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

by Simon Louvish

"[Fields] was his own greatest creation, and in Louvish, this complicated artist has finally found the biographer he deserves."―Malcolm Jones, Jr., Newsweek Man on the Flying Trapeze is the first biography in decades ― and the only accurate one ― of the beloved cinematic curmudgeon and inimitable comic genius W. C. Fields. Simon Louvish brilliantly sifts through evidence of Fields's own self-creation to illuminate the vaudeville world from which Fields sprang and his struggles with studios and censors to make his hilarious films-in the process confirming suspicions (yes, he did drink) and confounding them (he doted on his grandchildren). "One of the best movie biographies to come along in quite some time. . . . [A] book to cherish."― Film Review "[ Man on the Flying Trapeze ] nicely regales us with many vaudevillian stories. . . . Louvish does a heroic job."―Katharine Whittemore, New York Times Book Review "A rapturous, giddy, and irrepressible book. . . . Let us be clear: this is a delight, a marvel of research . . . and a superb argument for the case that William Claude Dukenfield was, and is, the greatest comic the movies have given us."―David Thomson "At last 'the Great Man' (as Fields called himself, accurately) has a great biography."― Kirkus Reviews (starred review) Illustrated

Genres: Biography, Film, Nonfiction, Humor, Theatre

576 pages, Paperback

First published September 1, 1997

About the author

Simon Louvish (born 1947 in Scotland) is an Israeli author and film maker. He has written many books about Avram Blok, a fictional Israeli caught up between wars, espionage, prophets, revolutions, loves, and a few near apocalypses.

He has also written biographies of W. C. Fields, The Marx Brothers, Groucho Marx, Laurel and Hardy, and Mack Sennett.

Reviews

[Stewart Tame · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you're at all interested in the life and work of W.C. Fields, then this is the book for you. Louvish has brought together a treasure trove of scripts, personal letters, newspaper columns, scrapbooks, and more to come up with a revealing portrait quite different from the public persona that most folks are familiar with. I'll admit that my experience with books about Fields has not been extensive, but if this isn't one of the best I will be extremely surprised. Louvish traces Fields' life from childhood to vaudeville to stage to screen and beyond, including rough drafts of scripts, unproduced sketches, summaries of all film work including (as best as can be determined) films that have become lost to us over time (but which could still turn up, tucked away in an archive somewhere.) The back of the book includes an extensive bibliography as well as a filmography, which I will probably start using as a checklist someday, as I've only seen precious few of these films to date. I'd heartily recommend this to anyone with any interest in Fields and his work.

[Lizzie · Rating 5 out of 5]

A detailed biography that tries to get to the truth of all the stories Fields told about his origins, and to the man behind the persona he created. Louvish had access to voluminous scrapbooks that Fields kept of all his appearances and to family papers, and he did exhaustive research in to archives at the Library of Congress and other places to seek out old scripts for vaudeville skits, studio correspondence, etc., etc. There are a lot of transcripts of routines (some reviewers didn’t like this, which I found puzzling – surely if you’re reading this, you like Fields and get a kick out of these.) There are great portraits of Eddie Cantor, Bert Williams, Fanny Brice, and others not well known today.
I hadn’t realized that Fields had such a long career as a juggler or that he’d traveled the world in that role for years before he became the comedian we recognize now. I liked it a lot and it was a perfect airplane and poolside book. The last part of Fields’ life wasn’t as well described as I would have liked but overall it was great. Apparently this was the go-to Fields biography for several years but now it’s been superseded by James Curtis’ W. C Fields. I’d like to read that one too.

[Ralphz · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a good review of W.C. Fields' life, from his vaudeville days (which seem to be his best run) to his movies to the end of his life.

The author has a quirky style that I've read for a few different books (on Charlie Chaplin and the Marx Brothers), so he takes some getting used to. But its all in good fun.

The author also shares all the stories, and then sorts out which is the most likely. It pokes some holes in the legends and myths about Fields, but humanizes him quite a bit.

The story is always told that Fields hated kids, was a loner, etc. But the real stories here show that he was just a showman, creating new personas, new ideas about himself, in an age when a good story was more important than truth. He was full of contradictions, with a wife he left behind but whom he continued writing and supporting all his life. The family finally seemed to be friendly again, even as he took a succession of girlfriends.

He was an accomplished juggler and silent comedian, traveling the nation, and eventually, the world. He make multiple appearances in Germany, England, and Australia. But his talent interestingly enough didn't translate to silents films. Finally, he got a chance, first in talkie shorts (20-ish minute films) and, later, in features. He had a few hits, such as "It's a Gift" and "The Old-Fashioned Way," films that used his old vaudeville routines again and again - as did his shorts.

Just as he had his biggest hit, he suffered a devasating back injury that slowed his climb, and he never really resumed it.

W.C. Fields may be an acquired taste, and his best stuff may actually be lost, but he's worth learning about.

[John Albers · Rating 4 out of 5]

With the exceptions of Laurel & Hardy, the Keystone Cops and the Three Stooges, the works of the great comedians did not appear on television until the late 1950's and early sixties, so I had not seen any of WC Fields movies though I sort of knew who he was because he had been characterized in downs of cartoons shown on television. It was when Johnny Carson and his sidekick Ed McMahon started talking about Fields on the Tonight Show that tv stations started airing Fields' movies. Fields was unique among comedians: a con artist and harried husband, he was bitter, and his way of talking and using obscure tongue-twisting words made him stand out among the great comics.

[John · Rating 4 out of 5]

A rather dry and scholarly attempt to define a forgotten genius, with YouTube a more fruitful trove. Fields' humor is timeless and he perfectly portrays the struggles of the average Joe struggling to keep his head- and lips-above water. Ironic and masterly, Fields continues to outshine his 'Golden Era' compatriots (Marx Bros. excepted).

This book is suffocating in its devotion to all things Fieldian, but is nonetheless a worthwhile read.

[Jeff · Rating 3 out of 5]

While not my favorite of the Golden Age of Comedy comedians, I do enjoy WC Fields quite a bit. He had quite the wit. This book does a pretty good job, using Fields as an example, of showing how the vaudeville circuit worked. Well worth the read!

[James · Rating 4 out of 5]

In depth and thorough reading on the "Great Man". Having known only several of the movies, I found how extensive his career really was.

[Ian · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not brilliant but not a bad effort either.

[Ronn · Rating 4 out of 5]

The only other biography of Fields that I have read is the one by Robert Lewis Taylor that has largely been debunked by this one. Very informative, very surprising even for long-time Fields fans.

[Sean Wicks · Rating 2 out of 5]

Right away author Louvish informs the reader that much of W.C. Fields' recorded life is the product of studio PR exaggerations and myths promoted by he, his family and those around him. He then makes the statement that he is about to take on the role of 'detective' to unravel the truth from the myth. It's a bold and promising statement, one that he doesn't ultimately follow through on. Louvish does manage at times to reveal a small portion of the truth behind Fields' relationship with his ex-wife and son Claude through reprinted correspondence, as well as the idea that Fields was a crotchety drunk who kicked dogs and disliked children immensely. However, there aren't really a lot of behind the scenes revelations as Louvish focuses way too much attention on the actual on-stage and on-screen material rather than going deep into the behind-the-scenes stories.

The most engaging section is the area covering Fields vaudeville years as an expert juggler and on-stage trickster, through to his involvement in the Ziegfeld follies. Fields had two Hollywood careers, a short-lived on during the silent era (from which many of the titles are now 'lost') and then his later more well-known films from the sound era like My Little Chickadee and The Bank Dick. The problem is the author dedicates an enormous amount of space to reprinting full dialogue from scripts and vaudeville sketches which don't translate well onto the page. Try reading the full dialogue from a vaudeville sketch from the early 1900s sometime with minimum stage action and of course missing the iconic W.C. Fields inflection that made him so funny. Yeah, it's as dull as it sounds and would have been better off as an appendix rather than full chapters of it. Even more confusing is when he describes full scenes from movies that can be seen easily on DVD! Yes, the live vaudeville acts and the lost silent films can never be seen, so some of the script and description inclusions are understandable, but I can walk over to my shelf and watch my Criterion edition of The Bank Dick so I didn't really need to read portions of the script reprinted.

While the author makes a keen observation on biographies that print dialogue from conversations that the author couldn't possibly have been privy too (yeah, I always question those moments myself) here I don't think he digs deep enough into the man or the making of his films enough to make this an interesting read.

It's a difficult book to get through - thanks mainly to the lack of in-depth information and the script reprints - and ultimately not worth the effort.

[Spiros · Rating 4 out of 5]

Louvish sets out to debunk the legend of W.C. Fields, the misogynistic curmudgeonly hater of children and dogs, and succeeds, for the most part. Which isn't to say that Fields wasn't all of those things, but that there was certainly more to the man than the image which he so carefully constructed about himself, like a carapace. This might be the only biography which caused me to frequently laugh out loud as I was reading it.

As with many great comedians, Fields suffered from pains both spiritual and physical, and as with so many comedians, it's impossible to determine the extent to which the pain fueled the humor, and the degree to which the drive to make people laugh exacerbated the anguish.

[James · Rating 2 out of 5]

I've got a fondness for WC Fields. Anyone who hates dogs and children can't be all bad, as the saying goes. But this book never delivered the essence, the spice of Fields. The style was awkward and ill fitting, unbefitting the man the author says that he admires. Louvish is more pleased with his own research methods than in presenting the man behind the character that we know from the screen. Although the book may be accurate, it is vapidly tepid--and the man was not.

[Cynthia · Rating 2 out of 5]

This biography of W.C. Fields is quite interesting at first as the author provides information about Fields origins and entry into the world of vaudeville and burlesque. Unfortunately, the second part of the book is largely descriptions and transcriptions of Field's movies and other stage appearances. For someone that really wants to read those things, this would probably be a five star book.

[Evan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Louvish had a brief hold to the title of best Fields biography with this late '90s effort, but then James Curtis came along and blew him away. Still this is well written with a novelistic flair and full of facts previously ignored or unknown.

[Evan · Rating 3 out of 5]

American edition, which I kept. I owned and reviewed the British edition, which I sold. My short review of the book is under the alternate cover edition. James Curtis' subsequent bio supercedes this Louvish effort, in any case.

[Steve]

Most dissapointing book I ever bought. "You can't judge a book"......oh, you know! Was really looking forward to a great reading experience, and wanted depth on the subject. THis book, by my standard, is poorly written.

[Paul · Rating 5 out of 5]

I still consider this the best biography I've read, out of many. Simon Louvish tends to get it right for me most times (Laurel and Hardy, Marx Brothers), but this one had me from start to finish.

[Ray · Rating 2 out of 5]

For as interesting as a person as WC Fields was, just couldn't get into this book. Made several attempts, and it just couldn't hold my attention.

[Mark Bunch · Rating 4 out of 5]

WC Fields- the king of vaudeville.

[Ronald · Rating 5 out of 5]

read SOMETIME in 2003