From the Midnight Frolic to the Front Lines

Abstract

Thinking he was taking a company to Australia, Fields did not participate in the 1919 Follies. Once that endeavor failed to materialize, Fields performed in several editions of the Midnight Frolic, a chic night club at the top of the New Amsterdam where theatergoers went after the Follies ended. Here he performed numerous sketches, especially with Fanny Brice. During 1919 Fields also assumed a leadership role in the Equity strike against theater managers, His action resulted in opposing Ziegfeld, an avid anti-unionist. He was among the many prominent performers who participated in benefits to raise money. Fields also joined in street-corner entertainments aimed to convince theatergoers to boycott the venues supporting the managers. Equity prevented the performance of thirty-seven plays and the opening of sixteen productions. When the managers lost 3 million dollars in ticket sales they finally agreed to most of Equity’s demands. During the strike Fields befriended and supported Bert Williams, who was bitter that he had been snubbed by Equity, primarily an all-white union. Outraged by his treatment, Williams permanently left the Follies. When he died from heart problems complicated by pneumonia, Fields thought that the Equity strike “contributed to a state of mind which ultimately broke down Williams’s health. I mourn his loss, for I held the man in high esteem and appreciated his great art and true friendship.” His friendship with Williams and his involvement with actors’ rights reveal the magnanimous side of Fields’s character.