W.C. Fields from the Ziegfeld Follies and Broadway stage to the screen : becoming a character comedian / Arthur Frank Wertheim.
Wertheim, Arthur Frank, 1935- author.
2016
PN2287.F45 W47 2016
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Title W.C. Fields from the Ziegfeld Follies and Broadway stage to the screen : becoming a character comedian / Arthur Frank Wertheim.
Author Wertheim, Arthur Frank, 1935- author.
ISBN 9781349949861 (electronic book)
1349949868 (electronic book)
9781349949854
134994985X
DOI https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-349-94986-1
Imprint New York : Palgrave Macmillan, ©2016.
Language English
Description 1 online resource : illustrations.
Other Standard Identifiers 10.1057/978-1-349-94986-1 doi
Call Number PN2287.F45 W47 2016
Dewey Decimal Classification 791.43028092
Summary 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.
Bibliography, etc. Note Includes bibliographical references and index.
Access Note Access limited to authorized users.
Digital File Characteristics text file PDF
Series Palgrave studies in theatre and performance history.
Available in Other Form W.C. Fields from the Ziegfeld Follies and Broadway stage to the screen.
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Dedication; Introduction; Acknowledgments; Symbols And Abbreviations; Contents; List of Figures ; Foreword ; Part I: 1915: A Momentous Year; Chapter 1: Confronting Florenz Ziegfeld ; Notes; Chapter 2: Pool Sharks andßHis Lordship's Dilemma; Notes; Part II: The Beleaguered Sportsman; Chapter 3: Spoofing Croquet; Notes; Chapter 4: Lampooning Tennis; Notes; Chapter 5: The Frustrated Duffer; Notes; Part III: Entr'actes; Chapter 6: The Three Musketeers; Notes; Chapter 7: Bessie andßHattie; Notes; Chapter 8: Fields's Well Never Went Dry; Notes; Chapter 9: From theßMidnight Frolic toßtheßFront Lines.

NotesPart IV: Lampooning the Dysfunctional Family; Chapter 10: The Flivertons; Notes; Chapter 11: The Breakup withßZiegfeld; Notes; Part V: Broadway Stardom; Chapter 12: Oh, What aßScandal!; Notes; Chapter 13: "Confidence Man ofßtheßAges"; Notes; Chapter 14: Two Legendary Iconoclasts Converge; Notes; Chapter 15: The Comic Supplement; Notes; Chapter 16: A Follies Farewell; Notes; Epilogue: Fields Encounters D.W.ßGriffith; Forthcoming; Notes; Appendix: TheßZiegfeld Mystique; Index.

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