W C Fields Is Undoubtedly One Of The Funniest Men Who Ever Lived!
What can you say about a man who himself said, "I am free of all prejudices. I hate everyone equally" and became one of America's best loved comedians.
 Equally famous comic Edgar Bergen called W. C. Fields "What's so unusual about him is that he's a likeable nasty man".
Younger generations growing up on the humor of comics of today do not realize that the style of in-your-face humor actually started with Fields.
"The great man is recognized as one of the original antiheroes so currently in vogue with today's 'let it all hang out' generation. Despite the possible repercussions Fields uses his humor to kick society in the groin".
Born in 1880, 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 father (who hit him on the head with a shovel), W. C. Fields left home. For a while, he lived in a hole in the ground, depending on stolen food and clothing. By age thirteen, he began his career by juggling at an amusement park in New Jersey. (He is now enshrined in the Juggling Hall of Fame.)
And ten years later, he was a full-fledged star, playing the famous Palace in London and with Sarah Bernhardt at Buckingham Palace. He starred at the Folies-Bergere in Paris with a young Charles Chaplin and Maurice Chevalier on the program.
In 1925, pioneer movie maker D. W. Griffith started WC Fields on his movie career that brought his rough features and distinctive voice to millions around the world. Thirty-seven films later, W. C. Fields was an icon of American movie comedy. Some of his greatest films include "You Can't Cheat an Honest Man", "The Big Broadcast of 1938", and the role of Mr. Micawber in the 1935 version of "David Copperfield", replacing Charles Laughton, who was fired from the role.
W. C. Fields was almost desperate for the role as "Mr. Micawber", the only movie in which he stayed strictly on script, leaving out his famous ad-libs. Yet, he turned down the role of the "Cowardly Lion" starring with Judy Garland in the "Wizard of Oz". About his acting, D. W. Griffith said, ""I'm crazy about him.
He has a sweet sadness, a gentility, a subtlety. He is a great actor and artist. I have the greatest admiration for him." And yet, others that he worked with had different opinions. "W. C. Fields was the most obstinate, ornery S. O. B I ever tried to work with", said director Mitchell Leisen. George Marshall is quoted describing Fields as "One of the meanest men I ever knew".
W. C. Fields died on Christmas Day in 1946 proposing the following epitaph for his tombstone; ""All things considered, I'd rather be in Philadelphia". |
