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Article: The henpecked hustler.(W.C. Fields)(Biography)
- Article from:
- USA TODAY
- Article date:
- November 1, 2006
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2006 Society for the Advancement of Education. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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THE COMIC ASIDES AND DOUBLE-TAKES of W.C. Fields always were a welcomed fifth-column attack on the pestilence of day-to-day living during the Depression years. His entertaining cynicism seems even more pertinent today. In fascinating fashion, Fields vacillated between two screen personas--the huckster and henpecked husband.
Fields' trickster is in the literary tradition of the late 19th century, America's golden age of the confidence man. Like the classic pioneering diddlers who put a creative spin on Yankee ingenuity, the Fields manipulator kept on the move. The London Times said of his 1936 "Poppy" characterization: "Like all great showmen, he knows ... the ...