W. C. Fields from Sound Film and Radio Comedy to Stardom: Becoming a Cultural Icon (Palgrave Studies in Theatre and Performance History)

W. C. Fields is known as a virtuoso comedian and legendary iconoclast who gave the gift of laughter to multitudes. As the first author to use the newly-opened Fields Papers at the Academy library, Arthur Frank Wertheim illuminates the comedian’s arduous ascent to stardom during Hollywood's golden age. The book reveals details of Fields’s turbulent private life, from his wife's refusal to divorce, to his estranged son, and to his fleeting relationships with women. Here is a portrait of an aggrieved artist whose emotional anguish found refuge in his poignant comedy about life’s frustrations and the human condition. This third volume in Wertheim's trilogy documents Fields's rise to iconic status during the counterculture 1960s, creating a legacy of his comedy for generations to come. Acknowledgements Contents Symbols and Abbreviations List of Figures Prologue Part I The Comeback Chapter 1 Welcome Back to Hollywood Chapter 2 The Sennett Quartet Part II The Bountiful Years: 1933–1934 Chapter 3 “The World’s Biggest Entertainment Joy Ride” Chapter 4 Three of a Kind Chapter 5 From Silent to Sound Chapter 6 Return to the Sawdust Trail Chapter 7 The Mail-Order Groom Chapter 8 Magnum Opus.1 Part III 1935: A Remarkable Year! Chapter 9 A Perfect Mixture of the Part and the Actor Chapter 10 Mississippi River Card Shark Chapter 11 All in the Family Chapter 12 A Vocal McGargle Emerges Part IV Off-Screen Chapter 13 The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter Chapter 14 Battling Sickness Part V From Radio to the Screen Chapter 15 Radio Saved My Life! Chapter 16 The Big Broadcast of 1938 Chapter 17 The Paramount Purge Part VI The Universal Years, 1939–1941 Chapter 18 Battling Universal Chapter 19 Combustible Co-stars Chapter 20 Magnum Opus.2 Chapter 21 The Great Man Part VII Last Hurrahs Chapter 22 Swan Songs Chapter 23 Doomsday at Bundy Drive Chapter 24 Scenes Before the Final Exit Chapter 25 The Man in the Bright Nightgown Cometh Epilogue: Becoming a Cultural Icon Notes Index