W. C. Fields by Himself", it was shown that Fields was married (and subsequently estranged from his wife), and financially supported their son and loved his grandchildren. Fields was born William Claude Dukenfield in Darby, Pennsylvania, the oldest child of a working-class family. His father, James Lydon Dukenfield (1840–1913), was from an English family that emigrated from Sheffield, England in 1854. James Dukenfield served in Company M of the 72nd Pennsylvania Infantry Regiment in the American Civil War and was wounded in 1863. Fields' mother, Kate Spangler Felton (1854–1925), was a Protestant of British ancestry. The 1876 "Philadelphia City Directory "lists James Dukenfield
Alabama Stage and Screen Hall of Fame Alabama Stage and Screen Hall of Fame The Alabama Stage and Screen Hall of Fame was founded in 1998 for the purpose of honoring Alabamians who have made significant contributions to film, television or theatre. The organization is sponsored jointly by Theatre Tuscaloosa and Shelton State Community College in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. The Alabama Stage and Screen Hall of Fame inducted its first class of honorees In April 1999, including the late actress Tallulah Bankhead, actress and author Fannie Flagg and philanthropists Mr. and Mrs. Winton M. Blount, who contributed over $21 million for a new home for the Alabama Shakespeare