- He admired African-Americans and spoke out in favor of fairer treatment for them during the days of segregation in the US. He generously paid off the $4000 mortgage on the house of his African-American cook. He once ordered from his premises a man who used the "N-word" within earshot of his staff.
- Was terrified of slipping back into the poverty of his youth. To forestall this eventuality, he set up dozens of bank accounts across the country under a variety of aliases. Most of the money went unclaimed.
- While stories of his alcohol consumption (and the consequences thereof) were a regular part of his act, and he was rarely seen without a drink at hand, nobody could recall ever actually seeing him drunk, or out of control.
- Reportedly had hidden microphones installed along the front walk to his Hollywood home; he would slip into a small room to listen to guests talking as they departed. When someone spoke negatively about him, he would amuse himself by alluding to what they'd said, the next time he saw them.
- Could juggle or balance practically anything he could lift or carry; He unnerved his despised mother-in-law by keeping a lit cigar, a candle (in holder), or a beer bottle balanced atop his head at mealtimes, never seeming to notice its presence.
- According to friends, the biggest laugh he ever got as a stage performer was when a monologue he was giving on-stage was interrupted by a long, loud crash of objects backstage. After the crashing stopped, and the audience was silent, Fields gave a one-word comment in a stage whisper: "Mice!"
- Slipped a dose of gin into Baby LeRoy's milk bottle during a movie shoot, when the set nurse left for a bathroom break; production had to stop for a day until the child could sober up (Fields reportedly sent money later to LeRoy's family, after the boy's screen career ended and they had financial trouble).
- He said that The Marx Brothers were the only act he couldn't follow on the live stage. He is known to have appeared on the same bill with them only once, during an engagement at Keith's Orpheum Theatre in Columbus, OH, in January 1915. At the time, The Marx Brothers were touring "Home Again", and it didn't take Fields long to realize how his quiet comedy juggling act was faring against the anarchy of the Marxes. Fields later wrote of the engagement (and the Marxes), "They sang, danced, played harp and kidded in zany style. Never saw so much nepotism or such hilarious laughter in one act in my life. The only act I could never follow . . . I told the manager I broke my wrist and quit.".
- His wife Hattie became his partner in his juggling act after their marriage; he sent her home to his parents when she became pregnant. After he returned from the road, they discovered they'd grown apart, but Hattie wouldn't give him a divorce, and when he refused to "find a regular job", she began bad-mouthing him to their young son, William Jr. He predicted that the boy would grow up to see the truth of the situation (he never failed to support his family, however much or little he was earning) and it happened. While father and son rarely saw each other over the years, he was proudly introduced to his first-born grandson (W.C. Fields III) before his death.
- Despite claiming to dislike children, the comedian left a small fortune of his estate to an orphanage.
- Although one of his most famous quotes is "Never work with animals or children." he secretly admired children.
- Always regretted not having more formal education. He traveled with a trunk of books, reading whenever he could, and thought for a time about hiring a tutor. He lavished praise on "Readers' Digest" magazine, in later years.
- It was generally assumed that his prominent proboscis was the result of his drinking, an assumption he himself fueled in his comedy. However, it is believed to have actually been a physical characteristic inherited from his mother's side of the family.
- At the time of his death, he was rumored to be working on a screenplay entitled "Grand Motel", intended as a parody of MGM's 1932 Best Picture Oscar winner Grand Hotel (1932).
- Grandfather of Ronald J. Fields, who edited a biography titled "W.C. Fields by Himself". The book dispelled many long-standing stories about Fields, including ones of his living for years on the street. Young Fields did indeed run away from home after fights with his father, but usually no farther than his grandmother's, and he would return home the next day. He stayed with his grandmother just before beginning his professional career as a juggler.
- Although his marriage to Harriet Hughes lasted until his death in 1946, they separated as early as in 1904.
- Has a medical syndrome named after him--"W.C. Fields syndrome", characterized by rhinophyma (rosacea of the nose) associated with alcoholism.
- Although well known for his addiction to alcohol today, Fields did in fact rarely touch alcohol until he was in his mid-30s. He began his career in vaudeville as a juggler, and with that profession he could not afford to drink a lot, as his act demanded precise coordination and concentration in order to succeed.
- Enshrined in the Juggling Hall of Fame.
- Legend has it that on the set of You Can't Cheat an Honest Man (1939), a stagehand was cleaning out Fields' dressing room and accidentally bumped into a table on which Fields had placed a bottle of whiskey. He caught the bottle before it hit the floor, but the cork had popped out and he couldn't find it. He placed the bottle back on the table and left. Fields later came back to the dressing room, and a few minutes afterwards stormed out, roaring "Who took the cork out of my lunch?".
- According to his' mistress Carlotta Monti in her biography "W. C. Fields and Me", his four rules of comedy were (1) Never break anything. (2) A henpecked husband gets surefire laughs. (3) Clothes are of paramount importance: "every crease, fold, and droop of flesh can be the object of hilarity". (4) Everyone has a percentage of sadist in him.
- His much-vaunted aversion to children is generally thought to have been largely put-on. Co-stars Freddie Bartholomew and Gloria Jean both recalled him as being warm and solicitous. Further evidence of this is the case of 18-month old Christopher Quinn. In 1941, the oldest son of Anthony Quinn and Katherine DeMille wandered off his maternal grandparents' (Cecil B. DeMille) property and onto Fields', next door. There the youngster accidentally fell into Fields' fish pond and drowned. Fields was said to have been very much disturbed by this, and moved away shortly thereafter.
- Usually wrote or co-wrote the screenplays to his movies; the aliases he used ("Mahatma Kane Jeeves", "Otis Criblecoblis", etc.) for the writing credits came from the unusual names he encountered on the road, in his vaudeville days.
- He was awarded two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for Motion Pictures at 7004 Hollywood Blvd. and for Radio at 6316 Hollywood Blvd.
- In his younger days, he was a tennis hustler. Because of his amazing hand/eye coordination, hardly a game went by when he didn't slice the ball so that it bounced on his opponent's side and then returned before his opponent could get to it. His slices were nearly impossible to return, let alone reach.
- According to film historians, he performed in only one film exactly according to script and as directed. That one was MGM's David Copperfield (1935), in which he co-starred with Freddie Bartholomew, who was only ten years old. Fields admired the Charles Dickens book and wanted desperately to play Mr. Micawber in the movie, so he agreed to forego his usual ad-libs and put aside his distaste at working with child actors.
- The last movie he starred in, Never Give a Sucker an Even Break (1941), included a character he had always wanted to have in one of his movies: a young woman (in this case his niece, played by Gloria Jean) who loved him unconditionally.
- Was an accomplished amateur cartoonist. He often provided his own illustrations for his publicity material during his vaudeville days, and sent sketches and self-drawn holiday cards to his friends, all his life.
- Had a lifetime disdain for music; this he attributed to having to hear his father's singing day and night as a child, loudest when "the old patriarch" was drunk (companion Carlotta Monti claimed Fields once hit her with a cane, to stop her humming with a guitar). When expected to sing in a role, he almost always made a complete farce of both the lyrics and his performance.
- Although he is quoted as saying that he was "the best ballet dancer in the world", secretly he was extremely jealous of Charles Chaplin, whom he had known when he was younger, for achieving worldwide fame and adoration.
- Owing to his worsening addiction to alcohol, he only made guest appearances in the last films he made. No studio was willing to take a chance by casting him in the lead.
- Famous Fields character names from his films include T. Frothingill Bellows, Ambrose Wolfinger, Larson E. Whipsnade, Cuthbert J. Twillie, J. Effingham Bellweather, Professor Eustace McGargle, Elmer Prettywillie, Egbert Sousé, Rollo La Rue, Mahatma Kane Jeeves, Otis Criblecoblis and Ouliotta Delight Hemoglobin.
- Was the second choice to play the title role in The Wizard of Oz (1939). There are still some arguments as to why he turned the part down. Some sources say that he refused to play "The Wizard" because MGM wouldn't pay the salary he wanted, but according to Doug McClelland, author of "Down the Yellow Brick Road", Fields was too busy writing and acting in his latest film for Universal Pictures--You Can't Cheat an Honest Man (1939)--to be loaned out to MGM to play the part.
- Stopped drinking for over a year during his career, when a friend died of alcohol-related causes, but eventually went back to it.
- Appears on sleeve of The Beatles' album "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band".
- His father was a US Civil War veteran; "W.C. Fields by Himself" includes a photograph of his father wearing his old Army uniform.
- After being hit on the head by his father, Fields got his revenge by hiding in the rafters of a stable with a large wooden box in his hands. When his father entered the building, Fields dropped it on his head. Following the incident, he ran away from home.
- Through much of his early career, he was a silent juggler. It wasn't until he was in his mid-30s that be began to add verbal comedy to his act
- As his drinking worsened, he was able to go on the wagon for almost a year after nearly dying from alcoholism.
- The lawyer Larsen E. Pettifogger in the comic strip "Wizard of Id" is drawn to look like him.
- When Louise Brooks was with the Ziegfeld Follies, she was often a drinking companion with Fields after the shows.
- He made several highly popular short films before focusing on features full-time.
- Pictured on a 15¢ US commemorative postage stamp in the Performing Arts and Artists series, issued 1/29/80 (100th anniversary year of his birth).
- Lived with Carlotta Monti for 14 years.
- Interred at Forest Lawn, Glendale, CA, in the Great Mausoleum, Holly Terrace entrance, Hall of Inspiration.
- Painter/artist John Decker painted Fields as Queen Victoria of England.
- His son, with wife Hattie, William C. "Claude" Dukenfield, was born on 7/28/1904. He had another son, born on 8/15/1917, with girlfriend Bessie Poole, named William Rexford Fields Morris.
- His wife Harriet Hughes was born in 1878 and died on 11/7/63.
- Grandchildren: Ruthie, Everett, and Bill.
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