W.C. Fields: A Biography - Hardcover

Curtis, James

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0375402179 ISBN 13: 9780375402173

Publisher: Alfred a Knopf Inc, 2003

Synopsis

Drawing on the legendary performer's personal papers and manuscripts, as well as interviews with friends and colleagues, an incisive new biography of W. C. Fields provides a revealing glimpse of the man and artist behind the image of the gin-guzzling misanthrope, detailing his Philadelphia childhood, his career in vaudeville, his turbulent personal life, and his seminal film work. 20,000 first printing.

About this title

About the Author

James Curtis is the author of James Whale: A New World of Gods and Monsters and Between Flops, an acclaimed biography of writer-director Preston Sturges. He lives with his wife in Brea, California.

From the Inside Flap

er made a movie or spoke a word onstage, W. C. Fields was one of the greatest pantomimists and comedians in the world. His career spanned the whole of the twentieth century—in burlesque, vaudeville, the legitimate stage, silent pictures, talkies, radio, books, and recordings. Only death prevented him from working in television.

He shared the vaudeville stage with Sarah Bernhardt and Houdini; he made a command performance before Edward VII; he was compared to Chaplin and Keaton and became one of the great comedians in radio. He wrote, directed, and performed (Mae West and Fields were among the first writer/actor/directors) in some of the most enduring and brilliant comedies of all time, including It's a Gift, My Little Chickadee, and The Bank Dick. He appeared in fifty pictures and wrote fifteen of them. His understanding of the need to lie and swindle, and his ability to make the most innocent phrase sound lewd, made him a star.

Now James Curtis tells the story

Edition details

• Publisher: Alfred a Knopf Inc
• Publication date: 2003
• ISBN 10: 0375402179
• ISBN 13: 9780375402173
• Binding: Hardcover
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 593