Difference between revisions of "W.C. Fields"
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Fields toured the [[vaudeville]] circuit in South Africa and Australia in 1903 and, according to [[D.C. Boonzaier]] (1923), while in Cape Town he was also one of the solo participants in the ''[[Bloemfontein Flood Benefit]]'' (a matinee benefit performance for the sufferers in the disastrous flood in Bloemfontein), put on in the Cape Town [[Opera House]] on 28 January, 1904, by a company brought together for the purpose by [[Grant Fallowes]]. | Fields toured the [[vaudeville]] circuit in South Africa and Australia in 1903 and, according to [[D.C. Boonzaier]] (1923), while in Cape Town he was also one of the solo participants in the ''[[Bloemfontein Flood Benefit]]'' (a matinee benefit performance for the sufferers in the disastrous flood in Bloemfontein), put on in the Cape Town [[Opera House]] on 28 January, 1904, by a company brought together for the purpose by [[Grant Fallowes]]. | ||
| − | Boonzaier is cited in [[F.C.L. Bosman]] (1980: p, 418) as referring to the performer in the latter event as "[[N.C. Fields]]", a performer he typifies as "the famous American grotesque juggler". This clearly seems to have been a misremembered recollection by the South African critic (or a typographical error). | + | Boonzaier is cited in [[F.C.L. Bosman]] (1980: p, 418) as referring to the performer in the latter event as "[[N.C. Fields]]", a performer he typifies as "the famous American grotesque juggler". This clearly seems to have been a misremembered recollection by the South African critic (or a typographical error on the part of Bosman's publishers). |
== Sources == | == Sources == | ||
Revision as of 08:34, 9 January 2022
W.C. Fields (1880-1946)[1] was an American comedian, actor, juggler and writer.
Contents
Biography
Born William Claude Dukenfield in Darby, Pennsylvania, on 29 January, 1880. He had no formal schooling, but learnt to read and write, becoming a voracious reader.
He taught himself juggling and began his career in show business in vaudeville, calling himself as "The Eccentric Juggler" and achieving international success. He toured widely in North America and Europe over the years, often billed as "the world's greatest juggler", and even toured Australia and South Africa in 1903. He continued touring in vaudeville until 1915, gradually incorporating comedy into his act, and in 1915 he began to appear on Broadway as well, inter alia as the featured comedian in the Ziegfeld Follies. He eventually had a starring role in the Broadway musical comedy Poppy (1923), and this set of his mercurial career as a prolific and highly regarded radio, TV and film comedian.
Fields died on 25 December, 1946, in Pasadena, California.
Contribution to SA theatre, film, media and/or performance
Fields toured the vaudeville circuit in South Africa and Australia in 1903 and, according to D.C. Boonzaier (1923), while in Cape Town he was also one of the solo participants in the Bloemfontein Flood Benefit (a matinee benefit performance for the sufferers in the disastrous flood in Bloemfontein), put on in the Cape Town Opera House on 28 January, 1904, by a company brought together for the purpose by Grant Fallowes.
Boonzaier is cited in F.C.L. Bosman (1980: p, 418) as referring to the performer in the latter event as "N.C. Fields", a performer he typifies as "the famous American grotesque juggler". This clearly seems to have been a misremembered recollection by the South African critic (or a typographical error on the part of Bosman's publishers).
Sources
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/W._C._Fields
D.C. Boonzaier, 1923. "My playgoing days – 30 years in the history of the Cape Town stage", in SA Review, 9 March and 24 August 1923. (Reprinted in Bosman 1980: pp. 374-439.)
F.C.L. Bosman. 1980. Drama en Toneel in Suid-Afrika, Deel II, 1856-1916. Pretoria: J.L. van Schaik: p. 418.
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