1880 – He was born this year in Darby, Pennsylvania. Fields left home at age 18 and entered vaudeville. By age 21 he was traveling as a comedy juggling act, becoming a headliner in both North America and Europe.
1900 – He married a fellow vaudevillian, chorus girl Harriet "Hattie" Hughes, on April 8 of this year.
1901 – He made his Broadway debut in the musical comedy The Ham Tree'.
1907 – They got separated, she pushed him to stop touring and settle down to a respectable trade, while he was reluctant to give up his own living.
1923 – He first hit big theatrical fame in the Broadway musical Poppy, where he perfected his persona as an oily, botched confidence man.
1935 – He achieved one of his career ambitions by playing the character Mr. Micawber, in MGM's David Copperfield.
1936 – He recreated his signature stage role in Poppy for Paramount Pictures.
1938 – Illness, deteriorated by his heavy drinking, stopped Fields' film work for a time, but he made a comeback trading insults with Edgar Bergen's dummy Charlie McCarthy on radio.
1941 – He was strong-minded to make a movie his way, with his own script and staging, and his own selection of supporting players. Universal finally gave him the opportunity, and the resulting film, Never Give a Sucker an Even Break.
1946 – He died of stomach hemorrhage.
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A Fatal Glass of Beer by Stuart M. Kaminsky (Hardcover - May 25, 1997) What an amazing--and not famous enough by half--mystery writer Stuart M. Kaminsky is! By last count, he has been doing excellent work in three very different series: his sad and pungent books about... ![]() |
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W C Fields by James Curtis (Paperback - Sep 1, 2004) James Curtis'sW.C. Fieldsis the finest biography of the bulb-nosed comedian ever published, allowing therealFields (1880-1946) to emerge after decades of obfuscation. Fields was always presumed to be... ![]() |
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W. C. Fields by Himself: His Intended Autobiography by W. C. Fields and Ronald J. Fields (Hardcover - Jun 25, 1973) ![]() |
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W.C. Fields: His Follies and Fortunes by W.C.] Taylor, Robert Lewis [Fields (Hardcover - Jul 25, 2008) ![]() |
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Fields for President by W. C. Fields (Hardcover - Jul 25, 1971) ![]() |
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Never Give a Sucker an Even Break: W.C. Fields on Business by Ronald Fields and Shaun O'L Higgins (Hardcover - Jan 29, 2000) An original perspective on business management from a true American original, one whose irreverent philosophy may be just the ticket in today's demanding modern workplace.Reengineering has come and... ![]() |
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