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Uncle Fred
Frederick Altamont Cornwallis Twistleton, 5th Earl of Ickenham, commonly known as Uncle Fred, is a fictional character who appears in comedic short stories and novels written by P. G. Wodehouse between 1935 and 1961. An energetic and mischievous old chap, his talent for trouble is the bane of his nephew Pongo Twistleton's life. Appearances The Uncle Fred stories comprise one short story and four novels, two of which are set at Blandings Castle: * "Uncle Fred Flits By" (1935) – included in the collection '' Young Men in Spats'', (1936) * ''Uncle Fred in the Springtime'' (1939) – a Blandings story * ''Uncle Dynamite'' (1948) * ''Cocktail Time'' (1958) * '' Service with a Smile'' (1961) – a Blandings story Background and character Uncle Fred is a tall, slim, distinguished-looking man, with a jaunty moustache, and an "alert and enterprising eye". As a child he gambolled at Mitching Hill, his Uncle Willoughby's estate just outside London, which later became the suburb of Va ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fictional Character
In fiction, a character (or speaker, in poetry) is a person or other being in a narrative (such as a novel, play, radio or television series, music, film, or video game). The character may be entirely fictional or based on a real-life person, in which case the distinction of a "fictional" versus "real" character may be made. Derived from the Ancient Greek word , the English word dates from the Restoration, although it became widely used after its appearance in '' Tom Jones'' by Henry Fielding in 1749. From this, the sense of "a part played by an actor" developed.Harrison (1998, 51-2) quotation: (Before this development, the term ''dramatis personae'', naturalized in English from Latin and meaning "masks of the drama," encapsulated the notion of characters from the literal aspect of masks.) Character, particularly when enacted by an actor in the theatre or cinema, involves "the illusion of being a human person". In literature, characters guide readers through their stories, hel ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lord Emsworth
Clarence Threepwood, 9th Earl Emsworth, commonly known as Lord Emsworth, is a recurring fictional character in the Blandings Castle series of stories by British comic writer P. G. Wodehouse. He is the amiable and somewhat absent-minded head of the large Threepwood family. Longing for nothing more than to talk to his prize pig, Empress of Blandings, or potter peacefully in the idyllic gardens of Blandings Castle, he must frequently face the unpleasant reality of his domineering sisters and familial duties. Lord Emsworth's first appearance is in the novel ''Something Fresh'' (1915). The last completed work by Wodehouse in which Emsworth appears is ''A Pelican at Blandings'' (1969). He is also in Wodehouse's unfinished novel ''Sunset at Blandings''. Origins Wodehouse frequently named his characters after places with which he was familiar, and Lord Emsworth takes his name from the Hampshire town of Emsworth, where Wodehouse spent some time in the 1900s; he first went there in 1903, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Arthur Treacher
Arthur Veary Treacher (, 23 July 1894 – 14 December 1975) was an English film and stage actor active from the 1920s to the 1960s, and known for playing English types, especially butler and manservant roles, such as the P.G. Wodehouse valet character Jeeves (''Thank You, Jeeves'', 1936) and the kind butler Andrews opposite Shirley Temple in ''Heidi'' (1937). In the 1960s, he became well known on American television as an announcer/sidekick to talk show host Merv Griffin, and as the support character Constable Jones in Disney's ''Mary Poppins'' (1964). He lent his name to the Arthur Treacher's Fish and Chips chain of restaurants. Personal life Treacher was the son of Arthur Veary Treacher (1862–1924), a Sussex solicitor; his mother was Alice Mary Longhurst (1865–1946). He was educated at a boarding school in Uppingham in Rutland. In 1936, he married Virginia Taylor (1898–1984). Acting career Treacher was a veteran of World War I, serving as an officer of the Royal Gar ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Philco Television Playhouse
''The Philco Television Playhouse'' is an American television anthology series that was broadcast live on NBC from 1948 to 1955. Produced by Fred Coe, the series was sponsored by Philco. It was one of the most respected dramatic shows of the Golden Age of Television, winning a 1954 Peabody Award and receiving eight Emmy nominations between 1951 and 1956. Season overview and highlights For the first season, Philco entered into a partnership with the Actors’ Equity Association to produce adaptations of Broadway plays and musicals with Bert Lytell, silent film era actor and Honorary Life President of Equity, as host. The first episode was '' Dinner at Eight'' by George S. Kaufman and Edna Ferber. Ronald Wayne Rodman, in his book ''Tuning in: American Narrative Television Music'', noted, "Despite ensuing complications over the legalities of broadcasting copyrighted plays on television and several legal battles that ensued, the show flourished." The title of the show was briefly ch ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lady Constance Keeble
Lady Constance Keeble (née Threepwood, later Schoonmaker) is a recurring fictional character in the ''Blandings Castle'' stories by British comic writer P. G. Wodehouse, being Lord Emsworth's most formidable sister, a strikingly handsome woman, with a fair, broad brow, and perfectly even white teeth. She has the carriage of an empress, and her large grey eyes are misleadingly genial. Life and character When we first meet her in ''Leave it to Psmith'', she is recently married to wealthy Joe Keeble, and acting as châtelaine at Blandings. She has an interest in the Arts, and frequently invites writers and such to the castle; poets Aileen Peavey and Ralston McTodd and tenor Orlo Watkins are prime examples of this trait. She endeavours in vain to persuade her brother Lord Emsworth to dress more suitably, and to pay attention to important matters such as the family, rather than his garden and his beloved pig, Empress of Blandings. She bullies him mercilessly, forcing him to dress up i ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Blandings
Blandings Castle is a recurring fictional location in the stories of British comic writer P. G. Wodehouse, being the seat of Lord Emsworth (Clarence Threepwood, 9th Earl of Emsworth), home to many of his family and the setting for numerous tales and adventures. The stories were written between 1915 and 1975. The series of stories taking place at the castle, in its environs and involving its denizens have come to be known as the "Blandings books", or, in a phrase used by Wodehouse in his preface to the 1969 reprint of the first book, "the Blandings Castle Saga". In a radio broadcast on 15 July 1961, Evelyn Waugh said: "The gardens of Blandings Castle are that original garden from which we are all exiled." The Castle Blandings Castle, lying in the picturesque Vale of Blandings, Shropshire, England, is from the town of Market Blandings, home to at least nine pubs, most notably the Emsworth Arms. The tiny hamlet of Blandings Parva lies directly outside the castle gates and t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Public School (England)
In England and Wales (but not Scotland), a public school is a fee-charging endowed school originally for older boys. They are "public" in the sense of being open to pupils irrespective of locality, denomination or paternal trade or profession. In Scotland, a public school is synonymous with a state school in England and Wales, and fee-charging schools are referred to as private schools. Although the term "public school" has been in use since at least the 18th century, its usage was formalised by the Public Schools Act 1868, which put into law most recommendations of the 1864 Clarendon Report. Nine prestigious schools were investigated by Clarendon (including Merchant Taylors' School and St Paul's School, London) and seven subsequently reformed by the Act: Eton, Shrewsbury, Harrow, Winchester, Rugby, Westminster, and Charterhouse. Public schools are associated with the ruling class. Historically, public schools provided many of the military officers and administrators of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Major Brabazon-Plank
Major Brabazon-Plank (possibly later Major Plank) is a fictional character created by British comic writer P. G. Wodehouse, being a famed explorer who led an expedition up the Amazon but is afraid of babies. Major Brabazon-Plank (who appears in the Uncle Fred novel ''Uncle Dynamite'') and Major Plank (who appears in the Jeeves novels ''Stiff Upper Lip, Jeeves'' and ''Aunts Aren't Gentlemen'') have been interpreted by some Wodehouse scholars as being the same character, while others have described them as being two similar but separate characters. Overview In ''Uncle Dynamite'', Major Brabazon-Plank (also called Major Plank) is a famed explorer who led at least one expedition up the Amazon River in Brazil. He is a fat, pear-shaped man and a perpetual eater. He was educated at Eton, where he was called "Bimbo", and is a former Governor of a Crown colony. While in Peru, Major Plank judged a bonny baby competition, where the mother of one of the honourable mentions was unhappy with the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sir Roderick Glossop
Sir Roderick Glossop is a recurring fictional character in the comic novels and short stories of P. G. Wodehouse. Sometimes referred to as a "nerve specialist" or a "loony doctor", he is a prominent practitioner of psychiatry in Wodehouse's works, appearing in several Jeeves stories and in one Blandings Castle story. Though he is initially antagonistic towards Bertie Wooster, they become friends in later stories. Inspiration The character of Sir Roderick Glossop was inspired by Dr. Henry Crawford MacBryan, who operated a psychiatric nursing home in the hamlet of Ditteridge, in the parish of Box, Wiltshire, near Cheney House where the young Wodehouse spent some of his childhood with his aunts. Life and character Sir Roderick Glossop is the father of Honoria Glossop and Oswald Glossop. He is first married to Lady Glossop, a friend of Bertie's Aunt Agatha, and later to Lady Chuffnell, aunt of "Chuffy", Lord Chuffnell. He went to school with Lord Emsworth, who states that Glossop ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Confidence Trick
A confidence trick is an attempt to defraud a person or group after first gaining their trust. Confidence tricks exploit victims using their credulity, naïveté, compassion, vanity, confidence, irresponsibility, and greed. Researchers have defined confidence tricks as "a distinctive species of fraudulent conduct ..intending to further voluntary exchanges that are not mutually beneficial", as they "benefit con operators ('con men') at the expense of their victims (the 'marks')". Terminology Synonyms include con, confidence game, confidence scheme, ripoff, scam, and stratagem. The perpetrator of a confidence trick (or "con trick") is often referred to as a confidence (or "con") man, con-artist, or a "grifter". The shell game dates back at least to Ancient Greece. Samuel Thompson (1821–1856) was the original "confidence man". Thompson was a clumsy swindler who asked his victims to express confidence in him by giving him money or their watch rather than gaining their confidenc ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Veterinarian
A veterinarian (vet), also known as a veterinary surgeon or veterinary physician, is a medical professional who practices veterinary medicine. They manage a wide range of health conditions and injuries in non-human animals. Along with this, vets also play a role in animal reproduction, animal health management, conservation, husbandry and breeding and preventive medicine like animal nutrition, vaccination and parasitic control as well as biosecurity and zoonotic disease surveillance and prevention. Description In many countries, the local nomenclature for a veterinarian is a regulated and protected term, meaning that members of the public without the prerequisite qualifications and/or licensure are not able to use the title. This title is selective in order to produce the most knowledgeable veterinarians that pass these qualifications. In many cases, the activities that may be undertaken by a veterinarian (such as treatment of illness or surgery in animals) are restricted only t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Parrot
Parrots, also known as psittacines (), are birds of the roughly 398 species in 92 genera comprising the order Psittaciformes (), found mostly in tropical and subtropical regions. The order is subdivided into three superfamilies: the Psittacoidea ("true" parrots), the Cacatuoidea (cockatoos), and the Strigopoidea (New Zealand parrots). One-third of all parrot species are threatened by extinction, with higher aggregate extinction risk ( IUCN Red List Index) than any other comparable bird group. Parrots have a generally pantropical distribution with several species inhabiting temperate regions in the Southern Hemisphere, as well. The greatest diversity of parrots is in South America and Australasia. Characteristic features of parrots include a strong, curved bill, an upright stance, strong legs, and clawed zygodactyl feet. Many parrots are vividly coloured, and some are multi-coloured. Most parrots exhibit little or no sexual dimorphism in the visual spectrum. They form the most ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
