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.

- IMDb Mini Biography By: Ed Stephan <stephan@cc.wwu.edu>

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 son.

Interred at Forest Lawn, Glendale, CA, in the Great Mausoleum, Holly Terrace entrance, Hall of Inspiration.

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.

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.

The lawyer Larsen E. Pettifogger in the comic strip "Wizard of Id" is drawn to look like him.

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.

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.

Although one of his most famous quotes is "Never work with animals or children." he secretly admired children.

Has a medical syndrome named after him--"W.C. Fields syndrome", characterized by rhinophyma (rosacea of the nose) associated with alcoholism.

His son, with wife Hattie, William C. "Claude" Dukenfield, was born on July 28, 1904. He had another son, born on August 15, 1917, with girlfriend Bessie Poole, named William Rexford Fields Morris.

Appears on sleeve of The Beatles' album "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band".

Slipped a dose of gin into Baby LeRoy's milk bottle during a movie shoot, when the set nurse left for a bathroom break; production had to stop for a day until the child could sober up (Fields reportedly sent money later to LeRoy's family, after the boy's screen career ended and they had financial trouble).

Legend has it that on the set of You Can't Cheat an Honest Man (1939), a stagehand was cleaning out Fields' dressing room and accidentally bumped into a table on which Fields had placed a bottle of whiskey. He caught the bottle before it hit the floor, but the cork had popped out and he couldn't find it. He placed the bottle back on the table and left. Fields later came back to the dressing room, and a few minutes afterwards stormed out, roaring "Who took the cork out of my lunch?".

Through much of his early career, he was a silent juggler. It wasn't until he was in his mid-30s that be began to add verbal comedy to his act

Was an accomplished amateur cartoonist. He often provided his own illustrations for his publicity material during his vaudeville days, and sent sketches and self-drawn holiday cards to his friends, all his life.

Lived with Carlotta Monti for 14 years.

Although his marriage to Harriet Hughes lasted until his death in 1946, they separated as early as in 1904.

Rock-and-roll legend Jerry Lee Lewis has said on several occasions that Fields is his favorite comedian.

His father was a United States Civil War veteran; "W.C. Fields by Himself" includes a photograph of his father wearing his old Army uniform.

He admired African-Americans, and spoke out in favor of fairer treatment for them during the days of segregation in the United States. He generously paid off the $4000 mortgage on the house of his African-American cook. He once ordered from his premises a man who used the "N-word" within earshot of his staff.

He was awarded two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for Motion Pictures at 7004 Hollywood Blvd. and for Radio at 6316 Hollywood Blvd.

Painter/artist John Decker painted Fields as Queen Victoria of England.

According to Fields' mistress Carlotta Monti in her biography "W. C. Fields and Me", his four rules of comedy were (1) Never break anything. (2) A henpecked husband gets surefire laughs. (3) Clothes are of paramount importance: "every crease, fold, and droop of flesh can be the object of hilarity". (4) Everyone has a percentage of sadist in him.

Fields was terrified of slipping back into the poverty of his youth. To forestall this eventuality, he set up dozens of bank accounts across the country under a variety of aliases. Most of the money went unclaimed.

In his younger days, he was a tennis hustler. Because of his amazing hand/eye coordination, hardly a game went by when he didn't slice the ball so that it bounced on his opponent's side and then returned before his opponent could get to it. His slices were nearly impossible to return, let alone reach.

At the time of his death, Fields was rumored to be working on a screenplay entitled Grand Motel, intended as a parody of M-G-M's 1932 Best Picture Oscar winner Grand Hotel.

It's still disputed as to the year the comedian was born. Some books list it as 1879 and others reckon 1880.

He made several highly popular short films before focusing on features full time.

Despite claiming to dislike children, the comedian left a small fortune of his estate to an orphanage.

'Twas a woman drove me to drink. I never had the courtesy to thank her.

[when asked why he never drank water] I'm afraid it will become habit-forming.

[when asked whether he liked children] Ah, yes . . . boiled or fried.

Wouldn't it be terrible if I quoted some reliable statistics which prove that more people are driven insane through religious hysteria than by drinking alcohol?

Horse sense is what a horse has which keeps it from betting on people.

What fiend put pineapple juice in my pineapple juice?

Always carry a flagon of whiskey in case of snakebite, and furthermore always carry a small snake.

What a gorgeous day. What effulgent sunshine. It was a day of this sort the McGillicuddy brothers murdered their mother with an axe.

Children should neither be seen nor heard from...ever again.

I am free of all prejudices. I hate everyone equally.

Start every day with a smile, and get it over with.

Women are like elephants. They are interesting to look at, but I wouldn't like to own one.

A rich man is nothing but a poor man with money.

There comes a time in the affairs of man when he must take the bull by the tail and face the situation.

[on Charles Chaplin] He's the best ballet dancer in the world.

I gargle with whiskey several times a day, and I haven't had a cold in years.

After two days in the hospital, I took a turn for the nurse.

Drown in a cold vat of whiskey? Death, where is thy sting?

Ah, yes, Mae West--a plumber's idea of Cleopatra . . .

Ah, the patter of little feet. There's nothing like having a midget for a butler.

I once spent a year in Philadelphia. I think it was a Sunday.

If there's a will, prosperity can't be far behind.

[on children] I'm beginning to understand those animals you read about, where the mother has got to hide the young so the father won't eat them.

[on his death bed] You know, I've been thinking about those poor little newspaper boy out there. Peddling their papers in cold and rain, [the] sole support of their mothers. I want to do something for them . . . on second thought, fuck 'em.