We are the five grandchildren of W.C. Fields and are the sole shareholders of W.C. Fields Productions, Inc. Three of us are Directors and Officers.

Allen A. Fields, President
Dr. Harriet A. Fields, Vice-president/Treasurer
Ronald J. Fields, Secretary

W.C. Fields Collection at the Academy
of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences
Margaret Herrick Library.

We, the grandchildren of W.C. Fields, inherited all our paternal grandfather’s artifacts and memorabilia. The provenance through our grandmother, Harriet (Hattie), then our father, W.C. Fields, Jr. and mother, Anne Ruth Fields. W.C. Fields was a ‘packrat’ and kept everything while must knowing the value for posterity, personal letters to family, friends, correspondences with colleagues, sister/fellow performers, studio executives, his scripts with handwritten notations on the margins and so much more.

The W.C. Fields Collection chronicles the world’s modern entertainment heritage and is now accessible to researchers, scholars, film historians, and the public at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Margaret Herrick Library.

From left, Ronald Fields, Harriet Fields, Allen Fields and William C. Fields, grandchildren of W.C. Fields, at the W.C. Fields Reception opening the W.C. Fields Exhibit at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences main Art Gallery in Beverly Hills, California, January 2007.
MAX MORSE, REUTERS

Our Mission

• Preserve and promote the legacy of our grandfather.
• Ensure younger generations and generations to come know the joy that our grandfather’s artistry through his humor brings to the human spirit.
• As owners of the image and likeness and intellectual property rights - License the constructive use of the image and likeness of W.C. Fields throughout the world, license and monitor the intellectual property rights of our grandfather.
• Grant the required permission and acknowledgement for those participating with Universal Studios in the use of the image and likeness of W.C. Fields.

Allen A. Fields

Allen at the W.C. Fields Star on Hollywood Blvd.,
February 2012.

Journey to Iola

By
Allen A. Fields

I kept thinking of the scene from “International House” when WC asks, “Is this Kansas City, Missouri or Kansas City, Kansas?” as I landed at the Kansas City International Airport. The answer, in my case, was Kansas City, Missouri as I was on my way to Iola, Kansas where the Buster Keaton Celebration was to take place on September 22 and 23, 2005. The theme for this years event was Buster Keaton And W.C. Fields 2005, The Comedy of the Social Misfit. This was the 13th annual Keaton Celebration hosted by the Bowlus Fine Arts Center in Iola with funding from the Kansas Humanities Committee. Past celebrations honored Fatty Arbuckle, Charlie Chaplin, Mary Pickford, Harold Lloyd, Laurel and Hardy, Ernie Kovacs and others. This year they proudly honored W.C. Fields. My sister Harriet and I were happy and honored to attend and participate in the festivities to honor the legacy of our grandfather.

Iola, population of about 6,200, is about 110 miles southwest of Kansas City, Missouri I was told, but I couldn’t help but ask myself ‘why hold a celebration at a place if not in the middle of nowhere, it’s pretty darn close’. I was to discover that Buster Keaton was born in Piqua (pronounced “pick way”) in a town of 80 people which is a mere 5 miles from Iola. Because Piqua cannot accommodate celebration of any size the Bowlus Fine Arts Center in Iola hosted the celebration which over the course of two days had over 600 fans and visitors to the event. This was a new record for attendance for the Keaton Celebration which I would like to think had a great deal to do with honoring W.C. Fields.

The “Lompoc Picayune – Intelligencer” was prominently displayed in the lobby of the Bowlus Fine Arts Center and information regarding the existence of the Fan Club and applications were also available for those interested. When the opportunity presented itself Harriet and I mentioned the W.C. Fields Fan Club and encouraged involvement.

Dr.Frank Scheide from the University of Arkansas along with Mary Martin of Iola were the Co-Chairs of the event. During the course of the two days “W.C. Fields Straight Up” the documentary by Ron Fields and Joe Adamson was screened as well as “Pool Sharks”, “It’s the Old Army Game”, “The Dentist”, and “The Old Fashioned Way” in their entirety.

Dr. Scheide discussed “Pettifogger Fields and Pilgrim Keaton: Two Comic Journeys from the Alien Edge to the Human Heart”. Hooman Mehran, Co-Editor of “The Chaplin Review” presented “Eddie Cline: Transforming Keaton and Resuscitating Fields” and Eric Grayson, Film Historian and Collector, presented rare W.C. Fields film footage. Joe Adamson narrated “W.C. Fields Straight Up” and was very informative during the Question and Answer period that followed. David Macleod, Keaton Historian and Founder of the “Blinking Buzzards Society (UK)”, presented “From Vaudeville to Video: Buster Keaton and W.C. Fields” “A Fatal Misalliance” was presented by Scott Eyman, Noted Film Historian, Author, Journalist and Critic and Dr. John Tibbets, Professor of Film, University of Kansas, discussed “Balancing Act: W.C. Fields and the Human Condition”.

“The Dr. St. George’s Medicine Show Radio Theatre of the Air” and the “Mount Alto Motion Picture Orchestra” added comic relief, and musical accompaniment, respectively, to the event.

Harriet and I were treated like royalty by a very appreciative and informed audience. Many people approached us and wished to express their appreciation for the work and art of W.C. Fields which we all share. We were asked to participate in a Question and Answer period regarding our thoughts of W. C. Fields, his legacy, our growing up, and general personal questions regarding “the Great Man”. Harriet was most eloquent in her views and thoughts regarding the W.C. Fields heritage and how it is most important to all that we preserve and foster this icon of American humor; a treasure that is our responsibility to pass on to the next generations.

Finally, after proving that the family juggling genes have passed down to our generation, we were surprised by the Keaton Committee by their honoring the W.C. Fields Family for preserving the heritage of American comedy. We were awarded “The Keaton”, not to be confused with “The Oscar”. It was a sincere and coveted honor by our family to receive this award in recognition for the our efforts and the W.C. Fields Fan Club efforts in fostering and promoting the legacy of W.C. Fields. Much appreciation to you all .

Dr. Harriet A. Fields

Dr. Harriet Fields, W.C. Fields Festival, Film Forum, New York, April 2011. Photo by Steve Friedman

W.C. Fields' granddaughter, Dr. Harriet Fields, and film historian/silent film accompanist Ben Model look back on the life and work of the comic great W.C. Fields.

Ronald J. Fields

Emmy Award, 1986, W.C. Fields Straight Up for Outstanding Informational Special documentary - Ronald J. Fields, W.C. Fields Productions, Inc., and Robert B. Weide Whyaduck Productions, producers. Emmy presented by Ali McGraw. © W.C. Fields Straight Up, copyright Ronald J. Fields, W.C. Fields Productions, Inc., Whyaduck Productions.

Ron is the world’s Fields scholar and author of the essential filmography W.C. Fields A Life on Film. Ron is also the author of Prentice Hall’s best seller, W.C. Fields By Himself and W.C. Fields on Business. In 1986 Ron won the Emmy Award for the PBS documentary W.C. Fields Straight Up.