W.C. Fields
Acting
Born: January 29, 1880 · Darby, Pennsylvania, USA
Died: December 25, 1946 (aged 66)
Highest Rated
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
The Bank Dick
1940
It's a Gift
1934
David Copperfield
1935
Alice in Wonderland
1933
The Fatal Glass of Beer
1933
If I Had a Million
1932
The Dentist
1932
Pool Sharks
1915
That's Entertainment, Part II
1976
Tales of Manhattan
1942
Never Give a Sucker an Even Break
1941
My Little Chickadee
1940
Photos (3)
Movies (49)
David Copperfield
Wilkins Micawber
Alice in Wonderland
Humpty-Dumpty
The Bank Dick
Egbert Sousé
If I Had a Million
Rollo La Rue
Follow the Boys
W. C. Fields
That's Entertainment, Part II
(archive footage)
The Big Parade of Comedy
Wilkins Micawber in 'David Copperfield' (archive footage)
Million Dollar Legs
The President
Tales of Manhattan
Professor Pufflewhistle (uncredited)
Never Give a Sucker an Even Break
The Great Man
You Can't Cheat an Honest Man
Larson E. Whipsnade
International House
Professor Quail
You're Telling Me!
Sam Bisbee
Down Memory Lane
(archive footage)
Mississippi
Commodore Jackson
Hollywood Heaven: Tragic Lives, Tragic Deaths
(archive footage)
My Little Chickadee
Cuthbert J. Twillie
The Golf Specialist
J. Effingham Bellweather
The Fatal Glass of Beer
Mr. Snavely
The Big Broadcast of 1938
T. Frothingill Bellows / S.B. Bellows
Six of a Kind
Sheriff John Hoxley
Pool Sharks
1915
Song of the Open Road
W.C. Fields
It's a Gift
Harold Bissonette
The Hollywood Clowns
(archive footage)
Sally of the Sawdust
Professor Eustance McGargle
Her Majesty, Love
Bela Toerrek
Man on the Flying Trapeze
Ambrose Wolfinger
Mrs. Wiggs of the Cabbage Patch
Mr. Stubbins
That Royle Girl
Professor Royle
Going Hollywood: The '30s
(archive footage)
Tillie and Gus
Augustus Winterbottom
Janice Meredith
A British Sergeant
Two Flaming Youths
Gabby Gilfoil
The Barber Shop
Cornelius O'Hare
W.C. Fields: 6 Short Films
2000
W.C. Fields: Straight Up
1986
Sensations of 1945
W.C. Fields
The Dentist
Dentist
So's Your Old Man
Samuel Bisbee
Poppy
Eustace McGargle
It's the Old Army Game
Elmer Prettywillie
Fools for Luck
Richard Whitehead
Hidden Hollywood II: More Treasures from the 20th Century Fox Vaults
(archive footage)
The Pharmacist
Mr. Dilweg
The Potters
Pa Potter
Tillie's Punctured Romance
Ring Master
Running Wild
Elmer Finch
The Old-Fashioned Way
The Great McGonigle / Squire Cribbs in 'The Drunkard'
Self / Appearances (13)
Wogan
Self · 1 eps
The Movie Orgy
Self (archive footage)
Vaudeville
Self (archive footage)
Hollywood Out-takes and Rare Footage
Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
The Silver Screen: Color Me Lavender
Self (archive footage)
Oops, Those Hollywood Bloopers!
Self (archive footage)
Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?
Self (archive footage)
Cavalcade of the Academy Awards
Self (archive footage)
Hooray for Hollywood
Self (archive footage)
Show-Business at War
Self
Hollywood on Parade No. B-10
Self
Mae West and the Men Who Knew Her
Self (archive footage)
The Circus: Premiere
Self
Upcoming (1)
Directing (1)
Writing (15)
The Bank Dick
Screenplay
Never Give a Sucker an Even Break
Story
You Can't Cheat an Honest Man
Story
My Little Chickadee
Screenplay
The Golf Specialist
Writer
The Fatal Glass of Beer
Writer
Pool Sharks
Writer
It's a Gift
Story
Man on the Flying Trapeze
Story
The Barber Shop
Writer
The Dentist
Writer
It's the Old Army Game
Theatre Play
The Pharmacist
Writer
Too Many Highballs
Story
The Old-Fashioned Way
Story