W.C. Fields Overview:

Legendary actor, W.C. Fields, was born William Claude Dukenfield on Jan 29, 1880 in Darby, Pennsylvania. Fields died at the age of 66 on Dec 25, 1946 in Pasadena, CA and was laid to rest in Forest Lawn (Glendale) Cemetery in Glendale, CA.

MINI BIO:

Burly, round-faced, red-nosed American juggler and comedian, with a long history in vaudeville before his serious film career began in the mid-twenties. With sound, his own peculiar, abrasive, embittered, alcohol-oriented delivery really came into its own and, as henpeck or charlatan in turn, he created a series of comedy classics. Wore a fake mustache in films until 1932. Died, from a combination of dropsy, a liver ailment and heart failure, on the day he moaned about more than any other - Christmas Day.

(Source: available at Amazon Quinlan's Film Stars).

HONORS and AWARDS:

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He was honored with two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in the categories of Radio and Motion Pictures. In addition, Fields was immortalized on a US postal stamp in 1980. He appears on the cover of The Beatles' Sergeant Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band album. Fields was never nominated for an Academy Award.

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W.C. Fields Quotes:

Mrs. Gideon: Was that chap dragging you across the prairie a full-blooded Indian?
Cuthbert J. Twillie: Ah, quite the antithesis. He's very anemic.


Professor Quail: Hey! Where am I?
Woman: Wu-Hu.
Professor Quail: Woo-Hoo to you sweetheart. Hey Charlie, where am I?
Hotel Manager: WU-HU!
[Professor Quail removes the flower from his lapel]
Professor Quail: Don't let the posey fool you!


Receptionist: Some day you'll drown in a vat of whiskey!
The Great Man: Drown in a vat of whiskey. Death, where is thy sting?


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W.C. Fields on the
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W.C. Fields Facts
He admired African-Americans, and spoke out in favor of fairer treatment for them during the days of segregation in the US. 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.

Inspired the character Captain Erasmus Mulligan in Morris' Lucky Luke graphic novel Western Circus.

He said that The Marx Brothers were the only act he couldn't follow on the live stage. He is known to have appeared on the same bill with them only once, during an engagement at Keith's Orpheum Theatre in Columbus, OH, in January 1915. At the time the Marx Brothers were touring "Home Again", and it didn't take Fields long to realize how his quiet comedy juggling act was faring against the anarchy of the Marxes. Fields later wrote of the engagement (and the Marxes), "They sang, danced, played harp and kidded in zany style. Never saw so much nepotism or such hilarious laughter in one act in my life. The only act I could never follow . . . I told the manager I broke my wrist and quit.".

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The Beatles Sgt Pepper Cover

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