In an interview in the late 1930s (I believe), W. C. Fields was noted to have said, "You know, I have to wonder how I would have done without the booze."
That's likely not an exact quote, but the gist of it is accurate: Fields could put away the booze in epic fashion, and it took its toll (he died in 1946 at age 66). Suppose, however, that as a significantly younger man (say, in the early 1920s, as a function of some sub-standard prohibition stuff) he cut back his consumption to a degree that could be accurately described as average for the time?
I suspect that he would have lived longer--absent his liver problems caused by alcohol, one might reasonably guess he'd have reached his mid-70s or perhaps more--and his career, largely shelved by illness during the war, would have been extended. Can you imagine, let's say, Fields on live television in the early 1950s, trading barbs with Groucho on "You Bet Your Life", or appearing in cameos with Ernie Kovacs? Might Fields have also drawn on his extensive ad hoc knowledge of British fiction to write some sort of scholarly work as a semi-retirement project?
Godfrey Daniel, this is worth speculation!