This book reveals how Fields became a character comedian while performing in Broadway’s most illustrious revue, the Ziegfeld Follies.As the first biography to use the recently opened Fields Papers at the Motion Picture Academy, the book explores how Fields years as a Follies entertainer portraying a beleaguered husband and a captivating conman became a landmark turning point in his career, leading to his fame as a masterful film comedian. The book also untangles a web of mysteries ...

W.C. Fields was at the top among comedians during Hollywood's Golden Era of the 1930s and 1940s and has since remained a comic icon. Despite his character's misanthropic, child-hating, alcoholic tendencies, his performances were enduringly popular and Fields became personally defined by them.This critical study of his work provides commentary and background on each of his films, from the early silents through the cameos near the end of his life, with fresh appraisals of his well kn...

The impeccably dressed Charlie McCarthy was as sarcastic as he was stylish. His country cousin Mortimer Snerd was buck-toothed, bucolic…and just as fondly remembered. But it was the egalitarian and exquisitely entertaining Edgar Bergen who brought them to life.Enjoy this Peabody Award winning team in 16 digitally restored and remastered episodes many of which have not been available since their original broadcast in 1942! Hear performances by Rita Hayworth, W. C. Fields, Harold Peary, Hedy...

Casanova…Don Juan…Charlie McCarthy?Ventriloquist Edgar Bergen achieved stardom playing both straight man and comedian with his wooden alter ego Charlie McCarthy. The Charlie McCarthy Show was one of radio’s top-rated shows for nearly two decades.Button down and bow-tied, the gentlemanly Bergen would never behave improperly with a lady. Charlie, on the other hand, is frisky, flirtatious, and brave enough to bring his game to guests Bette Davis and Hedy Lamarr, among others. His love of the ...

Winner of an Abraham Lincoln Institute Book AwardThough not blind to Abraham Lincoln's imperfections, Black Americans long ago laid a heartfelt claim to his legacy. At the same time, they have consciously reshaped the sixteenth president's image for their own social and political ends. Frederick Hord and Matthew D. Norman's anthology explores the complex nature of views on Lincoln through the writings and thought of Frederick Douglass, Ida B. Wells-Barnett, Mary Mc...