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
Stage name (Vanessa A. Williams) is arguably less notable. Similarly, David Walliams changed one letter in his surname due to there being another "David Williams". Terry O'Quinn of "Lost" fame changed his surname from Quinn to O'Quinn as another registered actor already had the name Terrance Quinn. Long time writer for "The Simpsons", David X. Cohen changed his middle initial from S to X because there was already a David S. Cohen registered with the Writer's Guild of America. In other cases, a middle name may be adopted in preference to changing a name. Examples include comedian Hugh Dennis born Peter Hugh