W.C. Fields Historical Marker

"I once spent a year in Philadelphia, I think it was on a Sunday. -W. C. Fields The marker reads, "American comedian raised in Philadelphia, noted for his irreverent wit. Starting out as a vaudeville juggler, he won enduring fame on screen and radio. He was in over 40 motion pictures, 1915-44. As a lad, he worked for a time at Strawbridge's here." The perfect location for this marker that is in front of the location where he started his career. This tall marker is on Market Street, which is the "Main Street" of Philadelphia. William Claude Dukenfield was born in Darby Pennsylvania, a Philadelphia suburb. In vaudeville, where he first started his career in show business, he found popularity on a global scale as a silent juggler. He started to add comedy to his act and spent several years performing as a featured comedian in the Ziegfeld Follies. He rose to fame in Poppy (1923), a Broadway musical comedy in which he portrayed a flamboyant small-time con artist. His latter roles on stage and in movies frequently portrayed scoundrels or as a henpecked everyman." The marker was erected in 1997 by the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission."