W. C. Fields : his follies and fortunes (1949)

W. C. Fields cent's cut off during this run, and I hope we keep going till around the turn of the century." In what he believes now was a rather distinguished speech of severance, comparable to Washington's Farewell to his Troops, Grady ended one of the authentically polychromatic relationships of show business. His remarks were liberally sprinkled with fourletter nouns, for emphasis, and he recalls, at one point, ducking a shoe. When Fields began to see that his trusted (as it were) agent and companion was serious, he modified the punishment. "Never mind the 10 per cent, never mind," he said. "You won't miss it — I'll include you in my will." Grady explains that this system came to be a standard Fields panacea for evading financial obligations. With girls, he often waved generously when they began to eye the diamonds and furs, and said, "Don't bother your pretty head about material things, my dear — I'll see that you're taken care of in my will." He got to the point where he resolved anybody's questions about money by hinting of lavish bequests. Certainly his will at the time of his death proved to be a remarkable document, but it was hardly the cornucopia advertised by its creator. Fields' will began to run through his thoughts as King Charles' head got into Mr. Dick's Memorial, in David Copperfield. His allusions to it provided another of the great Fields paradoxes, for in a single breath he would proclaim his poverty and hint of vast riches for those who, by their single-minded devotion to the master, might be mentioned. It was a kind of treasure chart, with the promise of pots of gold at the end of the Fields rainbow. Once in a while, as he felt his power, he would make expansive declarations to his intimate friends. Grady, who remained a companion of Fields, though their professional ties were broken, once appeared in his will, and so did La Cava and Fowler. While walking in his Hollywood 206