January 29: Happy Birthday, W.C. Fields

Raise your glass to toast a playboy, a consort of the likes of John Barrymore, Anthony Quinn, Cecil B. DeMille, and a hard drinker, comedy icon W.C. Fields.

Fields is known for his acerbic, biting persona, which includes sexism and a general misanthropy. He was a vaudeville and Broadway one-man act, a silent film star, a talkie star, and a radio star.

In 1937, Fields joined the cast of The Chase and Sanborn Hour, popularly remembered as "The Edgar Bergen and Charlie McCarthy" show. One of Fields' niches was trading insults with the dummy, Charlie. "Is that your nose or are you eating (insert a vegetable here)" was a standard line from Charlie to Fields, whose nose was not small.

A shorter-lived stint for Fields was as emcee of Your Hit Parade, briefly known as Your Hit Parade With W.C. Fields. His particular brand of comedy kept him on the show for just a month.

If you're looking for a quote for the day, try this one from Fields: "I never drink water because of the disgusting things fish do in it."

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1946 Great Crepitation Fart Contest

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Jack Webb was an American actor, television producer, director, and screenwriter, best known for his role as Sergeant Joe Friday in the 1950s TV series "Dragnet." Here's twelve FUN FACTS for you to know: Jack Webb was born on April 2, 1920 in Santa Monica, California. He served in the United States Army Air Forces during World War II, where he was a bomber pilot. In 1949, Webb created and starred in the radio series " Pat Novak for Hire ," which was the basis for the later " Dragnet " TV series. " Dragnet " was one of the first police procedural dramas on television, and it ran for eight seasons from 1951 to 1959. In addition to his work on " Dragnet ," Jack Webb also directed and produced several other TV shows, including "Adam-12," "Emergency!" and "Mark VII Limited." He was known for his distinctive style as a director, which involved using close-ups and quick cuts to convey a sense of immediacy. J...

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