Cast & creator
W.C. Fields
Best known for Wogan, That's Entertainment, Part II, Alice in Wonderland
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.
Also known as: William Claude Dukenfield, Bill Fields, Charles Bogle, Mahatma Kane Jeeves, Otis Criblecoblis
79
film credits
1
television credits
65
1915–2005 · acting roles
6.6
average across scored titles
Signature credits
Known for
Across film & television
Filmography (80)
Showing 80 of 80 credits
Wogan
Self
1982
That's Entertainment, Part II
(archive footage)
1976
Alice in Wonderland
Humpty-Dumpty
1933
The Movie Orgy
Self (archive footage)
1968
David Copperfield
Wilkins Micawber
1935
Hollywood Out-takes and Rare Footage
Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
1983
Hollywood on Parade No. B-10
Self
1934
If I Had a Million
Rollo La Rue
1932
Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?
Self (archive footage)
1975
Six of a Kind
Sheriff John Hoxley
1934
You're Telling Me!
Sam Bisbee
1934
Song of the Open Road
W.C. Fields
1944
You Can't Cheat an Honest Man
Larson E. Whipsnade
1939You Can't Cheat an Honest Man
Story
1939
Going Hollywood: The '30s
(archive footage)
1984
Show-Business at War
Self
1943
Tales of Manhattan
Professor Pufflewhistle (uncredited)
1942
The Bank Dick
Egbert Sousé
1940The Bank Dick
Screenplay
1940
The Big Parade of Comedy
Wilkins Micawber in 'David Copperfield' (archive footage)
1964
Marlene Dietrich: Home Movies
Himself
Pool Sharks
1915Pool Sharks
Writer
1915
Mae West and the Men Who Knew Her
Self (archive footage)
1994
The Big Broadcast of 1938
T. Frothingill Bellows / S.B. Bellows
1938
It's a Gift
Harold Bissonette
1934It's a Gift
Story
1934
Man on the Flying Trapeze
Ambrose Wolfinger
1935Man on the Flying Trapeze
Story
1935
Never Give a Sucker an Even Break
The Great Man
1941Never Give a Sucker an Even Break
Story
1941
Oops, Those Hollywood Bloopers!
Self (archive footage)
1982
The Silver Screen: Color Me Lavender
Self (archive footage)
1997
Down Memory Lane
(archive footage)
1949
Mrs. Wiggs of the Cabbage Patch
Mr. Stubbins
1934
The Fatal Glass of Beer
Mr. Snavely
1933The Fatal Glass of Beer
Writer
1933
Cavalcade of the Academy Awards
Self (archive footage)
1940
So's Your Old Man
Samuel Bisbee
1926
Sally of the Sawdust
Professor Eustance McGargle
1925
Vaudeville
Self (archive footage)
1997
International House
Professor Quail
1933
W.C. Fields: 6 Short Films
2000
Hollywood Heaven: Tragic Lives, Tragic Deaths
Self (archive footage)
1990
Her Majesty, Love
Bela Toerrek
1931
The Old-Fashioned Way
The Great McGonigle / Squire Cribbs in 'The Drunkard'
1934The Old-Fashioned Way
Story
1934
My Little Chickadee
Cuthbert J. Twillie
1940My Little Chickadee
Screenplay
1940
Follow the Boys
W. C. Fields
1944
Hidden Hollywood II: More Treasures from the 20th Century Fox Vaults
(archive footage)
1999
W.C. Fields: Straight Up
1986
Hooray for Hollywood
Self (archive footage)
1976
It's the Old Army Game
Elmer Prettywillie
1926It's the Old Army Game
Theatre Play
1926
Million Dollar Legs
The President
1932
Tillie and Gus
Augustus Winterbottom
1933
The Hollywood Clowns
(archive footage)
1979
Sensations of 1945
W.C. Fields
1944How to Break 90 #3: Hip Action
Himself
1933
Tillie's Punctured Romance
Ring Master
1928
Mississippi
Commodore Jackson
1935
The Golf Specialist
J. Effingham Bellweather
1930The Golf Specialist
Writer
1930
The Circus: Premiere
Self
1928
The Barber Shop
Cornelius O'Hare
1933The Barber Shop
Writer
1933
That Royle Girl
Professor Royle
1925
Janice Meredith
A British Sergeant
1924
Fools for Luck
Richard Whitehead
1928
Two Flaming Youths
Gabby Gilfoil
1927
Poppy
Eustace McGargle
1936
The Dentist
Dentist
1932The Dentist
Writer
1932
The Great Man: W.C. Fields
Self (archive footage)
2005
Too Many Highballs
Story
1933
The Potters
Pa Potter
1927
The Pharmacist
Mr. Dilweg
1933The Pharmacist
Writer
1933
Running Wild
Elmer Finch
1927