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William Claude Dukenfield was the oldest of five siblings born to Cockney immigrant James Dukenfield and Philadelphia native Kate Felton. He attended school for four years before leaving to help his father sell vegetables from a horse cart. At eleven, after numerous conflicts with his alcoholic father, who once struck him on the head with a shovel, he ran away from home. For a period, he lived in a hole in the ground, relying on stolen food and clothing. He frequently endured beatings and spent nights in jail. His first steady job was delivering ice. By thirteen, he had become a skilled pool player and juggler. It was at an amusement park in Norristown, PA, that he was first hired as an entertainer. There, he developed the act of pretending to drop the items he juggled. In 1893, he worked as a juggler at Fortescue's Pier in Atlantic City. When business was slow, he feigned drowning in the ocean, a stunt management believed would attract customers. By nineteen, he was known as "The Distinguished Comedian" and began opening bank accounts in every city he visited. At twenty-three, he performed at the Palace in London and appeared with Sarah Bernhardt at Buckingham Palace. He starred at the Folies-Bergère, sharing the stage with young Charles Chaplin and Maurice Chevalier.
He appeared in every Ziegfeld Follies production from 1915 to 1921. In 1923, he performed for a year in the acclaimed musical "Poppy," which premiered in New York. In 1925, D.W. Griffith adapted the play into a film titled Sally of the Sawdust, starring Fields. His first movie, Pool Sharks (1915), was made when he was thirty-five. He later settled into a mansion near Burbank, California, producing most of his thirty-seven films for Paramount. He frequently participated in spontaneous dialogues on Charlie McCarthy's radio shows. In 1939, he moved to Universal, where he made films primarily written by and for himself. He passed away following several serious illnesses, including bouts of pneumonia.
