Skip to content

W.C. Fields from the Ziegfeld Follies and Broadway Stage to the Screen: Becoming
Stock Photo: Cover May Be Different

W.C. Fields from the Ziegfeld Follies and Broadway Stage to the Screen: Becoming a Character Comedian Hardcover - 2017

by Arthur Frank Wertheim


From the rear cover

This book reveals how Fields became a character comedian while performing in Broadway's most illustrious revue, the Ziegfeld Follies.
As the first biography to use the recently opened Fields Papers at the Motion Picture Academy, the book explores how Fields years as a Follies entertainer portraying a beleaguered husband and a captivating conman became a landmark turning point in his career, leading to his fame as a masterful film comedian. The book also untangles a web of mysteries about Fields's turbulent private life, from the heartrending stories about the tragic relationship with his calculating wife who refused to divorce him, to his estranged son controlled by his mother, to the seven-year extra-marital affair with a chorus girl that led to the birth of an unwanted child.
This electrifying saga illuminates a complex dual personality, whirling from tenderness to brusqueness, who endured so much anguish in order to bring the gift of laughter to millions. Although vilified by Ziegfeld and assailed by demons, Fields survived the cutthroat rigors of Broadway show biz to become a legendary American iconoclast and cultural icon.

Details

  • Title W.C. Fields from the Ziegfeld Follies and Broadway Stage to the Screen: Becoming a Character Comedian
  • Author Arthur Frank Wertheim
  • Binding Hardcover
  • Pages 270
  • Volumes 1
  • Language ENG
  • Publisher Palgrave MacMillan
  • Date 2017-01-18
  • Illustrated Yes
  • Features Bibliography, Illustrated, Index
  • ISBN 9781349949854 / 134994985X
  • Weight 1.11 lbs (0.50 kg)
  • Dimensions 8.27 x 5.83 x 0.69 in (21.01 x 14.81 x 1.75 cm)
  • Library of Congress subjects United States, Motion pictures
  • Library of Congress Catalog Number 2016960536
  • Dewey Decimal Code B

About the author

Arthur Frank Wertheim is the author of W. C. Fields from Burlesque and Vaudeville to Broadway: Becoming a Comedian (2014). The first volume of a three-part series on the comedian's life and career, it has already been hailed as the definitive biography of a famous American comic iconoclast and cultural icon.

He has also written several books on twentieth-century American culture, including Vaudeville Wars, The New York Little Renaissance, and Radio Comedy. He has co-edited three volumes: The Papers of Will Rogers and edited Will Rogers at the Ziegfeld Follies and American Popular Culture. A former American history professor at the University of Southern California, USA, as well as visiting professor at the University of California, Los Angeles, USA, his awards range from a Fulbright grant to teach at the University of Indonesia to a fellowship on biography at The Norman Mailer Center, USA.

Back to Top

More Copies for Sale

W.C. Fields from the Ziegfeld Follies and Broadway Stage to the Screen : Becoming a Character...
Stock Photo: Cover May Be Different

W.C. Fields from the Ziegfeld Follies and Broadway Stage to the Screen : Becoming a Character Comedian

by Arthur Frank Wertheim

  • New
  • Hardcover
Condition
New
Binding
Hardcover
ISBN 10 / ISBN 13
9781349949854 / 134994985x
Quantity Available
854
Seller
Uxbridge, Greater London, United Kingdom
Seller rating:
This seller has earned a 5 of 5 Stars rating from Biblio customers.
Item Price
$142.55
$10.12 shipping to USA

Show Details

Description:
Hard Cover. New. New Book; Fast Shipping from UK; Not signed; Not First Edition; The W.C. Fields from the Ziegfeld Follies and Broadway Stage to the Screen : Becoming a Character Comedian.
Item Price
$142.55
$10.12 shipping to USA
W.C. Fields from the Ziegfeld Follies and Broadway Stage to the Screen: Becoming a Character...
Stock Photo: Cover May Be Different

W.C. Fields from the Ziegfeld Follies and Broadway Stage to the Screen: Becoming a Character Comedian (Palgrave Studies in Theatre and Performance History)

  • New
  • Hardcover
Condition
New
Binding
Hardcover
ISBN 10 / ISBN 13
9781349949854 / 134994985X
Quantity Available
5
Seller
campbelltown, Florida, United States
Seller rating:
This seller has earned a 2 of 5 Stars rating from Biblio customers.
Item Price
$183.00
$10.00 shipping to USA

Show Details

Description:
Palgrave Macmillan. hardcover. New. 6x1x8. Brand New Book in Publishers original Sealing
Item Price
$183.00
$10.00 shipping to USA