P. G. Wodehouse

"Thank you, Jeeves!"

Woodhouse, the butler

P. G. Wodehouse (1881-1975) was an English comic writer who enjoyed enormous popular success for more than seventy years. He is best known for creating Jeeves, the quintessential servant. (Jeeves is often mistakenly referred to as a butler; he was, in fact, a valet, or "gentleman's personal gentleman.") His other works include the Blandings Castle novels and a wide range of farcical novels and short stories, including series focusing on members of the Drones Club, Mr. Mulliner and his relatives, the opportunistic Ukridge, and assorted addled golfers (as told by the Oldest Member).

He also had some success writing the book (or spoken script) for various stage musicals with Guy Bolton, mostly the Princess Theatre musicals (scored by Jerome Kern) and the Gershwin musical Oh! Kay. While they penned the original book to Cole Porter's Anything Goes, all but a few lines were removed or reworked. Wodehouse also penned lyrics for the song "Bill," originally intended for Oh! Lady! Lady! but eventually made famous in Show Boat.

References

• When Miss Piggy breaks into No. 17 Highbrow Street in The Great Muppet Caper, she pretends that Neville (John Cleese) is "some sort of servant." After Neville recommends the Dubonnet Club, Piggy brushes past him, saying, "Thank you, Jeeves!"

• In the video compilation Gonzo Presents Muppet Weird Stuff, Gonzo asks Camilla to "ring for Jeeves," the imaginary butler. At one point, Shakey Sanchez wanders in, and Gonzo tries to convince his lady love that it's the missing Jeeves. (Ring for Jeeves also happens to be the title of Wodehouse's 1953 novel, published in the U.S. as The Return of Jeeves.)

• In Sing-Along, Dance-Along, Do-Along, a woman swallowed by a crocodile addresses him as "Jeeves."

• In one Sesame Street "Mysterious Theater" sketch, Sherlock Hemlock and Watson travel to Blandings Castle in search of circles. Blandings was the stately home of Lord Emsworth and his family (and beloved pig) in several novels and short stories.

• In another "Mysterious Theater" sketch, Sherlock and Watson visit the home of Lady Agatha to find her missing cat; Agatha's butler is named Woodhouse (the way the author's name is pronounced, but not spelled). In Wodehouse's stories, Agatha is the name of Bertie Wooster's most fearsome aunt.

• In the first season Dog City episode "Radio Daze," radio actor Spot (the dog of a thousand barks) plays many roles, including a manservant named Jeeves.

• The CD-Rom game of Muppet Treasure Island replaces Squire Trelawney's human butler with a canine Muppet named... Jeeves, of course.

Connections

• John Alexander played a gorilla in an episode of Jeeves and Wooster (TV, 1993)
• Fred Astaire played Jerry Halliday in A Damsel in Distress (film, 1937)
• John Atkinson played the president of the Junior Ganymede club in a second season episode of Jeeves and Wooster (TV, 1991)
• Péter Balázs played Freddie Threepwood in Leave It to Psmith (1976) and Willoughby Braddock in Sam the Sudden (1978), both for Hungarian TV
• Tim Barker played a cabbie in the first and fourth episodes of Jeeves and Wooster (TV, 1990)
• Barbara Barnes played Mabel Spence in The Luck of the Bodkins (radio, 2000)
• Timothy Bateson played the purser in The Girl on the Boat (film, 1961) and Beach the butler in Summer Lightning (1987) and Pigs Have Wings (1989)
• Douglas Blackwell played Rev. Harold "Stinker" Pinker in BBC Radio's "Code of the Woosters" (1973) and "Stiff Upper Lip, Jeeves" (1980-1981)
• Brenda Blethyn played Nesta Pet in Picadilly Jim (film, 2004)
• Hugh Bonneville played Lord Wisbeach in Piccadilly Jim (film, 2004)
• Marc Boyle did stunts for the Wodehouse Playhouse episode "The Nodder" (1976)
• Denise Bryer played various child roles (male and female), including Harold the pageboy and others in The Inimitable Jeeves (1973) and Edwin the Boy Scout in Joy in the Morning (BBC radio, 1978)
• George Burns played George in A Damsel in Distress (film, 1937)
• Richenda Carey played Lady Wickhammersley in an episode of Jeeves and Wooster (TV, 1990)
• Charles Collingwood played Ronnie Fish in Heavy Weather (radio, 1988) and Orlo Vosper in Pigs Have Wings (radio, 1989)
• Charles Dance played Galahad Threepwood in Summer Lightning (radio, 2010)
• Percy Edwards played Stiffy Byng's dog Bartholomew in Stiff Upper Lip, Jeeves (radio, 1980) and off-screen bird imitations in the Wodehouse Playhouse episode "The Nodder" (1976)
• Stephen Fry played Jeeves on Jeeves and Wooster (TV, 1990-1993)
• John Gielgud played "The Author" (P. G. Wodehouse) in Leave It to Psmith (radio, 1981)
• Justine Glenton played Daphne Braithewaite in the first episode of Jeeves and Wooster (TV, 1990)
• Louise Gold played Kay in Oh Kay in a concert staging at The Barbican in 1997
• Richard Griffiths played Mr. Mulliner in two BBC radio series (2000-2004)
• Björn Gustafson played Bertie Wooster in "Jeeves and the Unbidden Guest" (Swedish radio, 1970)
• Sheila Hancock played Jane in The Girl on the Boat (film, 1961)
• David Healy played L. O. Levitsky in "The Nodder" (1976) and a bellhop in "The Luck of the Stiffhams" (1978), both Wodehouse Playhouse episodes, and Jas Waterbury in an episode of Jeeves and Wooster (TV, 1993)
• Edward Hibbert played Freddie and Walderwick in Thank You, P. G. Wodehouse (TV, 1981)
• Tom Hollander played Willie Partridge in Piccadilly Jim (film, 2004)
• Michael Hordern played Jeeves in What Ho, Jeeves! (radio, 1973-1981), Lord Emsworth in Leave It to Psmith (radio, 1981) and the voice of Wodehouse in Thank You, P. G. Wodehouse (TV, 1981)
• Peter Hughes played Frederick in a Ukridge episode (TV, 1968) and the Market Snodsbury headmaster in a Jeeves and Wooster episode (TV, 1990)
• Allison Janney played Eugenia Crocker in Picadilly Jim (film, 2004)
• Michael Kilgarriff played Stilton Cheesewright in Joy in the Morning (radio, 1978)
• Rosalind Knight played Dame Daphne Winkworth in an episode of Jeeves and Wooster (1992)
• Hugh Laurie played Bertie Wooster on Jeeves and Wooster (TV, 1990-1993)
• Joanna Lumley played Aunt Dahlia in Stiff Upper Lip, Jeeves (radio, 2018)
• Mac MacDonald played a Birdsburger in a third season Jeeves and Wooster episode (TV, 1992)
• Fulton MacKay played Mr. Widgery in the Wodehouse Playhouse episode "The Smile That Wins" (TV, 1978)
• Miriam Margolyes played many roles in the radio series What Ho, Jeeves! (1973-1981), including Honoria Glossop and a chambermaid ("Inimitable Jeeves," 1973), Stiffy Byng ("Code of the Woosters," 1973), Dame Daphne Winkworth and Hilda Gudgeon ("The Mating Season," 1975)
• Trevor Martin played Battling Bilson in Battling Bilson's Last Fight (radio, 1959)
• Katja Medbøe played Nobby Hopwood in Joy in the Morning (Norwegian radio, 1970)
• Frank Middlemass played P. G. Wodehouse in The Good-Tempered Humorist (radio, 1981)
• Stuart Milligan played Cootes in Leave It to Psmith (radio, 1981)
• Kristopher Milnes played Edwin in an episode of Jeeves and Wooster (TV, 1993)
• Peter O'Toole played Lord Emsworth in Heavy Weather (TV, 1993)
• Geoffrey Palmer played Bayliss in Piccadilly Jim (film, 2004)
• Austin Pendleton played Peter Pet in Piccadilly Jim (film, 2004)
• Bryan Pringle played Joe Keeble in Leave It to Psmith (radio, 1981) and Pirbright the pigman in Heavy Weather (TV movie, 1995)
• Sam Rockwell played Jim Crocker in Piccadilly Jim (film, 2004)
• Ricco Ross played the New York liftman in three episodes of Jeeves and Wooster (1992)
• Lynn Redgrave played Bill Shannon in Tales from the Hollywood Hills: The Old Reliable (TV movie, 1988)
• Joan Sanderson played Lady Constance Keeble in two TV versions of "Pig-Hoo-o-o-o-ey" (1954, 1956), "Lord Emsworth and the Girlfriend" (TV, 1956) and Pigs Have Wings (radio, 1989), Aunt Agatha in The Inimitable Jeeves (radio, 1973) and Lady Bassett in the Wodehouse Playhouse episode "Strychnine in the Soup" (TV, 1975)
• Jennifer Saunders played Lady Constance Keeble on Blandings (TV, 2013-2014)
• Nicholas Selby played Uncle George in an episode of Jeeves and Wooster (TV, 1990)
• John Sessions played Lord Didcot in the Blandings episode "Necessary Rhino" (TV, 2014)
• Sia played a New York bar singer in Piccadilly Jim (film, 2004)
• Elizabeth Spriggs played all of the aunts in Thank You, P. G. Wodehouse (TV, 1981), Lady Constance Keeble in Blandings serials (radio, 1987-1988), Lady Hermione Wedge in Galahad at Blandings (radio, 1992) and Aunt Agatha in two episodes of Jeeves and Wooster (TV, 1993)
• Guy Standeven played extras in three episodes of Jeeves and Wooster (TV, 1990-1993), including a lord mayor, Sir Roderick Glossop's butler, and a nightclub patron
• Gordon Sterne played a diner in a third season episode of Jeeves and Wooster (TV, 1992)
• Reg Thomason played Jarvis the doorman in the first two seasons of Jeeves and Wooster (TV, 1990-1991)
• Attila Tyll played John B. Pynsent in Sam the Sudden (1978, Hungarian TV)
• Gábor Vass played Tressider in Sam the Sudden (1978, Hungarian TV)
• Richard Vernon played Lord Emsworth in BBC radio series (1985-1992)
• Zoë Wanamaker played Miss Peavey in Leave It to Psmith (radio, 1981)
• Paxton Whitehead played Phipps in Tales from the Hollywood Hills: The Old Reliable (TV movie, 1988) and Jeeves in the LA Theatre Works version of Thank You, Jeeves (radio 1998)
• Mark Williams played Beach on Blandings (TV, 2013)
• Thick Wilson played Shorty McGee in Oh Kay (stage, 1974 at The Westminster Theatre)
• Norman Wisdom played Sam Marlowe in The Girl on the Boat (film, 1961)

External links

• The Wodehouse Society
• Internet Broadway Database