W. C. Fields


Fields, 1938

Born: William Claude Dukenfield; January 29, 1880; Darby, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Died: December 25, 1946 (aged 66); Pasadena, California, U.S.
Resting place: Forest Lawn Memorial Park, Glendale, California
Other names: Charles Bogle, Otis Criblecoblis, Mahatma Kane Jeeves

William Claude Dukenfield (January 29, 1880 – December 25, 1946), better known as W. C. Fields, was an American comedian, actor, juggler, and writer. Fields's comic persona was a misanthropic and hard-drinking egotist who remained a sympathetic character despite his supposed contempt for children and dogs.

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Death

Fields spent the last 22 months of his life at the Las Encinas Sanatorium in Pasadena, California. In 1946, on Christmas Day—the holiday he said he despised—he had a massive gastric hemorrhage and died, aged 66. Carlotta Monti wrote that in his final moments, she used a garden hose to spray water onto the roof over his bedroom to simulate his favorite sound, falling rain. According to a 2004 documentary, he winked and smiled at a nurse, put a finger to his lips, and died. This poignant depiction is uncorroborated and "unlikely", according to biographer James Curtis. Fields's funeral took place on January 2, 1947, in Glendale, California.

His cremation, as directed in his will, was delayed pending resolution of an objection filed by Hattie and Claude Fields on religious grounds. They also contested a clause leaving a portion of his estate to establish a "W. C. Fields College for Orphan White Boys and Girls, where no religion of any sort is to be preached". After a lengthy period of litigation, his remains were cremated on June 2, 1949, and his ashes interred at the Forest Lawn Memorial Park Cemetery in Glendale.

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W.C. Fields - The Diner Sketch
4,979,730 views Feb 19, 2010

Kovacs Corner
16.3K subscribers

[From "Kovacs Corner" on YouTube.com] - William Claude Dukenfield, known professionally as W.C. Fields, with his bizarre and iconoclastic sense of humor, certainly influenced Ernie Kovacs. It had been written that when Fields delivered the story outline of this 1941 film, "Never Give a Sucker an Even Break", the suits at Universal Studios thought the film was so surreal that they recut and reshot parts of it. After which they quietly released the film to movie theaters and Fields from his contract. This sketch, featuring character actress Jody Gilbert, gives a new meaning to the term "customer service".

Wildest Comedy Car Chase Ever? W.C. Fields, "Never Give A Sucker An Even Break" (1941)
9,953 viewsApr 10, 2019

Porfle Popnecker
33.9K subscribers

A woman needs a ride to the maternity hospital to visit a patient.

Fields thinks that the woman is about to have a baby, and...

...the result is what may be the wildest and most thrilling comedy car chase ever.


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