W.C. Fields from the Ziegfeld Follies and Broadway Stage to the Screen (2024)

Table of Contents
Overview Access this book Other ways to access About this book Similar content being viewed by others Nevla as Dracula: Figurations of the Tantric as Monster in the Hindi Horror Film Mothers of the Irish Short Story: George Egerton and Somerville and Ross The Destruction of the Artist: Hour of the Wolf Keywords Table of contents (16 chapters) Front Matter 1915: A Momentous Year The Beleaguered Sportsman Entr’actes Lampooning the Dysfunctional Family Broadway Stardom Authors and Affiliations Historian, Rancho Palos Verdes, USA About the author Bibliographic Information Publish with us

W.C. Fields from the Ziegfeld Follies and Broadway Stage to the Screen (1)

Becoming a Character Comedian

  • Book
  • © 2016

Overview

Authors:
  • Arthur Frank Wertheim 0
  1. Arthur Frank Wertheim

    1. Historian, Rancho Palos Verdes, USA

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  • Provides the first publication dedicated to exploring Fields's career in the Ziegfeld Follies
  • Makes use of rare archival material to paint a comprehensive picture of Field's life and work
  • Builds on the success of W. C. Fields from Burlesque and Vaudeville to Broadway: Becoming a Comedian to cast new light on a formative period in Fields's career

Part of the book series: Palgrave Studies in Theatre and Performance History (PSTPH)

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About this book

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.

Similar content being viewed by others

W.C. Fields from the Ziegfeld Follies and Broadway Stage to the Screen (3)

Nevla as Dracula: Figurations of the Tantric as Monster in the Hindi Horror Film

Chapter © 2013

W.C. Fields from the Ziegfeld Follies and Broadway Stage to the Screen (4)

Mothers of the Irish Short Story: George Egerton and Somerville and Ross

Chapter © 2016

W.C. Fields from the Ziegfeld Follies and Broadway Stage to the Screen (5)

The Destruction of the Artist: Hour of the Wolf

Chapter © 2015

Keywords

  • twentieth century theatre
  • American theatre
  • theatre history
  • Broadway revues
  • vaudeville pantomime
  • Florenz Ziegfeld
  • physical comedy
  • Pool Sharks
  • comic satire
  • The Family Ford
  • Scandals
  • Midnight Frolic
  • George White
  • George Gershwin

Table of contents (16 chapters)

  1. Front Matter

    Pages i-xxii

    Download chapter PDF

  2. 1915: A Momentous Year

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 1-1

      Download chapter PDF

    2. Confronting Florenz Ziegfeld

      • Arthur Frank Wertheim

      Pages 3-20

    3. Pool Sharks and His Lordship’s Dilemma

      • Arthur Frank Wertheim

      Pages 21-35

  3. The Beleaguered Sportsman

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 37-37

      Download chapter PDF

    2. Spoofing Croquet

      • Arthur Frank Wertheim

      Pages 39-50

    3. Lampooning Tennis

      • Arthur Frank Wertheim

      Pages 51-61

    4. The Frustrated Duffer

      • Arthur Frank Wertheim

      Pages 63-76

  4. Entr’actes

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 77-77

      Download chapter PDF

    2. The Three Musketeers

      • Arthur Frank Wertheim

      Pages 79-91

    3. Bessie and Hattie

      • Arthur Frank Wertheim

      Pages 93-103

    4. Fields’s Well Never Went Dry

      • Arthur Frank Wertheim

      Pages 105-113

    5. From the Midnight Frolic to the Front Lines

      • Arthur Frank Wertheim

      Pages 115-123

  5. Lampooning the Dysfunctional Family

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 125-125

      Download chapter PDF

    2. The Flivertons

      • Arthur Frank Wertheim

      Pages 127-137

    3. The Breakup with Ziegfeld

      • Arthur Frank Wertheim

      Pages 139-151

  6. Broadway Stardom

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 153-153

      Download chapter PDF

    2. Oh, What a Scandal!

      • Arthur Frank Wertheim

      Pages 155-165

    3. “Confidence Man of the Ages”

      • Arthur Frank Wertheim

      Pages 167-188

    4. Two Legendary Iconoclasts Converge

      • Arthur Frank Wertheim

      Pages 189-202

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Authors and Affiliations

  • Historian, Rancho Palos Verdes, USA

    Arthur Frank Wertheim

About the author

Arthur Frank Wertheim is the author of W. C. Fields from Burlesque and Vaudeville to Broadway: Becoming a Comedian (2014). The first volume of a three-part series on the comedian’s life and career, it has already been hailed as the definitive biography of a famous American comic iconoclast and cultural icon.

He has also written several books on twentieth-century American culture, including Vaudeville Wars, The New York Little Renaissance, and Radio Comedy. He has co-edited three volumes: The Papers of Will Rogers and edited Will Rogers at the Ziegfeld Follies and American Popular Culture. A former American history professor at the University of Southern California, USA, as well as visiting professor at the University of California, Los Angeles, USA, his awards range from a Fulbright grant to teach at the University of Indonesia to a fellowship on biography at The Norman Mailer Center, USA.

Bibliographic Information

  • Book Title: W.C. Fields from the Ziegfeld Follies and Broadway Stage to the Screen

  • Book Subtitle: Becoming a Character Comedian

  • Authors: Arthur Frank Wertheim

  • Series Title: Palgrave Studies in Theatre and Performance History

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-349-94986-1

  • Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan New York

  • eBook Packages: Literature, Cultural and Media Studies, Literature, Cultural and Media Studies (R0)

  • Copyright Information: The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s) 2016

  • Hardcover ISBN: 978-1-349-94985-4Published: 18 January 2017

  • Softcover ISBN: 978-1-349-95695-1Published: 15 July 2018

  • eBook ISBN: 978-1-349-94986-1Published: 16 January 2017

  • Series ISSN: 2947-5767

  • Series E-ISSN: 2947-5775

  • Edition Number: 1

  • Number of Pages: XXII, 270

  • Number of Illustrations: 13 b/w illustrations, 1 illustrations in colour

  • Topics: Theatre History, Film History, American Culture, American Cinema and TV

Publish with us

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W.C. Fields from the Ziegfeld Follies and Broadway Stage to the Screen (2024)
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