orig. William Claude Dukenfield
born Jan. 29, 1880, Philadelphia, Pa., U.S.
died Dec. 25, 1946, Pasadena, Calif.
U.S. actor and screenwriter.
He was a vaudeville headliner as a juggler and appeared for seven seasons (1915–21) in the Ziegfeld Follies . His starring role in the stage hit Poppy (1923) brought him to Hollywood for its film adaptation, Sally of the Sawdust (1925). He emerged as a top film comedian only after the advent of sound pictures, when audiences could hear his distinctive raspy voice. His screen personality
an unlovable but hilarious con man, braggart, misanthrope, and hater of children and dogs
was largely his own. Fields wrote and improvised the action for most of his films, which include comedies such as You Can't Cheat an Honest Man (1939), My Little Chickadee (1940), The Bank Dick (1940), and Never Give a Sucker an Even Break (1941). His only serious role was Mr. Micawber in David Copperfield (1935).