CURRENTLY SOLD OUT

W.C. Fields: A Biography by James Curtis (Hardcover, 2003)

About this product

Product Information

Before he ever 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 of Fields' life and work. Drawing on Fields' papers and manuscripts, he shows us the passion and intellect that fueled Fields' talent and the background that gave such bite and edge to his comedy. Curtis shows us, in illuminating detail, just how Fields' extraordinary art evolved on the stage in the early part of the twentieth century and how he not only incorporated it into his films, but how it came to define his persona decades later. He writes of Fields' hardscrabble Philadelphia childhood; of his father, a drunken breaker of horses who beat his son; of Fields' clever hands that were quick to master stealing and juggling (he took up the latter-- itallowed him to sleep late); of his years in burlesque and minstrelsy; of his seventeen years in vaudeville, hopping trains early on, living a life half in the theater, half on the lam, making his way into the big time, never satisfied with his act, always working on something newer and more striking. Curtis writes of Fields' starring years with the Ziegfeld Follies, finding his voice and his character amid one of the greatest assemblages of comic talent on a single stage (Will Rogers, Eddie Cantor, Fanny Brice, among others); appearing in every Ziegfeld show from 1915 through 1921; of his marriage to a fellow performer, the birth of their son, and their travels together on the Circuit, until Mrs. Fields decided she' d had enough and left-- the theater and her marriage. Fields never again loved so deeply. We see Fields' extraordinary work in the movies, both silent pictures in New York (first directed by D. W. Griffith in the starring role in Sally of the Sawdust, which Fields created on Broadway in Poppy) and in the talkies from 1927 to 1945. Curtis' biography narrates the life and the art of the actor James Agee called the toughest and most warmly human of all screen comedians.

Product Identifiers

Publisher
Alfred A. Knopf
ISBN-13
9780375402173
eBay Product ID (ePID)
94432166

Product Key Features

Book Title
w.C. Fields: a Biography
Author
James Curtis
Format
Hardcover
Language
English
Publication Year
2003
Genre
Biographies & True Stories
Number of Pages
593 Pages

Dimensions

Item Height
241mm
Item Width
171mm
Item Weight
1089g

Additional Product Features

Title_Author
James Curtis
Country/Region of Manufacture
United States

Best Selling in Books

See all

Current slide {CURRENT_SLIDE} of {TOTAL_SLIDES}- Best Selling in Books

The Mountain Is You: Transforming Self-Sabotage Into Self-Mastery by Brianna Wiest (Paperback, 2020)
5.0 out of 5 stars based on 6 product ratings
AU $21.98 New
AU $15.39 Used
The Concise 48 Laws Of Power by Robert Greene (Paperback, 2002)
4.5 out of 5 stars based on 21 product ratings
AU $21.51 New
---- Used
Atomic Habits: the life-changing million-copy #1 bestseller by James Clear (Paperback, 2018)
4.8 out of 5 stars based on 25 product ratings
AU $18.90 New
AU $8.95 Used
Become What You Are: Expanded Edition by Alan W. Watts (Paperback, 2003)
5.0 out of 5 stars based on 2 product ratings
AU $32.51 New
---- Used
House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski (Paperback, 2000)
5.0 out of 5 stars based on 6 product ratings
AU $59.44 New
---- Used
First Day by Andrew Daddo (Paperback, 2014)
No ratings or reviews yet.
AU $10.00 New
AU $6.29 Used

Save on Books

Current slide {CURRENT_SLIDE} of {TOTAL_SLIDES}- Save on Books

The Orthodox Study Bible, Hardcover: Ancient Christianity Speaks to Today's Worl
AU $63.30
Trending at AU $65.12
NEW Bluey: My Mum is the Best By Bluey (Hardcover) Picture Book FREE Shipping
AU $11.95
Trending at AU $15.72
The 2023 Ninja Dual Zone Air Fryer Cookbook: 1000 Days Simple, Delicious & Low C
AU $18.48
Trending at AU $19.14
Lonely Planet Vietnam | Paperback Book | NEW AU FREE SHIPPING AU
AU $27.88
Trending at AU $28.29
The Complete Mediterranean Diet Cookbook for Beginners 2023: 2000 Days of Quick,
AU $18.83
Trending at AU $19.39
Animal Farm
AU $12.34
Trending at AU $13.51

Shop by category

W.C. Fields: A Biography by James Curtis (Hardcover, 2003)

About this product

Product Information

Product Identifiers

Product Key Features

Dimensions

Additional Product Features

Best Selling in Books

The Mountain Is You: Transforming Self-Sabotage Into Self-Mastery by Brianna Wiest (Paperback, 2020)

The Concise 48 Laws Of Power by Robert Greene (Paperback, 2002)

Atomic Habits: the life-changing million-copy #1 bestseller by James Clear (Paperback, 2018)

Become What You Are: Expanded Edition by Alan W. Watts (Paperback, 2003)

House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski (Paperback, 2000)

First Day by Andrew Daddo (Paperback, 2014)

Save on Books

The Orthodox Study Bible, Hardcover: Ancient Christianity Speaks to Today's Worl

NEW Bluey: My Mum is the Best By Bluey (Hardcover) Picture Book FREE Shipping

The 2023 Ninja Dual Zone Air Fryer Cookbook: 1000 Days Simple, Delicious & Low C

Lonely Planet Vietnam | Paperback Book | NEW AU FREE SHIPPING AU

The Complete Mediterranean Diet Cookbook for Beginners 2023: 2000 Days of Quick,

Animal Farm

You may also like

James Patterson Hardcover Books

Biography & Autobiography Hardcover Antiquarian & Collectable Books

Biographies & True Stories Non-Fiction Hardcover Books

Henry James Fiction Hardcover Books

James Patterson Fiction Hardcover Books

Biographies & True Stories Non-Fiction Hardcover Signed Books