Arthur English
Encyclopedia
Arthur Leslie Norman English (9 May 1919 – 16 April 1995) was an English actor and comedian from the music hall
tradition.
English was born in Aldershot
, Hampshire. After serving in the army in World War II, reaching the rank of sergeant
, English worked as a painter and decorator in his native town. He polished up his comedy routines at this time and eventually became resident comedian at the Windmill Theatre
in London and did much other stage work. His radio work began with the BBC
series Variety Bandbox
, using as always his own Aldershot accent. His usual persona was a stereotypical wartime "spiv
", and he became known as "The Prince of the Wide Boy
s". His usual delivery was to tell a long rambling shaggy dog story at ever-increasing rapidity without losing clarity until, at top speed, he would end with the catch-phrase: "Play the music! Open the cage!"
He began to appear on British television in mainly comedy roles in the 1970s, and was noticeable because of his manner and appearance. He is remembered for his character of the truculent and bolshy maintenance man, Mr. Harman, in Are You Being Served?
which he played from 1976 to 1985, including the 1977 film adaptation
. He played an unsympathetic character in In Sickness and in Health
, a follow-up series to Till Death Us Do Part from 1985 to 1990. He also appeared in The Sweeney
.
He had more likeable roles in two British children's TV series: The Ghosts of Motley Hall
, which ran from 1976 to 1978 on ITV
(produced by Granada Television
), and Follyfoot
, which ran from 1971 to 1973, also on ITV (produced by Yorkshire Television
). He was in several other films and Everyday Maths (1978), a British TV schools programme starring Jack Wild
as English's grandson. In 1985, he appeared in an episode of the American TV series Magnum, P.I.
Following the death of his wife Ivy (who made his enormous kipper tie at the beginning of his career), late in life English married a young dancer, Teresa, whom he met during one of his stage shows, and had a child with her – Clare Louise English. The late John Inman
and Jack Douglas
were the child's godparents. The marriage was later dissolved.
Arthur English died in 1995 due to complications from emphysema
. His ashes were interred in a plot at Aldershot Crematorium.
He had been president of Aldershot Town F.C.
which had been formed out of the ashes of Aldershot F.C.
The new club badge depicted a rising phoenix and was designed by English.
Music hall
Music Hall is a type of British theatrical entertainment which was popular between 1850 and 1960. The term can refer to:# A particular form of variety entertainment involving a mixture of popular song, comedy and speciality acts...
tradition.
English was born in Aldershot
Aldershot
Aldershot is a town in the English county of Hampshire, located on heathland about southwest of London. The town is administered by Rushmoor Borough Council...
, Hampshire. After serving in the army in World War II, reaching the rank of sergeant
Sergeant
Sergeant is a rank used in some form by most militaries, police forces, and other uniformed organizations around the world. Its origins are the Latin serviens, "one who serves", through the French term Sergent....
, English worked as a painter and decorator in his native town. He polished up his comedy routines at this time and eventually became resident comedian at the Windmill Theatre
Windmill Theatre
The Windmill Theatre, later The Windmill International, was a variety and revue theatre in Great Windmill Street, London. The theatre was famous for its nude tableaux vivants...
in London and did much other stage work. His radio work began with the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
series Variety Bandbox
Variety Bandbox
Variety Bandbox was a British radio variety show transmitted by BBC Radio on the Light Programme. Featuring a mixture of comic performances and music, the show helped to launch the careers of a number of leading British performers....
, using as always his own Aldershot accent. His usual persona was a stereotypical wartime "spiv
Spiv
In the United Kingdom, a spiv is a particular type of petty criminal, who deals in stolen or black market goods of questionable authenticity, especially a slickly-dressed man offering goods at bargain prices...
", and he became known as "The Prince of the Wide Boy
Wide boy
Wide boy is a British term for a man who lives by his wits, wheeling and dealing. According to the Oxford English Dictionary it is synonymous with spiv. The word 'wide' is in this sense means wide-awake or sharp-witted...
s". His usual delivery was to tell a long rambling shaggy dog story at ever-increasing rapidity without losing clarity until, at top speed, he would end with the catch-phrase: "Play the music! Open the cage!"
Are You Being Served?
Are You Being Served? is a British sitcom broadcast from 1972 to 1985. It was set in the ladies' and gentlemen's clothing departments of Grace Brothers, a large, fictional London department store. It was written mainly by Jeremy Lloyd and David Croft, with contributions by Michael Knowles and John...
which he played from 1976 to 1985, including the 1977 film adaptation
Are You Being Served? (film)
Are You Being Served?: The Movie, is a 1977 motion picture based on the British sitcom Are You Being Served?, which follows the staff of Grace Brothers' Men's and Women's Department as they take a holiday in the fictional Costa Plonka while their department is renovated.The story is an adaptation...
. He played an unsympathetic character in In Sickness and in Health
In Sickness and in Health
In Sickness and in Health was a BBC television sitcom which ran between 1985 and 1992. It was also a sequel to both the highly successful Til Death Us Do Part which ran between 1966 and 1975 and Till Death... which ran for one series in 1981.-Series 1:This comedy series debuted in 1985 and took...
, a follow-up series to Till Death Us Do Part from 1985 to 1990. He also appeared in The Sweeney
The Sweeney
The Sweeney is a 1970s British television police drama focusing on two members of the Flying Squad, a branch of the Metropolitan Police specialising in tackling armed robbery and violent crime in London...
.
He had more likeable roles in two British children's TV series: The Ghosts of Motley Hall
The Ghosts of Motley Hall
The Ghosts of Motley Hall was a British children's television series written by Richard Carpenter, produced and directed by Quentin Lawrence, and shown in 1976 by Granada Television.The series relates the adventures of 5 ghosts who haunt Motley Hall...
, which ran from 1976 to 1978 on ITV
ITV
ITV is the major commercial public service TV network in the United Kingdom. Launched in 1955 under the auspices of the Independent Television Authority to provide competition to the BBC, it is also the oldest commercial network in the UK...
(produced by Granada Television
Granada Television
Granada Television is the ITV contractor for North West England. Based in Manchester since its inception, it is the only surviving original ITA franchisee from 1954 and is ITV's most successful....
), and Follyfoot
Follyfoot
Follyfoot was a children's television series co-produced by the majority-partner British television company Yorkshire Television and the independent West German company TV Munich...
, which ran from 1971 to 1973, also on ITV (produced by Yorkshire Television
Yorkshire Television
Yorkshire Television, now officially known as ITV Yorkshire and sometimes unofficially abbreviated to YTV, is a British television broadcaster and the contractor for the Yorkshire franchise area on the ITV network...
). He was in several other films and Everyday Maths (1978), a British TV schools programme starring Jack Wild
Jack Wild
Jack Wild was a British actor who is best remembered for his performances in both stage and screen productions of the Lionel Bart musical Oliver! with Ron Moody, Shani Wallis, and Oliver Reed. He received an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor at the age of 16 for the role of the...
as English's grandson. In 1985, he appeared in an episode of the American TV series Magnum, P.I.
Magnum, P.I.
Magnum, P.I. is an American television series starring Tom Selleck as Thomas Magnum, a private investigator living on Oahu, Hawaii. The series ran from 1980 to 1988 in first-run broadcast on the American CBS television network....
Following the death of his wife Ivy (who made his enormous kipper tie at the beginning of his career), late in life English married a young dancer, Teresa, whom he met during one of his stage shows, and had a child with her – Clare Louise English. The late John Inman
John Inman
Frederick John Inman was an English actor best known for his role as Mr. Humphries in Are You Being Served?, a British sitcom in the 1970s and 1980s. Inman was also well known in the United Kingdom as a pantomime dame....
and Jack Douglas
Jack Douglas (actor)
Jack Douglas, born John Roberton was an English actor most famous for his roles in the Carry On films.- Career :...
were the child's godparents. The marriage was later dissolved.
Arthur English died in 1995 due to complications from emphysema
Emphysema
Emphysema is a long-term, progressive disease of the lungs that primarily causes shortness of breath. In people with emphysema, the tissues necessary to support the physical shape and function of the lungs are destroyed. It is included in a group of diseases called chronic obstructive pulmonary...
. His ashes were interred in a plot at Aldershot Crematorium.
He had been president of Aldershot Town F.C.
Aldershot Town F.C.
Aldershot Town Football Club is an association football club based in Aldershot, Hampshire, England, founded in the spring of 1992 just after the closure of debt-ridden Fourth Division club Aldershot Football Club...
which had been formed out of the ashes of Aldershot F.C.
Aldershot F.C.
Aldershot Football Club was an English Football League club, which was wound up in the High Court in March 1992. They became the first Football League club since Accrington Stanley to resign from the League during the course of a season. The club was nicknamed the Shots for both the last syllable...
The new club badge depicted a rising phoenix and was designed by English.
Selected television appearances
- Comedy PlayhouseComedy PlayhouseComedy Playhouse was a long-running British anthology series of one-off unrelated sitcoms that aired for 120 episodes from 1961 to 1975. Many episodes later graduated to their own series, including Steptoe and Son, Till Death Us Do Part, All Gas and Gaiters, The Liver Birds, Are You Being Served?...
(1967 & 1970) - Doctor in the HouseDoctor in the House (TV series)Doctor in the House is the syndicated title given, by the United States, to a British television comedy series , based on a set of books and a movie of the same name by Richard Gordon about the misadventures of a group of medical students — and their later misadventures as doctors.The first...
(1970) - Doctor At Large (1971)
- ITV PlayhouseITV PlayhouseITV Playhouse was a UK comedy-drama TV series that ran from 1967 to 1983, which featured contributions from playwrights such as Dennis Potter, Rhys Adrian and Alan Sharp. The series began in black and white, but was later shot in colour and was produced by various companies for the ITV network, a...
(1972) - Doctor in ChargeDoctor in ChargeDoctor in Charge is a British television comedy series based on a set of books by Richard Gordon about the misadventures of a group of Doctors...
(1972 & 1973) - FollyfootFollyfootFollyfoot was a children's television series co-produced by the majority-partner British television company Yorkshire Television and the independent West German company TV Munich...
(1971-1973) - Armchair TheatreArmchair TheatreArmchair Theatre is a British television drama anthology series, which ran on the ITV network from 1956 to 1974. It was originally produced by Associated British Corporation, and later by Thames Television after 1968....
(1973 & 1974) - Crown CourtCrown Court (TV series)Crown Court was an afternoon television courtroom drama produced by Granada Television for the ITV network that ran from 1972, when the Crown Court system replaced Assize courts and Quarter sessions in the legal system of England and Wales, to 1984....
(1973, 1974, 1975 & 1977) - The Ghosts of Motley HallThe Ghosts of Motley HallThe Ghosts of Motley Hall was a British children's television series written by Richard Carpenter, produced and directed by Quentin Lawrence, and shown in 1976 by Granada Television.The series relates the adventures of 5 ghosts who haunt Motley Hall...
(1976-1978) - Are You Being Served?Are You Being Served?Are You Being Served? is a British sitcom broadcast from 1972 to 1985. It was set in the ladies' and gentlemen's clothing departments of Grace Brothers, a large, fictional London department store. It was written mainly by Jeremy Lloyd and David Croft, with contributions by Michael Knowles and John...
(1976-1985) - Play for TodayPlay for TodayPlay for Today is a British television anthology drama series, produced by the BBC and transmitted on BBC1 from 1970 to 1984. During the run, more than three hundred programmes, featuring original television plays, and adaptations of stage plays and novels, were transmitted...
(1983) - High & Dry (1987)
- In Sickness and in HealthIn Sickness and in HealthIn Sickness and in Health was a BBC television sitcom which ran between 1985 and 1992. It was also a sequel to both the highly successful Til Death Us Do Part which ran between 1966 and 1975 and Till Death... which ran for one series in 1981.-Series 1:This comedy series debuted in 1985 and took...
(1985-1990)
Selected filmography
- The Hi-JackersThe Hi-JackersThe Hi-Jackers is a 1963 film directed by Jim O'Connolly. It stars Antony Booth and Jacqueline Ellis.-Cast:* Antony Booth as Terry McKinley* Jacqueline Ellis as Shirley* Derek Francis as Jack Carter* Patrick Cargill as Inspector Grayson...
(1963) - PercyPercy (1971 film)Percy is a British comedy film directed by Ralph Thomas starring Hywel Bennett, Denholm Elliott, Elke Sommer and Britt Ekland.Percy , an innocent and shy young man, is hit by a nude man falling from a high-rise building while carrying a chandelier...
(1971) - For the Love of AdaFor the Love of Ada (film)For the Love of Ada is a 1972 British comedy film directed by Ronnie Baxter and starring Irene Handl, Wilfred Pickles, Barbara Mitchell and Jack Smethurst. It is a spin-off from the television series For the Love of Ada. An elderly couple are about to celebrate the first anniversary of their...
(1972) - Love Thy NeighbourLove Thy Neighbour (1973 film)Love Thy Neighbour is a 1973 British comedy film starring Jack Smethurst, Rudolph Walker, Kate Williams and Nina Baden-Semper, spun off from the television series Love Thy Neighbour.-Cast:* Jack Smethurst as Eddie Booth...
(1973) - Malachi's CoveMalachi's CoveMalachi's Cove is a 1974 British-Canadian drama film directed by Henry Herbert and starring Donald Pleasence, Veronica Quilligan and Peter Vaughn. It is based on the short story Malachi's Cove by Anthony Trollope and is also known as The Seaweed Children. A girl who works gathering seaweed on the...
(1974) - Barry McKenzie Holds His OwnBarry McKenzie Holds His OwnBarry McKenzie Holds His Own is the 1974 sequel to the 1972 Australian comedy film The Adventures of Barry McKenzie.Returning from the original film is Barry Crocker in the title role, as well as Barry Humphries in the role of Barry's aunt, Dame Edna. Also returning in the director's chair is Bruce...
(1974) - Are You Being Served?Are You Being Served? (film)Are You Being Served?: The Movie, is a 1977 motion picture based on the British sitcom Are You Being Served?, which follows the staff of Grace Brothers' Men's and Women's Department as they take a holiday in the fictional Costa Plonka while their department is renovated.The story is an adaptation...
(1977) - The Boys in BlueThe Boys in BlueThe Boys in Blue is a 1982 British comedy film directed by Val Guest and starring Tommy Cannon, Bobby Ball, Suzanne Danielle and Roy Kinnear. It is loosely based on the 1938 Will Hay film Ask a Policeman...
(1982)