W.C. Fields

W. C. Fields
W. C. Fields, 1938
Born	William Claude Dukenfield (1880-01-29)January 29, 1880 Darby, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Died	December 25, 1946(1946-12-25) (aged 66) Pasadena, California, U.S.
Cause of death	Stomach hemorrhage
Resting place	Forest Lawn Memorial Park, Glendale, California
Other names	Charles Bogle Otis Criblecoblis Mahatma Kane Jeeves "Uncle Claude"
Occupation	Actor, comedian, juggler, writer
Years active	1898–1946
Spouse(s)	Harriet Hughes (m. 1900–46) (his death) 1 child
Partner(s)	Bessie Poole (girlfriend) 1 child Carlotta Monti (girlfriend)
Children	William Claude Fields, Jr. William Morris

William Claude Dukenfield (January 29, 1880 – December 25, 1946), better known as W. C. Fields, was an American comedian, actor, juggler and writer. Fields' comic persona was a misanthropic and hard-drinking egotist, who remained a sympathetic character despite his snarling contempt for dogs and children.

His career in show business began in vaudeville, where he attained international success as a silent juggler. He gradually incorporated comedy into his act, and was a featured comedian in the Ziegfeld Follies for several years. He became a star in the Broadway musical comedy Poppy (1923), in which he played a colorful small-time con man. His subsequent stage and film roles were often similar scoundrels, or else henpecked everyman characters.

Among his recognizable trademarks were his raspy drawl and grandiloquent vocabulary. The characterization he portrayed in films and on radio was so strong it was generally identified with Fields himself. It was maintained by the publicity departments at Fields' studios (Paramount and Universal) and was further established by Robert Lewis Taylor's biography, W.C. Fields, His Follies and Fortunes (1949). Beginning in 1973, with the publication of Fields' letters, photos, and personal notes in grandson Ronald Fields' book W.C. Fields by Himself, it was shown that Fields was married (and subsequently estranged from his wife), and financially supported their son and loved his grandchildren.

Fields was born William Claude Dukenfield in Darby, Pennsylvania, the oldest child of a working-class family. His father, James Lydon Dukenfield (1840–1913), was from an English family that emigrated to America from Sheffield, England in 1854. James Dukenfield served in Company M of the 72nd Pennsylvania Infantry Regiment in the American Civil War and was wounded in 1863. Fields' mother, Kate Spangler Felton (1854–1925), was a Protestant of British ancestry. The 1876 Philadelphia City Directory lists James Dukenfield as a clerk. After marrying, he worked as an independent produce merchant and a part-time hotel-keeper.