A Shallow Dive Into the Life of Bessie Poole, Paramour of W.C. Fields

June 25 was the birthday of Bessie Poole (1895-1928).

If you were crude and in a hurry you might describe Poole as “W.C. Fields’ side piece”, but that would be inaccurate for many reasons. Estranged from a wife who refused to grant a divorce, Fields eventually resorted to a long term relationship with this woman, a chorus girl in the Ziegfeld Follies, in which Fields was one of the top stars. His legit wife Hattie had also been a chorus girl, but she had proved to be a conventionally-minded scold, the model for all of the shrewish wives and mothers-in-law in his movies. Bessie, by contrast, was free-spirited and funny, without being assertive in a way that would threaten Fields’ accustomed status as the most important guy in the room. (Sometimes she is described as attractive, but I am guessing that quality was an element of her personality rather than her physiognomy. Most of the photos I’ve seen display an acromegalous chin). Originally from Boston, Poole had became a professional dancer at age 16 (circa 1911), and was described by one colleague on the chorus line as “the best of us all”. In the 1916 edition of the Follies she was showcased in a specialty number called “The Birth of Elation”. Fields flipped for her openly, festooning her spot in the dressing room with flowers and perfume. In the down time between seasons of the Follies, she supported him onstage in his vaudeville act.

The affair may have begun as early as 1915, but was definitely in full swing not long thereafter, for the product of their liaison, William Rexford Fields Morris, was born in August, 1917. As we wrote in our previous post, they gave the baby to a friend to raise. Fields and Poole continued on in what was essentially a common-law marriage situation for many years. It worked out well so long as they were in the Follies together. In 1921 Poole got into a salary dispute with Ziegfeld; Fields backed her play, and they were both let go. Fields worked in vaudeville and in George White’s Scandals of 1922, but it wasn’t until Poppy (1923) became a smash hit, and went on tour, that he began to take up with a new chorus girl, and Bessie, who was devoted to Fields, found herself on the outs. He financed a trip to Europe for her, and supported her (and their son) financially after this, but the pair were finished romantically. In 1927 she negotiated a much larger cash pay-out, but only at the cost of an affidavit that put into writing the claim that Fields was not the father of their child.

A few months later, Poole was involved in an ugly, drunken brawl in a speakeasy, sustained an injury, and died a couple of days later. The coroner’s verdict was that she died of an enlarged heart, acquired from years of drinking bad hooch. It sounds very tawdry, but she was not down and out at the time. She had been staying with Lillian Lorraine, and the parties in the altercation had included a Coca-Cola heir, an Orangeade magnate, and a shipping executive. The club was Chez Florence, co-owned by a brother of Texas Guinan. What she was no longer at the time, was a friend of W.C. Fields. In the ensuing publicity, Fields denied have had any kind of a relationship with her at all.

For more on the history of vaudeville,consult No Applause, Just Throw Money: The Book That Made Vaudeville Famous, for more on classic comedy please check out my book: Chain of Fools: Silent Comedy and Its Legacies from Nickelodeons to Youtube.