In this now-classic biography of America's great funnyman, first published in 1949, award-winning author Robert Lewis Taylor captures the cantankerous charm that has made Fields revered by generations of helplessly laughing viewers. 16 pages of photos.

"By the time of his death, on Christmas Day, 1946, he was widely acknowledged to have become the greatest comic artist ever known." Born William Claude Dukinfield, he was son of a London cockney who migrated to Philadelphia in the late 1870's Better known as W C. Fields, he began his performance career as a silent juggler. Gradually Fields incorporated comedy into his act, before appearing in the Broadway musical comedy Poppy where he played a colourful conman. From then on, scoundrels would be a particular specialty of the comedian on the big screen. Famous for his fondness for alcohol, Fields often filmed scenes for movies inebriated. His characters picked fights with children and he loved provoking the censors with double entendres. All these contributed to Fields becoming a well-loved comic actor. Pulitzer Prize-winner Robert Lewis Taylor chronicles the incredible life story of W.C. Fields from his childhood as a knockabout street urchin to his heyday as the celebrity who hobnobbed with Edward VII. W C. Fields: His Follies and Fortunes, rich in both humour and pathos, is as marvellous in as Mr. Fields himself. Praise for W. C. Fields: His Follies and Fortunes "Fields makes all the modern beats look like little Lord Fauntleroys He was a supreme artist and a supreme individual and Taylor does him full justice." - Harry Golden "Robert Lewis Taylor has written a hilarious history of the fabulous comedian, written it with understanding, sympathy and a gay respect for the scandalous facts involved." - The New York Times "It brings its subject vividly, unforgettably back to life." - The Washington Post Robert Lewis Taylor (1912-1998) was born in southern Illinois and educated at Southern Illinois University and the University of Illinois. Upon graduation he lived in Europe and in Polynesia; then, after a brief interlude as editor of a weekly newspaper, became a reporter for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. In 1940 he joined The New Yorker magazine as a writer of profiles and other long pieces, and remained a member of the staff. Mr. Taylor is author of the-Pulitzer Prize-winning novel The Travels of Jamie McPheeters. Taylor also wrote the bestselling biography Winston Churchill: An Informal Study of Greatness.

This book reveals how Fields became a character comedian while performing in Broadway’s most illustrious revue, the Ziegfeld Follies. As the first biography to use the recently opened Fields Papers at the Motion Picture Academy, the book explores how Fields years as a Follies entertainer portraying a beleaguered husband and a captivating conman became a landmark turning point in his career, leading to his fame as a masterful film comedian. The book also untangles a web of mysteries about Fields’s turbulent private life, from the heartrending stories about the tragic relationship with his calculating wife who refused to divorce him, to his estranged son controlled by his mother, to the seven-year extra-marital affair with a chorus girl that led to the birth of an unwanted child. This electrifying saga illuminates a complex dual personality, whirling from tenderness to brusqueness, who endured so much anguish in order to bring the gift of laughter to millions. Although vilified by Ziegfeld and assailed by demons, Fields survived the cutthroat rigors of Broadway show biz to become a legendary American iconoclast and cultural icon.

W. C. Fields was a virtuoso comedian, often called a comic genius, legendary iconoclast, and "Great Man," who brought so much laughter to millions while enduring so much anguish. This book explores his little-known, long stage career from 1898 to 1930, which had a major influence on his comedy and screen presence.

All students of the Great Man's'career will have to rely on this work. . . . Perhaps Gehring's greatest contributio here is his discussion of 23 sketches that Fields copyrighted that are now in the Library of Congress. Choice

Louvish brilliantly sifts through evidence of W.C. Fields' own self-creation to illuminate the vaudeville world from which he rose to become the beloved cinematic curmudgeon and comic genius of his time. Photos.