Arthur English

{{Infobox person

| name = Arthur English

| image = ArthurEnglish.jpg

| caption = as Mr Harman in Are You Being Served?

| birth_name = Arthur Leslie Norman English

| birth_date = {{birth date|1919|5|9|df=y}}

| birth_place = Aldershot, Hampshire, England

| death_date = {{death date and age|1995|4|16|1919|5|9|df=y}}

| death_place = Frimley Park Hospital, Surrey, England

| years_active = 1949–1990

| occupation = Actor and comedian

| spouse = {{plainlist|

{{marriage|Ivy Martin|1941|1975|end=her death}}
{{marriage|Teresa Mann|1977|1987|end=divorced}}

}}

| children = 3

}}

Arthur Leslie Norman English (9 May 1919 – 16 April 1995) was an English television, film and stage actor and comedian from the music hall tradition.

Early life

File:22 Lysons Road Aldershot 2018.jpg

English was born at 22 Lysons Road in Aldershot,English, Arthur (with Linton Mitchell) Through the Mill and Beyond The Basingstoke Press (1989) p. 16'Arthur English, Aldershot Historical & Archaeological Society (AHAS), Yearbook 23 (2010) pg7 Hampshire, the son of Walter Frederick English (1856–1948)[http://person.ancestry.co.uk/tree/17155749/person/19915452777/facts – Walter Frederick English] on Ancestry.com – pay to view and Ethel English (née Parsons) (1886–1975), who married at Holy Trinity church in Aldershot in 1909. Arthur English had two older brothers: Walter (born 1910) and John Edgar (born 1912). All three boys were born in their parents' bedroom in Lysons Road and all three were baptised at Holy Trinity church.[http://person.ancestry.co.uk/tree/17155749/person/19483655282/facts Ethel Parsons] on Ancestry.com – pay to view He attended West End Boys School in Aldershot (now the West End Centre) from the age of 5 to 14.English, pg18 His first stage appearance was aged 10 when he joined a group from Gale & Polden called the 'Five O'clock Follies' as an acrobat.AHAS, pg8 On leaving school in 1933 he briefly worked at Fisher's Hotel in nearby Farnham before becoming an errand boy in a local grocery shop.English, p. 24

After serving in the British Army in World War II with the Hampshire Regiment and the Royal Armoured Corps, reaching the rank of sergeant,English, p. 36 English worked as a painter and decorator in his native town and in the evenings worked as a semi-professional entertainer in various local venues polishing up his comedy routines. He married Ivy Ruth Martin in 1941;[http://search.ancestry.co.uk/cgi-bin/sse.dll?gss=angs-g&new=1&rank=1&gsfn=arthur+leslie+norman&gsfn_x=0&gsln=english&gsln_x=0&mswpn__ftp=Aldershot%2c+Hampshire%2c+England&mswpn=83966&mswpn_PInfo=8-%7c0%7c0%7c3257%7c3251%7c0%7c0%7c0%7c5266%7c83966%7c0%7c&MSAV=1&msbdy=1919&msbpn__ftp=Aldershot%2c+Hampshire%2c+England&msbpn=83966&msbpn_PInfo=8-%7c0%7c0%7c3257%7c3251%7c0%7c0%7c0%7c5266%7c83966%7c0%7c&msgdy=1941&msddy=1995&msfng=Walter+Frederick+&msfns=english+&msmng=ethel&msmns=parsons+&mssng0=ivy+ruth&mssns0=Martin&cpxt=1&cp=11&catbucket=rstp&uidh=rc8&pcat=ROOT_CATEGORY&h=46411740&db=ONSmarriage1984&indiv=1&ml_rpos=1 Arthur N L English in the England & Wales, Marriage Index, 1916–2005] – Ancestry.com- pay to view it was she who made his enormous kipper ties out of brightly coloured curtain material at the beginning of his stage career. They had two children, Ann Faith (1942–1999) and Anthony (born 1947).

In 1949, while still employed in Aldershot as a painter and decorator, English and his then stage partner Jonny Carrol unsuccessfully auditioned at the Windmill Theatre in London. On a second, and this time solo audition with Vivian Van Damm, English became resident comedian at the Windmill Theatre at the same time compering a show for Bob Potter. English stayed at the Windmill as the principal comic until August 1950.

His early professional career was as a stand-up comic in the persona of a stereotypical wartime "spiv", and he became known as "The Prince of the Wide Boys"{{cite news|authorlink=Denis Gifford|first=Denis|last=Gifford|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/obituariesarthur-english-1616221.html|title= Obituary: Arthur English|work=The Independent|location=London|date=1995-04-19}} dressed in a trilby hat, a white jacket and padded shoulders with a pencil moustache set off with a flamboyant kipper tie four inches wide.

Acting career

File:arthur-english.jpg

His radio work began with the BBC series Variety Bandbox, using as always his own Aldershot accent but in the persona of a Cockney spiv. 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!" Another popular catch-phrase was "Mum. Mum. They're laughing at me!".

He began to appear on British television in mainly comedy roles in the 1970s, and is probably best remembered for playing the truculent and somewhat bolshy (though not entirely unsympathetic) maintenance man, Mr. Harman, in Are You Being Served? which he played from 1976 to 1985, including the 1977 film adaptation. He played Arthur, Alf Garnett's mate, 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.[https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0257583/?ref_=tt_cl_t3 English] on the Internet Movie Database

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 as "Slugger" in Follyfoot, which ran from 1971 to 1973, also on ITV (produced by Yorkshire Television). He was in several other films including For the Love of Ada (1972) as "Arthur" and Everyday Maths (1978), a British TV schools programme starring Jack Wild as English's grandson. In 1978 he was the subject in This Is Your Life,[http://www.tv.com/shows/this-is-your-life-uk/arthur-english-709866/ English on This Is Your Life (1978) – tv.com][https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0721467/ English on This Is Your Life (1978)] – Internet Movie Database while in May 1983 he was a guest on Desert Island Discs with Roy Plomley.[http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/features/desert-island-discs/castaway/e3a7fa0c English on the Desert Island Discs website] Also in 1983 he played Frosch in Die Fledermaus with English National Opera at the London Coliseum. In 1985 he appeared in an episode of the American TV series Magnum, P.I..

English appeared in the Royal Variety Performance in 1951 and 1980.{{Cite web |url=http://www.eabf.org.uk/royal-variety-performance/archive/1980s/1980 |title=The 1980 Royal Variety Performance at the London Palladium – The Royal Variety Charity website |access-date=17 November 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091128183820/http://www.eabf.org.uk/royal-variety-performance/archive/1980s/1980 |archive-date=28 November 2009 |url-status=dead }} He had been president of Aldershot Town F.C.English, p. 49[https://shop.theshots.co.uk/news/Aldershot45840.ink – Message from the Chairman] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151118131259/https://shop.theshots.co.uk/news/Aldershot45840.ink |date=18 November 2015 }} – Aldershot Town F.C. website 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. He had also been a long-standing member of the showbusiness charity the Grand Order of Water Rats, which he joined in 1970,English, p. 166 a Freeman of the City of London and an Honorary Freeman of the Borough of Rushmoor.

Personal life

File:Arthur English memorial.jpg in Aldershot]]

File:Arthur English Blue Plaque 2017.jpg on the house in Lysons Road in Aldershot where English was born]]

Following the death of his wife Ivy (1919–75), English began to drink. On 27 August 1977, English married a young dancer, Teresa Mann[http://interactive.ancestry.co.uk/8753/ons_m19773ao-0533?pid=21981929&backurl=http%3a%2f%2fsearch.ancestry.co.uk%2f%2fcgi-bin%2fsse.dll%3fgss%3dangs-g%26new%3d1%26rank%3d1%26gsfn%3darthur%2bleslie%2bnorman%26gsfn_x%3d0%26gsln%3denglish%26gsln_x%3d0%26mswpn__ftp%3dAldershot%252c%2bHampshire%252c%2bEngland%26mswpn%3d83966%26mswpn_PInfo%3d8-%257c0%257c0%257c3257%257c3251%257c0%257c0%257c0%257c5266%257c83966%257c0%257c%26MSAV%3d1%26msbdy%3d1919%26msbpn__ftp%3dAldershot%252c%2bHampshire%252c%2bEngland%26msbpn%3d83966%26msbpn_PInfo%3d8-%257c0%257c0%257c3257%257c3251%257c0%257c0%257c0%257c5266%257c83966%257c0%257c%26msgdy%3d1977%26msddy%3d1995%26msfng%3dWalter%2bFrederick%2b%26msfns%3denglish%2b%26msmng%3dethel%26msmns%3dparsons%2b%26mssng0%3dteresa%26mssns0%3dMann%26cpxt%3d1%26cp%3d11%26catbucket%3drstp%26uidh%3drc8%26pcat%3dROOT_CATEGORY%26h%3d21981929%26db%3dONSmarriage1984%26indiv%3d1%26ml_rpos%3d1&treeid=&personid=&hintid=&usePUB=true England & Wales, Marriage Index, 1916–2005 for Arthur Ln English] – Ancestry.com – pay to view (born 1955), whom he met while they were performing in a pantomime together at Wimbledon, and in 1981, the couple had a daughter – Clare-Louise English, the deaf mute actress director and writer who founded Hot Coals Productions, a Production company working the theatre film and TV who specialise in creating accessible content. The performers John Inman and Jack Douglas were the child's godparents.{{Cite web |url=https://radiosoundsfamiliar.com/familiar-faces-arthur-english.php |title=Biography of Arthur English on the Radio Sounds Familiar website |access-date=5 June 2017 |archive-date=5 September 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160905044917/http://radiosoundsfamiliar.com/familiar-faces-arthur-english.php |url-status=dead }} The couple separated in 1986, and the marriage was dissolved in 1987. The last four years of his life were spent in Devereux House, a care home in Farnborough where he liked to play draughts and bred canaries.

Arthur English died in 1995 at Frimley Park Hospital in Surrey as a result of complications from emphysema.[http://search.ancestry.co.uk/cgi-bin/sse.dll?gss=angs-g&new=1&rank=1&msT=1&gsfn=arthur+leslie+norman&gsfn_x=0&gsln=english&gsln_x=0&mswpn__ftp=Aldershot%2c+Hampshire%2c+England&mswpn=83966&mswpn_PInfo=8-%7c0%7c0%7c3257%7c3251%7c0%7c0%7c0%7c5266%7c83966%7c0%7c&MSAV=1&msbdy=1919&msbpn__ftp=Aldershot%2c+Hampshire%2c+England&msbpn=83966&msbpn_PInfo=8-%7c0%7c0%7c3257%7c3251%7c0%7c0%7c0%7c5266%7c83966%7c0%7c&msddy=1995&cpxt=1&cp=11&catbucket=rstp&uidh=rc8&pcat=ROOT_CATEGORY&h=404600&db=ONSDeath93&indiv=1&ml_rpos=1 Arthur Leslie N English in the England & Wales, Death Index, 1916–2007] – Ancestry.com – pay to view After a funeral service at St Michael's church at which fellow Water Rat Jimmy Perry read the oration,Funeral Service card for Arthur Leslie Norman English at the Church of St Michael the Archangel, Aldershot – Glenn Christodoulou Collection his body was cremated at the Park Crematorium in Aldershot where his ashes were later interred in a plot with those of his first wife.

Honours

An Aldershot Civic Society blue plaque was unveiled by actor and singer Jess Conrad OBE on 15 July 2017 at 22 Lysons Road where English was born in 1919.{{Cite web |url=http://www.aldershotcivicsociety.org.uk/2017/05/31/blue-plaque-for-arthur-english/ |title=Blue Plaque for Arthur English – Aldershot Civic Society website |access-date=1 June 2017 |archive-date=28 January 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180128132637/http://www.aldershotcivicsociety.org.uk/2017/05/31/blue-plaque-for-arthur-english/ |url-status=dead }}[https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-hampshire-40617726 'Are You Being Served? actor Arthur English honoured with blue plaque' – BBC News Online – 15 July 2017][https://www.964eagle.co.uk/news/local-news/2330897/blue-plaque-unveiled-for-aldershots-arthur-english/ 'Blue plaque unveiled for Aldershot's Arthur English'] – Eagle Radio – 15 July 2017[http://www.gowr.co.uk/news-stories/arthur-english-honoured/ Arthur English Honoured] – Grand Order of Water Rats website

Selected television appearances

Comedy Playhouse (1967 & 1970) – Arthur Oakley / The Voice
Dad's Army (1970) – the Policeman
Doctor in the House (1970) – Vincent
Bless This House (1971) – Traffic Warden
Doctor at Large (1971) – Vincent
ITV Playhouse (1972) – Tom
Doctor in Charge (1972 & 1973) – Vincent
Follyfoot (1971–1973) – Slugger
Armchair Theatre (1973) – Carlyle
Crown Court (1973, 1974, 1975 & 1977) – Billy Baker / Arthur Robins / Eddie Taylor / Mr. Sampson
The Ghosts of Motley Hall (1976–1978) – Bodkin / 'Boddikins
Are You Being Served? (1976–1985) – Mr. Beverley Harman
Funny Man (1981) – George Leslie
Play for Today (1983) – Albert
Magnum, P.I. (1985) - Newspaper Seller
High & Dry (1987) – Fred Whattle
In Sickness and in Health (1985–1990) – Arthur / the Man in Pub (final appearance)