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Arthur Brough (born Frederick Arthur Baker; 26 February 1905 – 28 May 1978) was a British actor and theatre founder, producer and director best known for portraying the character of bumbling senior menswear salesman Ernest Grainger on the
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
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sitcom ''
Are You Being Served?
''Are You Being Served?'' is a British sitcom created and written by executive producer David Croft (Croft also directed some episodes) and Jeremy Lloyd, with contributions from Michael Knowles and John Chapman, for the BBC. Set in London, t ...
''
Biography
Early life
The diminutive actor () originally wanted to become a teacher, but failed to gain such employment, and worked in a solicitor's office. He found this job too mundane and he began to take an interest in the theatre. After indulging in amateur theatricals, Brough attended the
Royal Academy of Dramatic Art
The Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA; ) is a drama school in London, England, that provides vocational conservatoire training for theatre, film, television, and radio. It is based in the Bloomsbury area of Central London, close to the Sen ...
in the mid-1920s. After graduating, he joined a Shakespearean theatrical troupe, where he met his wife-to-be, actress Elizabeth Addyman. After they married, they used their wedding
dowry
A dowry is a payment, such as property or money, paid by the bride's family to the groom or his family at the time of marriage. Dowry contrasts with the related concepts of bride price and dower. While bride price or bride service is a payment b ...
as collateral to rent the Leas Pavilion, a repertory theatre in
Folkestone
Folkestone ( ) is a port town on the English Channel, in Kent, south-east England. The town lies on the southern edge of the North Downs at a valley between two cliffs. It was an important harbour and shipping port for most of the 19th and 20t ...
, Kent. They had one daughter, Joanna, who was educated at
Ashford School for Girls.
Theatre impresario
Having used the name The Pioneer Players at Folkestone since 1929, Brough and his wife Elizabeth formed The Arthur Brough Players in 1932. The company helped launch the careers of many prominent actors, including
Peter Barkworth
Peter may refer to:
People
* List of people named Peter, a list of people and fictional characters with the given name
* Peter (given name)
** Saint Peter (died 60s), apostle of Jesus, leader of the early Christian Church
* Peter (surname), a su ...
, Eric Lander,
Polly James
Polly James (born 8 July 1941) is an English actress with a career in theatre, film, television and radio.
Career
Pauline James was born in Blackburn, Lancashire, under the name Pauline Devaney. After graduating from RADA, her TV career began ...
,
Anne Stallybrass
Jacqueline Anne Stallybrass (4 December 1938 – 3 July 2021) was an English actress who trained at the Royal Academy of Music in London. The television roles for which she is best known are Jane Seymour in ''The Six Wives of Henry VIII'' (197 ...
, and
Trevor Bannister
Trevor Gordon Bannister (14 August 193414 April 2011) was an English actor best known for having played the womanising junior salesman Mr Lucas in the sitcom ''Are You Being Served?'' from 1972 to 1979, and for his role as Toby Mulberry Smith i ...
, who later portrayed Mr. Lucas in "Are You Being Served." Once the Folkestone rep was established, Brough formed new repertory companies in
Bradford
Bradford is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Bradford district in West Yorkshire, England. The city is in the Pennines' eastern foothills on the banks of the Bradford Beck. Bradford had a population of 349,561 at the 2011 ...
,
Bristol
Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...
,
Blackpool
Blackpool is a seaside resort in Lancashire, England. Located on the North West England, northwest coast of England, it is the main settlement within the Borough of Blackpool, borough also called Blackpool. The town is by the Irish Sea, betw ...
,
Keighley
Keighley ( ) is a market town and a civil parish
in the City of Bradford Borough of West Yorkshire, England. It is the second largest settlement in the borough, after Bradford.
Keighley is north-west of Bradford city centre, north-west of Bi ...
,
Leeds
Leeds () is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the third-largest settlement (by populati ...
,
Lincoln
Lincoln most commonly refers to:
* Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865), the sixteenth president of the United States
* Lincoln, England, cathedral city and county town of Lincolnshire, England
* Lincoln, Nebraska, the capital of Nebraska, U.S.
* Lincol ...
,
Oxford
Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...
and
Southampton
Southampton () is a port city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire built-up area, which also covers Po ...
, to name a few. With the outbreak of
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
, Brough enlisted in the
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against F ...
, where he served for the duration of the war. His service included helping with the evacuation of
Dunkirk
Dunkirk (french: Dunkerque ; vls, label=French Flemish, Duunkerke; nl, Duinkerke(n) ; , ;) is a commune in the department of Nord in northern France.[Peter Barkworth
Peter may refer to:
People
* List of people named Peter, a list of people and fictional characters with the given name
* Peter (given name)
** Saint Peter (died 60s), apostle of Jesus, leader of the early Christian Church
* Peter (surname), a su ...]
, who appeared in ''The Guinea Pig'' in 1948: Eric Lander, later a star of the TV series ''No Hiding Place'', in 1949:
Polly James
Polly James (born 8 July 1941) is an English actress with a career in theatre, film, television and radio.
Career
Pauline James was born in Blackburn, Lancashire, under the name Pauline Devaney. After graduating from RADA, her TV career began ...
in the 1960s: and
Anne Stallybrass
Jacqueline Anne Stallybrass (4 December 1938 – 3 July 2021) was an English actress who trained at the Royal Academy of Music in London. The television roles for which she is best known are Jane Seymour in ''The Six Wives of Henry VIII'' (197 ...
, who started out as ASM in 1960 and went on to play Ida the maid in ''Pool's Paradise'' by Philip King; as well as appearing in ''The Aspern Papers'', ''Candida'', and ''A Taste of Honey'' at the little Folkestone theatre. Others included Andrew Jack;
Sydney Sturgess
Dorothy Anna Sturgess (March 5, 1915 – September 30, 1999), known professionally as Sydney Sturgess, was a British-Canadian actress. She is best known for her work with the Shaw Festival and the Stratford Festival of Canada. Primarily a stage a ...
, who went on to marry
Barry Morse
Herbert Morse (10 June 19182 February 2008), known professionally as Barry Morse, was a British-Canadian actor of stage, screen, and radio, best known for his roles in the ABC television series '' The Fugitive'' and the British sci-fi drama '' ...
; and
Trevor Bannister
Trevor Gordon Bannister (14 August 193414 April 2011) was an English actor best known for having played the womanising junior salesman Mr Lucas in the sitcom ''Are You Being Served?'' from 1972 to 1979, and for his role as Toby Mulberry Smith i ...
, who would later act alongside Brough in ''Are You Being Served?''
In those days a local repertory company would present a fresh play each week, to rival the cinemas, with a small stable cast rehearsing one play by day, whilst performing what they had rehearsed the previous week each evening, with a mid-week 'tea' matinee. Since there was a limited number of actors in the company for economic reasons, they often had to play characters far from their own age or appearance. Brough took his company on tour, and helped establish rep companies in
Aldershot
Aldershot () is a town in Hampshire, England. It lies on heathland in the extreme northeast corner of the county, southwest of London. The area is administered by Rushmoor Borough Council. The town has a population of 37,131, while the Alders ...
,
Southend
Southend-on-Sea (), commonly referred to as Southend (), is a coastal city and unitary authority area with borough status in southeastern Essex, England. It lies on the north side of the Thames Estuary, east of central London. It is bordered ...
and
Eastbourne
Eastbourne () is a town and seaside resort in East Sussex, on the south coast of England, east of Brighton and south of London. Eastbourne is immediately east of Beachy Head, the highest chalk sea cliff in Great Britain and part of the la ...
.
Television
With the rise of
television
Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of television transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertisin ...
, Brough predicted the eclipse of repertory theatre as a viable entertainment form. In the 1960s he began seeking roles in the mass media, appearing in small roles in films and television. His daughter, Joanna Hutton, said this about his forecast of the decline of repertory theatre: "He was very astute and unsentimental about it. He realized the era was over and that he must diversify". According to Hutton, her father first found it hard adjusting from stage to screen. "He realized how hammy he was. He used to take the mickey out of himself; he'd always acted in a
Shakespeare
William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...
an manner and suddenly realized he had to tone down his performance for film".
One of the first jobs Brough did away from the stage was the film ''
The Green Man'' with
Alastair Sim
Alastair George Bell Sim, CBE (9 October 1900 – 19 August 1976) was a Scottish character actor who began his theatrical career at the age of thirty and quickly became established as a popular West End performer, remaining so until his ...
, in which he played the landlord of the eponymous hotel. He had a minor role opposite
Jayne Mansfield
Jayne Mansfield (born Vera Jayne Palmer; April 19, 1933 – June 29, 1967) was an American actress, singer, nightclub entertainer, and ''Playboy'' Playmate. A sex symbol of the 1950s and early 1960s while under contract at 20th Century Fox, Man ...
in ''
The Challenge'' (1960), and made guest appearances in TV shows such as ''
Upstairs, Downstairs'' (Episode 3.2), ''
Dad's Army
''Dad's Army'' is a British television British sitcom, sitcom about the United Kingdom's Home Guard (United Kingdom), Home Guard during the World War II, Second World War. It was written by Jimmy Perry and David Croft (TV producer), David Crof ...
'', ''
Z-Cars
''Z-Cars'' or ''Z Cars'' (pronounced "zed cars") is a British television police procedural series centred on the work of mobile uniformed police in the fictional town of Newtown, based on Kirkby, near Liverpool. Produced by the BBC, it debuted ...
'', ''
The Persuaders'', ''
Adam Adamant Lives!
''Adam Adamant Lives!'' is a British adventure television series that ran from 1966 to 1967 on BBC 1, starring Gerald Harper in the title role. The series was created and produced by several alumni from ''Doctor Who''. Proposing that an adventur ...
'', ''
Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased)
''Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased)'' is a British private detective television series, starring Mike Pratt and Kenneth Cope respectively as the private detectives Jeff Randall and Marty Hopkirk. The series was created by Dennis Spooner and p ...
'' and ''
Jason King''. He also continued to appear in theatrical productions, including ''
Half a Sixpence
''Half a Sixpence'' is a 1963 musical comedy based on the 1905 novel ''Kipps'' by H. G. Wells, with music and lyrics by David Heneker and a book by Beverley Cross. It was written as a vehicle for British pop star Tommy Steele.
Background
The ...
'' (1967), playing a shopkeeper. The Folkestone Rep continued until 1969, before closing at the time that Brough's wife Elizabeth began to suffer ill-health.
''Are You Being Served?''
In 1972, Brough was cast as Ernest Grainger in the BBC sitcom ''Are You Being Served?'' by
Jeremy Lloyd
John Jeremy Lloyd, OBE (22 July 1930 – 23 December 2014) was an English writer, screenwriter, author, poet and actor. He was the co-writer of several successful British sitcoms, including ''Are You Being Served?'' and '' 'Allo 'Allo!''.
Ea ...
and
David Croft. Initially a pilot episode in the ''Comedy Playhouse'' slot, it was well received and commissioned for a series in early 1973. Set in a fading department store, Brough played the senior menswear salesman, with assistants Mr Humphries (
John Inman
Frederick John Inman (28 June 1935 – 8 March 2007) was an English actor and singer best known for his role as Mr. Humphries in ''Are You Being Served?'', a British sitcom between 1972 and 1985, and was the only actor from that series to featur ...
) and Mr Lucas (
Trevor Bannister
Trevor Gordon Bannister (14 August 193414 April 2011) was an English actor best known for having played the womanising junior salesman Mr Lucas in the sitcom ''Are You Being Served?'' from 1972 to 1979, and for his role as Toby Mulberry Smith i ...
). The show ran until 1985.
After the show completed its fifth series in 1977, on 22 March 1978, Arthur Brough's wife of almost 50 years, Elizabeth, died, and the emotionally devastated Brough announced he was quitting acting. Brough stayed with his daughter for a few weeks following his wife's death and, according to his daughter,
Jeremy Lloyd
John Jeremy Lloyd, OBE (22 July 1930 – 23 December 2014) was an English writer, screenwriter, author, poet and actor. He was the co-writer of several successful British sitcoms, including ''Are You Being Served?'' and '' 'Allo 'Allo!''.
Ea ...
and
David Croft made contact to say they were writing him into the next series. However, he died just two months after his wife, on 28 May 1978, in Folkestone. Croft decided not to have another actor take over the part of Mr Grainger, so his character in ''Are You Being Served?'' was replaced by Mr Tebbs, played by
James Hayter.
Related family life
Brough's daughter, Joanna Hutton (who died in 2002), became the first female curator of the
Brontë Parsonage Museum
The Brontë Parsonage Museum is a writer's house museum maintained by the Brontë Society in honour of the Brontë sisters – Charlotte, Emily and Anne. The museum is in the former Brontë family home, the parsonage in Haworth, West Yorkshire ...
in
Haworth
Haworth () is a village in the City of Bradford, West Yorkshire, England, in the Pennines, south-west of Keighley, west of Bradford and east of Colne in Lancashire. The surrounding areas include Oakworth and Oxenhope. Nearby villages includ ...
for a period in the 1960s.
His twin brother owned and operated Bakers the Butchers on
Petersfield
Petersfield is a market town and civil parish in the East Hampshire district of Hampshire, England. It is north of Portsmouth. The town has its own railway station on the Portsmouth Direct line, the mainline rail link connecting Portsmouth a ...
High Street for many years.
Credits
Arthur Brough dedicated his life to the theatre, and ''Are You Being Served?'' co-star
Mollie Sugden
Mary Isobel Sugden (21 July 19221 July 2009), known professionally as Mollie Sugden was an English actress. She was best known for being an original cast member in the British sitcom ''Are You Being Served?'' (1972–1985) as senior saleswoman M ...
credited him with helping train a generation of actors. His colleagues have fond memories of working with Brough, who, as his daughter noted, "was a highly respected actor who'd spent forty years in the profession." At the time of his death, David Croft said: "Arthur created a living character who was the inspiration for much of the humour. His personality made him a pivot round which a whole lot of laughter and affection revolved."
With a mischievous sense of humour, he would often pull pranks on the rest of the cast during recordings. Despite this, however,
Trevor Bannister
Trevor Gordon Bannister (14 August 193414 April 2011) was an English actor best known for having played the womanising junior salesman Mr Lucas in the sitcom ''Are You Being Served?'' from 1972 to 1979, and for his role as Toby Mulberry Smith i ...
held him in very high regard, saying of him that he was a "wicked old man but a wonderful man."
David Croft recalls the time Arthur would disappear from the set. 'Whenever we were rehearsing he'd vanish at about three minutes to eleven. For a while we wondered where he went, but eventually discovered that he'd nip next door to the pub for a quick
Pink Gin. We'd watch from the window as this little figure hurled towards the pub – we never spoke to him about it. One day when he returned,
John Inman
Frederick John Inman (28 June 1935 – 8 March 2007) was an English actor and singer best known for his role as Mr. Humphries in ''Are You Being Served?'', a British sitcom between 1972 and 1985, and was the only actor from that series to featur ...
asked where he'd been. He made some excuse, but what he'd forgotten was that it was pouring with rain and his bald head was soaking wet!'
Filmography
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Brough, Arthur
1905 births
1978 deaths
Alumni of the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art
People educated at Churcher's College
People from Petersfield
Royal Navy personnel of World War II
Royal Navy sailors
English male stage actors
English male television actors
20th-century English male actors
Male actors from Hampshire
English theatre managers and producers
British male comedy actors
20th-century English businesspeople
Military personnel from Hampshire