Joseph Fields

Field, Joseph M. (1810–56), actor, manager, and playwright. Born to English parents in Dublin and distantly related to the Elizabethan playwright Nathaniel Field, he was brought to America at the age of two and made his acting debut at Boston's Tremont Theatre in 1827. By 1830 he had performed in all the major American theatre centers and had written a popular afterpiece, Down South; or, A Militia Training. Although Field excelled at comedy roles such as Jeremy Diddler in Raising the Wind, Sir Benjamin Backbite in The School for Scandal, and Flutter in The Belle's Stratagem, he was not unsuccessful in essaying Sir Giles Overreach, Romeo, Othello, Jaffier, Claude Melnotte, and other tragic and melodramatic parts. In 1835 Noah Ludlow brought him west, where he began to figure as an important playwright and performer, especially in St. Louis. Indeed, Ludlow's editor speaks of Field as “the first Western playwright who in any sense could wear that label, and a Western actor who almost made the grade into the rarefied air of stardom.” During this period he also played New York, Philadelphia, Mobile, and New Orleans, temporarily abandoning the stage in 1841 to become the New Orleans Picayune's foreign correspondent. Field returned to America in 1842 to become William Mitchell's right‐hand man at the Olympic. While continuing to act and write in later years, he also managed a theatre in Mobile and Field's Varieties Theatre in St. Louis. Among his many plays are Victoria; or, The Lion and the Kiss (1839), Tourists in America (1840), Oregon, or, The Disputed Territory (1846), and Family Ties; or, The Will of Uncle Josh (1846).

• Born: February 21, 1895
• Birthplace: New York
• Died: May 3, 1966

Joseph Fields, along with Jerome Chodorov, won the 1953 Tony Award for writing the Best Musical, Wonderful Town. Fields was also nominated for a Tony for writing Flower Drum Song in 1959.

Joseph Fields was born to vaudeville star, Lew Fields. He and his brother, Herbert, and sister, Dorothy, all became writers known for their stage musicals. Others among Joseph's best known works are My Sister Eileen, The Doughgirls, Gentlemen Prefer Blondes.

Fields also wrote for the screen, beginning with the 1931 film, The Big Shot, and ending with the 1962 film adaptation of his Broadway musical, Flower Drum Song. He always worked in collaboration, most frequently with Chodorov. Others he collaborated with include Oscar Hammerstein II and Anita Loos.

Most Famous Works

• My Sister Eileen (1940)
• The Doughgirls (1942)
• Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1949)
• Wonderful Town (1953)
• Flower Drum Song (1958)

(1895-1966)

1942

The Doughgirls. Fields's comedy about women cohabitating with men in overcrowded wartime Washington is decried by some as immoral, but it proves to be one of the season's biggest hits. Fields, the son of popular performer Lew Fields (1867-1941), collaborated with Jerome Chodorov to write My Sister Eileen (1940), Junior Miss (1941), and Wonderful Town (1953).

• Born: Feb 21, 1895 in New York City, New York
• Died: Mar 03, 1966 in New York City
• Occupation: Writer
• Active: '30s-'50s
• Major Genres: Comedy, Romance
• Career Highlights: Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, My Sister Eileen, The Girl from Mexico
• First Major Screen Credit: The Big Shot (1931)

Biography

Screenwriter/playwright Joseph A. Fields was the son of comedian Lew Fields (of Weber and Fields fame) and the brother of writers Herbert and Dorothy Fields. After attending N.Y.U., Fields served with the AEF in World War I, remaining in Paris to live and work until 1922. He wrote for magazines and musical revues, moving up the ladder to The Ziegfeld Follies in the late '20s. His first screenplay was for the 1931 film The Big Shot. Fields almost always worked in collaboration, most frequently with Jerome Chodorov, with whom he wrote such Broadway hits as My Sister Eileen and Junior Miss. Other collaborators included Anita Loos (Gentlemen Prefer Blondes) and Oscar Hammerstein II (Flower Drum Song). In 1955, Fields made his Broadway directorial debut with The Desk Set. Joseph Fields' last screen credit was the 1962 cinema version of his 1959 Broadway production Flower Drum Song, which he co-produced. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

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