: Hip Action

How to Break 90 #3: Hip Action‌
star0.0
calendar 1933

Show-Business at War

Show-Business at War‌
star7.0
calendar 1943

Cavalcade of the Academy Awards

Cavalcade of the Academy Awards‌
star6.5
calendar 1940

Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?

Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?‌
star5.7
calendar 1975

That's Entertainment, Part II

That's Entertainment, Part II‌
star6.8
calendar 1976

The Potters

The Potters‌
star0.0
calendar 1927

The Silver Screen: Color Me Lavender

The Silver Screen: Color Me Lavender‌
star5.0
calendar 1997

That Royle Girl

That Royle Girl‌
star1.0
calendar 1925

Down Memory Lane

Down Memory Lane‌
star0.0
calendar 1949

Tv Credits

Wogan

Wogan‌
star4.5
calendar 1982

Star Life

Star Life‌
star10.0
calendar 1990