Editing WC Fields

'''W.C. Fields''' (1880-1946) was a Philadelphia-born comedian whose vaudeville success and film career made him one of the most distinctive comic voices of the early twentieth century, his misanthropic persona and masterful timing establishing a style that influenced generations of comedians. His Philadelphia childhood, marked by poverty and family conflict that he later exaggerated for comedic effect, provided material that his performances would exploit while his escape through vaudeville demonstrated talent that circumstance could not contain. His hatred of Philadelphia—expressed through famous quotes that may or may not be authentic—created a complicated relationship with a city that nonetheless claims him as a native son.<ref name="louvish">{{cite book |last=Louvish |first=Simon |title=Man on the Flying Trapeze: The Life and Times of W.C. Fields |year=1997 |publisher=W.W. Norton |location=New York}}</ref>

== 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"/>

== Vaudeville and Broadway ==

Fields' vaudeville career, which began in the 1890s and continued into the 1910s, established him as one of the circuit's premier performers. His juggling abilities, which provided his initial attraction, became context for comedy as he developed the persona that audiences would recognize. His success on the Ziegfeld Follies (1915-1921) demonstrated ability to dominate prestigious venues while his Broadway work in productions including "Poppy" (1923) showed his capacity for sustained characterization.<ref name="louvish"/>

His vaudeville persona—the pompous blusterer whose elaborate dignity barely concealed incompetence and meanness—developed through years of performance before film could capture it. The vocal style, with its nasal delivery and creative vocabulary, became as distinctive as his physical comedy. His comic timing, refined through thousands of performances, achieved precision that his apparently casual delivery concealed. The Philadelphia streets that had shaped his youth, whatever their actual hardship, contributed to authenticity that purely theatrical training might not have provided.<ref name="curtis"/>

His transition to film, beginning in the silent era but flourishing in talkies that could showcase his voice, brought his persona to audiences that vaudeville circuits could not reach. The Broadway experience that preceded film work provided the performance discipline that film's technical demands required. His Philadelphia origins, already essential to his mythology, became part of the persona that film would make internationally recognizable.<ref name="louvish"/>

== Film Career ==

Fields' sound film career, spanning the 1930s and 1940s, produced the performances that define his legacy. Films including "It's a Gift" (1934), "The Man on the Flying Trapeze" (1935), and "The Bank Dick" (1940) showcased a persona whose elaborate pomposity, muttered asides, and barely concealed contempt for humanity created comedy that audiences found hilarious and critics eventually recognized as art. His drinking, both on screen and off, became part of a mythology that he carefully cultivated.<ref name="curtis"/>

His battles with studios, his insistence on creative control, and his difficult personality created reputation as a troublesome talent whose abilities nonetheless compelled accommodation. The bitterness that Philadelphia may have instilled found expression in characters whose misanthropy was total and whose suffering was continuous. His children, his wives, his neighbors, his employers—everyone in a Fields film existed to torment him, and his responses, while rarely successful, provided the comedy.<ref name="louvish"/>

His later films, made despite declining health, demonstrated commitment to performance that his physical condition made increasingly difficult. His death on December 25, 1946—Christmas Day, which he famously claimed to hate—seemed consistent with the persona he had maintained for decades. The Philadelphia childhood that had provided his material, whatever its actual nature, remained part of the mythology that his films had established.<ref name="curtis"/>

== Legacy ==

W.C. Fields' legacy encompasses the films that preserve his performances, the persona that influenced subsequent comedians, and the complicated relationship with Philadelphia that his statements established. His quotes about the city, authentic or attributed, have made him part of Philadelphia's cultural conversation even as his actual connection to the city ended in his teenage years. Fields represents both what Philadelphia's working-class neighborhoods could produce and what departing them could achieve, his success built on material that his origins provided even as he claimed to despise them.<ref name="louvish"/>

== See Also ==
* [[Philadelphia Vaudeville]]
* [[Philadelphia Entertainment]]
* [[Philadelphia Film]]

== References ==
<references />

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|description=W.C. Fields was a Philadelphia-born comedian whose vaudeville success and film career made him one of the most distinctive comic voices of the early 20th century.
|keywords=W.C. Fields, Philadelphia comedian, vaudeville, classic comedy, The Bank Dick, juggling, silent film
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[[Category:People]]
[[Category:Entertainers]]
[[Category:Comedians]]
[[Category:Film]]