The Peregrinations & Pettifoggery of W. C. Fields

The life and work of one of America’s great cultural figures is presented in bounteous and munificent detail this summer. On display in the Library's Vincent Astor Gallery is a unique exhibition organized by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, Beverly Hills. It features posters, photographs, correspondence, and a trove of memorabilia from the Fields family. The exhibition draws on a remarkable trove of personal memorabilia, donated to the Academy’s Margaret Herrick Library. Visitors will be able to discover Fields's amazing juggling and billiards acts, view his drawing of colleagues, and hear his distinctive voice by listening to his radio broadcasts. On Tuesday afternoons in June and July, LPA will present It's a Gift: W. C. Fields in the Movies, featuring his silent and sound films (see below for schedule).

William Claude Dukenfield rose to vaudeville stardom as a comic juggler, reaching the Ziegfeld Follies and Frolics, and touring around the world. He was both a superb physical comic, with a successful career in silent film, and a great verbal comedian, with a radio and sound film career lasting into the 1940s. Augmented by numerous film clips and audio recordings, Peregrinations & Pettifoggery sheds new light on the many dimensions of Fields’ talents – from his amazing displays of physical dexterity in pool, juggling and golf, to his cartoons and writings – and offers all who see it fresh insight into his comic genius.For additional information on this larger-than-life character and his memorable characterizations, visit www.wcfields.com.    

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