Editing WC Fields (section)

== Philadelphia Childhood ==

William Claude Dukenfield was born on January 29, 1880, in Darby, Pennsylvania, just outside Philadelphia, moving frequently during a childhood marked by his father's struggling produce business and family discord. The stories he told of his youth—running away from home, living on the streets, suffering cold and hunger—were likely exaggerated for effect, though hardship certainly characterized his early years. His Philadelphia experience, whatever its precise details, provided the bitterness that his comedy would make entertaining.<ref name="curtis">{{cite book |last=Curtis |first=James |title=W.C. Fields: A Biography |year=2003 |publisher=Alfred A. Knopf |location=New York}}</ref>

His escape from Philadelphia came through juggling, a skill he developed obsessively until his abilities exceeded what local opportunities could exploit. His departure for vaudeville circuits while still a teenager began the journey that would eventually lead to Broadway and Hollywood. The working-class Philadelphia world he left behind—its roughness, its lack of refinement, its limited horizons—became material that his sophisticated comedy would later mock while drawing upon its authentic grittiness.<ref name="louvish"/>

His complicated relationship with the city found expression in quotes that may or may not be genuine—"I'd rather be dead than live in Philadelphia" being the most famous. Whether authentic or attributed, such statements created a reputation for Philadelphia hatred that the city has sometimes embraced as reverse tribute. The actual feelings that motivated such statements, if he made them, likely combined genuine negative associations with professional persona cultivation.<ref name="curtis"/>