W.C. Fields

W.C. Fields

From Laugh Tracks Legends of Comedy with Randy and Steve by Randy Hodgins and Steve McLellan

March 24, 2026 · 4 min · Episode 302

About this episode

The episode discusses the life and comedic legacy of W.C. Fields, highlighting his career and unique persona.

Hide the kids and hide the dogs -- the curmudgeon to end all curmudgeons is here. We're talking about William Claude Dukenfield -- better known to comedy fans as W.C. Fields. From his start as a juggler in vaudeville shows, Fields added comedy to his act. Over time, he developed the comedy persona of a con artist who had a particular aversion to kids and dogs. Fields would often recycle old vaudeville bits in his movies, and woe be unto anyone he caught "nibbling" at his routines. In the late 1930s and early 1940s he was at the top of his game but a real-life drinking problem made him unreliable and the film offers stopped arriving. Toward the end of his life he was persuaded to record a couple of monologues which turned out to be his only recordings. But W.C. still has a following today -- just visit his star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and surely someone will be saying "go away kid. . . you're bothering me." As always find extra clips below, and thanks for sharing our shows! Want more W.C. Fields? This is short but sweet -- WC (with Shemp Howard) looking for a lost $20 bill. https://youtu.be/t9bFgMb48_w?si=HgueolSsZOKPrgvl WC Fields and Mae West are linked in our comedy minds…

People in this episode

Hosts: Randy Hodgins, Steve McLellan

Topics covered

  • W.C. Fields
  • comedy history
  • vaudeville
  • film
  • drinking problems
  • comedy persona

Keywords

  • W.C. Fields
  • comedy
  • vaudeville
  • film history
  • drinking problems
  • comedy persona
  • My Little Chickadee
  • The Temperance Lecture

Mentioned in this episode

Books & works: My Little Chickadee, The Temperance Lecture

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