Fields, Armond, 1930-

Armond Fields (1930-2008) was an author, artist, art collector and business consultant. Born in Chicago, Illinois, to Louis Max and Esther Fields, he attended schools in the Mid-West. He received his B.S. from the University of Wisconsin (1953), M.A. from the University of Illinois (1955) and Ph.D. from the University of Chicago (1956). He wrote several biographies, primarily on vaudeville performers. His oil paintings, drawings and prints have been exhibited in the United States and Europe. He curated, wrote catalogues, and donated the art for various exhibitions (most recently: Paris, Turn-of-the-Century, Santa Barbara Museum of Art, 2003; Vaudeville is Dead! Long Live Vaudeville!, Doheny Library, University of Southern California, 2005). Fields also served as a consultant in the areas of market strategy and consumer behavior including as a self-employed marketing consultant (1969), for Interpublic Co. (marketing and research vice president, 1960-69), for Audio-Video Entertainment, Inc. (corporate officer, 2000-?) and for AltaVoice Communications (consumer behavior consultant, 2001?). Fields was a social historian specializing in American popular theater from the late nineteenth to mid-twentieth centuries. He began researching his own family's involvement with early musical theater in New York that led to a biography of his great-uncle Lew Fields From the Bowery to Broadway: Lew Fields and the Roots of American Popular Theatre (1993). He also wrote Eddie Foy: A Biography of the Early Popular Stage Comedian (1999), Lillian Russell: A Biography of "America's Beauty" (1999), James J. Corbett: A Biography of the Heavyweight Boxing Champion and Popular Theater Headliner (2001), Fred Stone: Circus Performer and Musical Comedy Star (2002), Sophie Tucker: First Lady of Show Business (2003), Maude Adams: Idol of American Theater, 1872-1953 (2004), Women Vaudeville Stars: Eighty Biographical Profiles (2006) and Tony Pastor, Father of Vaudeville (2007). He also authored a social reformist biography on Katharine Dexter McCormick: Pioneer for Women's Rights (2003). His interest in French culture resulted in publishing Henri Riviere (1983), George Auriol (1985) and Le Chat Noir: A Montmartre Cabaret and its Artists in Turn-of-the Century Paris (1993).

From the description of Armond Fields American Theatre collection, 1856-2000 (bulk 1895-1925). (San Leandro Community Library). WorldCat record id: 712601292

Biographical Note

Armond Fields (1930-2008) was an author, artist, art collector and business consultant. Born in Chicago, Illinois, to Louis Max and Esther Fields, he attended schools in the Mid-West. He received his B.S. from the University of Wisconsin (1953), M.A. from the University of Illinois (1955) and Ph.D. from the University of Chicago (1956). He wrote several biographies, primarily on vaudeville performers. His oil paintings, drawings and prints have been exhibited in the United States and Europe. He curated, wrote catalogues, and donated the art for various exhibitions (most recently: Paris, Turn-of-the-Century, Santa Barbara Museum of Art, 2003; Vaudeville is Dead! Long Live Vaudeville!, Doheny Library, University of Southern California, 2005). Fields also served as a consultant in the areas of market strategy and consumer behavior including as a self-employed marketing consultant (1969), for Interpublic Co. (marketing and research vice president, 1960-69), for Audio-Video Entertainment, Inc. (corporate officer, 2000-?) and for AltaVoice Communications (consumer behavior consultant, 2001?).

Fields was a social historian specializing in American popular theater from the late nineteenth to mid-twentieth centuries. Fields began researching his own family's involvement with early musical theater in New York that led to a biography of his great-uncle Lew Fields From the Bowery to Broadway: Lew Fields and the Roots of American Popular Theatre (1993). He also wrote Eddie Foy: A Biography of the Early Popular Stage Comedian (1999), Lillian Russell: A Biography of "America's Beauty" (1999), James J. Corbett: A Biography of the Heavyweight Boxing Champion and Popular Theater Headliner (2001), Fred Stone: Circus Performer and Musical Comedy Star (2002), Sophie Tucker: First Lady of Show Business (2003), Maude Adams: Idol of American Theater, 1872-1953 (2004), Women Vaudeville Stars: Eighty Biographical Profiles (2006) and Tony Pastor, Father of Vaudeville (2007). He also authored a social reformist biography on Katharine Dexter McCormick: Pioneer for Women's Rights (2003). His interest in French culture resulted in publishing Henri Riviere (1983), George Auriol (1985) and Le Chat Noir: A Montmartre Cabaret and its Artists in Turn-of-the Century Paris (1993).

From the guide to the Armond Fields American Theatre collection, Bulk, 1895-1925, 1856-2000, (USC Libraries Special Collections)