W.C Fields Biography

American performer W.C. Fields was born William Claude Dukenfield, oldest child of a poor Philadelphia family, who ran away from home aged 11.

Self-educated, he spent most of his time perfecting his juggling, practising till his fingers bled.

Starting off as a juggler in Norristown, Pennsylvania, he moved to Atlantic City, where he developed his act, donning a beard and becoming ‘W.C. Fields – Tramp Juggler’.

He eventually made his way, through travelling shows, to New York City, where he was to make his fortune. By the early 1900s, he was touring the world, regularly called the world’s greatest juggler.

Fields made his Broadway debut with 'The Ham Tree' in 1906, soon afterwards expanding his act into spoken comedy routines.

Moving into silent films, with 1915’s 'Pool Sharks', in 1923 he also took Broadway by storm with his part as snake-oil peddler, Eustache McGargle, in the musical 'Poppy'.

The film of the musical, 'Sally of the Sawdust', directed by D.W. Griffith in 1925, was a great success, especially in Middle America, where it cemented Fields’ on-screen persona as cynical con man.

Fields’ movie career blossomed with the arrival of sound, and he moved permanently to Hollywood.

Amongst his greatest films were those of the thirties - 'It's a Gift' in 1934, 'You Can't Cheat an Honest Man' in 1939, and, especially, 'The Bank Dick' in 1940. His characteristic portrayal of the beleaguered "everyman" figure made him a national institution.

In 1940, he starred in the surreal 'My Little Chickadee', with Mae West. That year, he published 'Fields for President', a rambling piece of social criticism, which proved a failure.

After 1941, Fields’ health deteriorated and he began to struggle with alcoholism.

He died in California on Christmas Day, 1946, the day he claimed to despise.