Man on the Flying Trapeze: The Life and Times of W.C. Fields

by SimonLouvish (Author)

• Used

  Paperback
  1999

  $3.25

  To most people W. C. Fields is an instantly recognisable figure, aclassic icon of film comedy. But the full and true tale of the life and art of the clown who dubbed himself 'The Great Man' has, astonishingly, never been told. This is the first book to relate in detail William Claude Dukenfield's artistic path to the cinema, disentangling the facts from the pack of lies and myths mischievously nurtured by Fields himself. Following meticulous research in a host of archives, including the personal scrapbooks of Fields himself, Simon Louvish lovingly traces the origins of Fields' comedy in his self-authored vaudeville sketches, then follows his career from stage to silent screen, revealing the sources of his great talkie routines, and highlighting his later tragic struggle, against studio heads,censorship, alcohol addiction and illness, to create some of the greatest gems of screen humour.

• Used

  Paperback
  1997

  $3.25

  Providing a detailed account of W.C. Fields's artistic path to the cinema, this biography aims to disentangle the facts from the lies and myths nurtured by Fields himself. It traces the origins of his comedy in the vaudeville sketches which he wrote himself, and then follows his career from stage to silent screen, revealing the sources of his familiar talkie routines. The book also highlights Fields's later struggle - against studio heads, censorship, alcohol addiction and illness - to create some of the most celebrated scenes in the history of cinema humour.