Arthur Spooner
Encyclopedia
Arthur Eugene Spooner is a fictional character played by Jerry Stiller
on the sitcom The King of Queens
. He lives with his daughter Carrie
and her husband, Doug Heffernan
.
father (played in one episode by Stiller's own son, Ben Stiller
), but nothing is known about his mother. He lived on a farm from the ages of 7 to 10, then again at 43, was a gifted singer as a child, performed jigs for the workers at the Empire State Building
, has an estranged half-brother named Skitch (played in one episode by Shelley Berman
), was bald until the age of 12, and lost his virginity to someone named Peppermint Patty.
Arthur served in World War II
in the Italian
theater and in The Battle of the Bulge, and also mentions being in Paris, France. He variously claims to have been in the US Army 33rd Brigade and the 71st Infantry Division (United States). At some point during his enlistment, he left a man named Jack Russell
for dead.
Sometime after the war, Arthur took up a career as an actor, performing on Broadway and at other venues. It was during this time that he met his first wife, Sophia, a show dancer. After a night of passion, the couple found out that Sophia was pregnant, and decided to get married for the sake of the child, Simone (later Carrie). Arthur lost Carrie's birth name of Simone in a poker game and she had to switch names with her cousin Carrie.
He quit his acting career in an attempt to create a more stable life for his daughter.
During Carrie's young life Arthur held an innumerable number of jobs, including at a crab cannery in Maryland, jobs in sales, a brief stint working for PBS on Sesame Street
, and many others. He worked briefly in customer service, stating if a little person walked into his store it was all he could talk about for years. He also sold ribbons at the time Doug and Carrie were purchasing their home. He thought it was a good idea to cut out the middle man
and offer little girls in the school yard ribbons to buy for their hair, which Carrie convinced him was a bad idea. He was unable to maintain any of these careers for more than a month at a time, resulting in a very volatile home life for his family. Though he was never able to hold down a job for very long, he did land 74 of them, one as a woman.
At some point during Carrie's early teenage years, Sophia died. With Arthur unable to stay employed, Carrie was forced to work in addition to attending high school.
During a Thanksgiving episode, it was mentioned that Arthur met his second wife Lilly at a bus stop. Arthur said "Why don't you go back to the corner where I found you?!", and Lilly replied "I was waiting for the bus!"
In the pilot episode, Arthur's third wife Tessie has died. Arthur subsequently burns his house down while cooking on his "lucky hot plate
." This forces Arthur and his other daughter Sara (who was written out during the first season without explanation) to move in with Carrie and Doug. Arthur quickly shows himself to be obnoxious, boorish, and mentally unstable, frequently bursting into tirades at the slightest provocation. His grating personality angers Doug, but as the series progresses, they grow accustomed to each other.
A good example of Arthur's behavior is when he discovers an old episode airing of The $10,000 Pyramid
in which he appeared on in 1976, a fact that he has told Doug "several dozen times." When asked if he won, Arthur in turn asks if he would be "living in this dump if [he had]." He later asks for Carrie's help in "[suing] the boyish grin off of Dick Clark's face" because he never got the full year's supply of Rice-A-Roni
that he had been promised after the appearance, a scandal he has named "Rice-A-Roni-gate." In an effort to placate Arthur, Clark's representative offers to give him a book instead of the boxed rice meal, the continued production of which the representative is unsure. After assuring the representative that Rice-A-Roni is "still made in a variety of mouth-watering flavors," Arthur refuses screaming, "I don't wanna read. I wanna eat!" Arthur ultimately receives a 30-year supply of Rice-A-Roni, in addition to the original supply he was promised on the game show, after (presumably) blackmail
ing Dick Clark with a photo of the TV icon "locked in a muddy embrace with Fannie Flagg
," which was captured from his appearance on the Battle of the Network Stars
. (The vintage Pyramid clip used for the episode is from an actual appearance Stiller made on the game show that same year.) Additionally, in the season 6 episode "Trash Talker," Arthur mentions that he allegedly has a lifelong hatred for Larry King
, stemming from when they were kids and Arthur stole one of King's prized baseball cards and was subsequently kicked out of school after King tattled on him.
Arthur marries his fourth wife Veronica Olchin (played by Stiller's real wife Anne Meara
), mother of Doug's friend Spence Olchin, in the series finale "China Syndrome
" and divorce one year later.
One of his most often used quotes is "How dare you!" He has also been known to say "Thank you very little!", and "That's a separate issue!"
He almost invariably addresses or refers to Doug by his full name "Douglas". Likewise, when he addresses Doug's cousin Danny, he calls him his full name "Daniel". He also addresses Spence by his full name "Spencer".
Arthur frequently makes bizarre claims (for example, that he invented the moist towelette, and claiming that Charles M. Schulz
based Charlie Brown
on Arthur's life). He also steals change from Doug's nightstand. Arthur is walked by a dog walker named Holly Shumpert (Nicole Sullivan
), and his best friend is Mickey (Ford Rainey
).
Arthur is a steadfast socialist, and supporter of the communist nations around the world. In the episode "Steve Moscow" he claims that the Soviet Union
was a "workers' paradise," and in the episode "Strike Out
", he says that he was once enrolled at a socialist
summer camp. In one episode, Arthur and Spence hatch a plan to invent and market a revolutionary new backpack. When Spence suggests that they outsource the labor to save money, Arthur reacts angrily, stating that "Unipack will be made in America, by good labor union workers!" When Doug goes on strike, Arthur almost kisses him out of pride; these feelings of affection quickly turn into disgust when Doug takes a scab job at a school as a substitute teacher (with Arthur angrily remarking: "Whatever helps you sleep at night you douche"). However, in one episode, in a debate with Spence on whether the United States
should lift the embargo on Cuba
, Arthur was against the lifting of the embargo and Spence was for it (yet, in context, the debate was a scene where Arthur tried to prove he could withstand any argument, resulting in him deferring from the point, and vehemently insulting Spence).
Arthur's eccentricity extends to going so far as to explicitly forbid a variety of things from the Heffernan household, including but not limited to: Halloween
, red pens, soft cheese, non-American VCRs (but not DVD
players), any mention of Franklin D. Roosevelt's paralytic illness
, and miniature Kit Kat
s.
Jerry Stiller
Gerald Isaac "Jerry" Stiller is an American comedian and actor.He spent many years in the comedy team Stiller and Meara with his wife Anne Meara...
on the sitcom The King of Queens
The King of Queens
The King of Queens is an American sitcom that originally ran on CBS from September 21, 1998, to May 14, 2007.This show was produced by Hanley Productions and CBS Productions , CBS Paramount Television ,and CBS Television Studios in association with Columbia TriStar Television , and Sony Pictures...
. He lives with his daughter Carrie
Carrie Heffernan
Carrie Spooner Heffernan is a fictional character on the American sitcom The King of Queens. She appears in all of the show's nine Seasons and is one of the show's three central characters.-Character Profile:...
and her husband, Doug Heffernan
Doug Heffernan
Douglas Steven "Doug" Heffernan is a fictional character in the American situation comedy The King of Queens. The character has also appeared in Everybody Loves Raymond, Becker, and Cosby....
.
Biography
Little is known about Arthur's early life. He was born in 1926 to an abusiveChild abuse
Child abuse is the physical, sexual, emotional mistreatment, or neglect of a child. In the United States, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Department of Children And Families define child maltreatment as any act or series of acts of commission or omission by a parent or...
father (played in one episode by Stiller's own son, Ben Stiller
Ben Stiller
Benjamin Edward "Ben" Stiller is an American comedian, actor, writer, film director, and producer. He is the son of veteran comedians and actors Jerry Stiller and Anne Meara....
), but nothing is known about his mother. He lived on a farm from the ages of 7 to 10, then again at 43, was a gifted singer as a child, performed jigs for the workers at the Empire State Building
Empire State Building
The Empire State Building is a 102-story landmark skyscraper and American cultural icon in New York City at the intersection of Fifth Avenue and West 34th Street. It has a roof height of 1,250 feet , and with its antenna spire included, it stands a total of 1,454 ft high. Its name is derived...
, has an estranged half-brother named Skitch (played in one episode by Shelley Berman
Shelley Berman
Sheldon "Shelley" Berman is an American comedian, actor, writer, teacher, lecturer, and poet.- Early life :Berman was born in Chicago, Illinois, the son of Irene and Nathan Berman.- Career :...
), was bald until the age of 12, and lost his virginity to someone named Peppermint Patty.
Arthur served in World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
in the Italian
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
theater and in The Battle of the Bulge, and also mentions being in Paris, France. He variously claims to have been in the US Army 33rd Brigade and the 71st Infantry Division (United States). At some point during his enlistment, he left a man named Jack Russell
Jack Russell
Jack Russell is the name of:* Jack Russell , a fictional Marvel Comics character* Jack Russell Terrier, a type of dog- People :* Jack "Russer" Russell , traveler* Jack Russell , American baseball player...
for dead.
Sometime after the war, Arthur took up a career as an actor, performing on Broadway and at other venues. It was during this time that he met his first wife, Sophia, a show dancer. After a night of passion, the couple found out that Sophia was pregnant, and decided to get married for the sake of the child, Simone (later Carrie). Arthur lost Carrie's birth name of Simone in a poker game and she had to switch names with her cousin Carrie.
He quit his acting career in an attempt to create a more stable life for his daughter.
During Carrie's young life Arthur held an innumerable number of jobs, including at a crab cannery in Maryland, jobs in sales, a brief stint working for PBS on Sesame Street
Sesame Street
Sesame Street has undergone significant changes in its history. According to writer Michael Davis, by the mid-1970s the show had become "an American institution". The cast and crew expanded during this time, including the hiring of women in the crew and additional minorities in the cast. The...
, and many others. He worked briefly in customer service, stating if a little person walked into his store it was all he could talk about for years. He also sold ribbons at the time Doug and Carrie were purchasing their home. He thought it was a good idea to cut out the middle man
Reseller
A reseller is a company or individual that purchases goods or services with the intention of reselling them rather than consuming or using them. This is usually done for profit...
and offer little girls in the school yard ribbons to buy for their hair, which Carrie convinced him was a bad idea. He was unable to maintain any of these careers for more than a month at a time, resulting in a very volatile home life for his family. Though he was never able to hold down a job for very long, he did land 74 of them, one as a woman.
At some point during Carrie's early teenage years, Sophia died. With Arthur unable to stay employed, Carrie was forced to work in addition to attending high school.
During a Thanksgiving episode, it was mentioned that Arthur met his second wife Lilly at a bus stop. Arthur said "Why don't you go back to the corner where I found you?!", and Lilly replied "I was waiting for the bus!"
In the pilot episode, Arthur's third wife Tessie has died. Arthur subsequently burns his house down while cooking on his "lucky hot plate
Hot plate
A hot plate is a portable self-contained tabletop small appliance that features one, two or more gas burners or electric heating elements. A hot plate can be used as a stand alone appliance, but is often used as a substitute for one of the burners from an oven range or the cook top of a stove...
." This forces Arthur and his other daughter Sara (who was written out during the first season without explanation) to move in with Carrie and Doug. Arthur quickly shows himself to be obnoxious, boorish, and mentally unstable, frequently bursting into tirades at the slightest provocation. His grating personality angers Doug, but as the series progresses, they grow accustomed to each other.
A good example of Arthur's behavior is when he discovers an old episode airing of The $10,000 Pyramid
Pyramid (game show)
Pyramid is an American television game show which has aired several versions. The original series, The $10,000 Pyramid, debuted March 26, 1973 and spawned seven subsequent Pyramid series...
in which he appeared on in 1976, a fact that he has told Doug "several dozen times." When asked if he won, Arthur in turn asks if he would be "living in this dump if [he had]." He later asks for Carrie's help in "[suing] the boyish grin off of Dick Clark's face" because he never got the full year's supply of Rice-A-Roni
Rice-A-Roni
Rice-A-Roni is a product of PepsiCo's subsidiary, the Quaker Oats Company. It is a boxed food mix that consists of rice, vermicelli pasta, and seasonings. To prepare, the rice and pasta are browned in butter, then water and seasonings are added and simmered until absorbed.-History:In 1895,...
that he had been promised after the appearance, a scandal he has named "Rice-A-Roni-gate." In an effort to placate Arthur, Clark's representative offers to give him a book instead of the boxed rice meal, the continued production of which the representative is unsure. After assuring the representative that Rice-A-Roni is "still made in a variety of mouth-watering flavors," Arthur refuses screaming, "I don't wanna read. I wanna eat!" Arthur ultimately receives a 30-year supply of Rice-A-Roni, in addition to the original supply he was promised on the game show, after (presumably) blackmail
Blackmail
In common usage, blackmail is a crime involving threats to reveal substantially true or false information about a person to the public, a family member, or associates unless a demand is met. It may be defined as coercion involving threats of physical harm, threat of criminal prosecution, or threats...
ing Dick Clark with a photo of the TV icon "locked in a muddy embrace with Fannie Flagg
Fannie Flagg
Patricia Neal , known professionally as Fannie Flagg, is an American actress, comedienne and author. She is perhaps best-known for the 1988 novel Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe, which was adapted into the 1991 movie Fried Green Tomatoes; Flagg was nominated for an Academy Award for...
," which was captured from his appearance on the Battle of the Network Stars
Battle of the Network Stars
Battle of the Network Stars is the name of 19 US television specials featuring competitions among teams of popular television performers representing the three major broadcast networks at that time: ABC, CBS, and NBC.- History :...
. (The vintage Pyramid clip used for the episode is from an actual appearance Stiller made on the game show that same year.) Additionally, in the season 6 episode "Trash Talker," Arthur mentions that he allegedly has a lifelong hatred for Larry King
Larry King
Lawrence Harvey "Larry" King is an American television and radio host whose work has been recognized with awards including two Peabodys and ten Cable ACE Awards....
, stemming from when they were kids and Arthur stole one of King's prized baseball cards and was subsequently kicked out of school after King tattled on him.
Arthur marries his fourth wife Veronica Olchin (played by Stiller's real wife Anne Meara
Anne Meara
Anne Meara is an American actress and comedian. She and Jerry Stiller were a prominent 1960s comedy team, appearing as Stiller and Meara, and are the parents of actor/comedian Ben and actress Amy Stiller.- Personal life :...
), mother of Doug's friend Spence Olchin, in the series finale "China Syndrome
China Syndrome (The King of Queens)
China Syndrome is the series finale of the long-running American sitcom The King of Queens. The finale has the length of two regular episodes, being counted as the 12th and 13th of the ninth season, running about 44 minutes without commercials...
" and divorce one year later.
One of his most often used quotes is "How dare you!" He has also been known to say "Thank you very little!", and "That's a separate issue!"
He almost invariably addresses or refers to Doug by his full name "Douglas". Likewise, when he addresses Doug's cousin Danny, he calls him his full name "Daniel". He also addresses Spence by his full name "Spencer".
Role in the series
Sarcastic, brash, and always scheming, Arthur lives in the basement of Doug and Carrie's house. Quick to take offense, he shouts frequently and often unnecessarily, and often comes up with absolutely absurd, irregular, or illogical money-making scams.Arthur frequently makes bizarre claims (for example, that he invented the moist towelette, and claiming that Charles M. Schulz
Charles M. Schulz
Charles Monroe "Sparky" Schulz was an American cartoonist, whose comic strip Peanuts proved one of the most popular and influential in the history of the medium, and is still widely reprinted on a daily basis.-Early life and education:Born in Minneapolis, Minnesota, Schulz grew up in Saint Paul...
based Charlie Brown
Charlie Brown
Charles "Charlie" Brown is the protagonist in the comic strip Peanuts by Charles M. Schulz.Charlie Brown and his creator have a common connection in that they are both the sons of barbers, but whereas Schulz's work is described as the "most shining example of the American success story", Charlie...
on Arthur's life). He also steals change from Doug's nightstand. Arthur is walked by a dog walker named Holly Shumpert (Nicole Sullivan
Nicole Sullivan
Nicole Julianne Sullivan is an American actress, comedian and voice artist. Sullivan is best known for her six seasons on the sketch comedy series MADtv and five seasons on the CBS sitcom The King of Queens.She has played a recurring character on Scrubs and voices the villainous Shego in...
), and his best friend is Mickey (Ford Rainey
Ford Rainey
Ford Rainey was an American film, stage and television actor.-Early life:Rainey was born in Mountain Home, Idaho, the son of Vyrna , a teacher, and Archie Coleman Rainey. Rainey graduated from Centralia Junior College in Washington state and the Cornish Drama School in Seattle. He first acted on...
).
Arthur is a steadfast socialist, and supporter of the communist nations around the world. In the episode "Steve Moscow" he claims that the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
was a "workers' paradise," and in the episode "Strike Out
Strike Out
Strike Out, , North American Harness racing championStrike Out was born in 1969 at Castleton Farm in Lexington, Kentucky, and is by Bret Hanover out of the mare Golden Miss....
", he says that he was once enrolled at a socialist
Socialism
Socialism is an economic system characterized by social ownership of the means of production and cooperative management of the economy; or a political philosophy advocating such a system. "Social ownership" may refer to any one of, or a combination of, the following: cooperative enterprises,...
summer camp. In one episode, Arthur and Spence hatch a plan to invent and market a revolutionary new backpack. When Spence suggests that they outsource the labor to save money, Arthur reacts angrily, stating that "Unipack will be made in America, by good labor union workers!" When Doug goes on strike, Arthur almost kisses him out of pride; these feelings of affection quickly turn into disgust when Doug takes a scab job at a school as a substitute teacher (with Arthur angrily remarking: "Whatever helps you sleep at night you douche"). However, in one episode, in a debate with Spence on whether the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
should lift the embargo on Cuba
Cuba
The Republic of Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city...
, Arthur was against the lifting of the embargo and Spence was for it (yet, in context, the debate was a scene where Arthur tried to prove he could withstand any argument, resulting in him deferring from the point, and vehemently insulting Spence).
Arthur's eccentricity extends to going so far as to explicitly forbid a variety of things from the Heffernan household, including but not limited to: Halloween
Halloween
Hallowe'en , also known as Halloween or All Hallows' Eve, is a yearly holiday observed around the world on October 31, the night before All Saints' Day...
, red pens, soft cheese, non-American VCRs (but not DVD
DVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
players), any mention of Franklin D. Roosevelt's paralytic illness
Franklin D. Roosevelt's paralytic illness
Franklin D. Roosevelt's paralytic illness began in 1921 at age 39, when Roosevelt got a fever after exercising heavily at a vacation in Canada. While his bout with illness was well known during his terms as President of the United States, the extent of his paralysis was kept from public view. After...
, and miniature Kit Kat
Kit Kat
Kit Kat is a chocolate-coated wafer confection that was created by Rowntree's of York, England, and is now produced worldwide by Nestlé, which acquired Rowntree in 1988, except in the United States where it is made under licence by The Hershey Company. Each bar consists of fingers composed of three...
s.