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
William Paterson (actor) William Paterson (actor) William Paterson (July 7, 1919 – September 3, 2003) was an actor in American regional theater who also appeared on television and in films. William Paterson was born on July 7, 1919, in Buffalo, New York, to a Scottish-American family. Paterson was educated at Nichols Day School for Boys, where he was introduced to acting in his senior year. In 1941, he graduated from Brown University, with honors in English literature, and then served four years in the US army, earning a Bronze Star and Purple Heart during service in Europe. In 1947, after his army service,