Bertram Wilberforce "Bertie" Wooster is a recurring
fictional characterA character is the representation of a person in a narrative or dramatic work of art . Derived from the ancient Greek word kharaktêr through its Latin transcription character, the earliest use in English, in this sense, dates from the Restoration, although it became widely used after its...
in the
JeevesReginald Jeeves is a fictional character in the short stories and novels of P. G. Wodehouse, being the "gentleman's personal gentleman" of Bertie Wooster . Created in 1915 and named in the title of most of his stories since 1916 and most of his books from 1919 to 1974, Jeeves is Wodehouse's most...
novels of
BritishThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is a sovereign state located off the northwestern coast of continental Europe. It is an island country, spanning an archipelago including Great Britain, the northeastern part of Ireland, and many small islands...
authorAn author is defined both as "the person who originates or gives existence to anything" and that authorship determines responsibility for what is created...
P. G. WodehouseSir Pelham Grenville Wodehouse, KBE was an English writer whose body of work includes novels, collections of short stories, and musical theatre. Wodehouse enjoyed enormous popular success during a career of more than seventy years and his prolific writings continue to be widely read...
. A British gentleman, member of the "idle rich" and the
Drones ClubThe Drones Club is a recurring fictional location in the stories of British comic writer P. G. Wodehouse, being a gentlemen's club in London. Many of his Jeeves and Blandings Castle stories feature the club or its members....
, he appears alongside his
gentleman's personal gentlemanValet and Varlet are terms for male servants who serve as personal attendants to their employer. In the Middle Ages, the valet de chambre to a ruler was a prestigious appointment for young men...
,
JeevesReginald Jeeves is a fictional character in the short stories and novels of P. G. Wodehouse, being the "gentleman's personal gentleman" of Bertie Wooster . Created in 1915 and named in the title of most of his stories since 1916 and most of his books from 1919 to 1974, Jeeves is Wodehouse's most...
, whose genius manages to extricate Bertie or one of his friends from numerous awkward situations. As the first-person narrator of ten novels and over 40 short stories, Bertie ranks as one of the most vivid comic creations in popular literature. Bertie's middle name "Wilberforce" is the doing of his father, who won money on a horse named Wilberforce in the Grand National the day before Bertie was born and insisted on Bertie carrying that name (mentioned in
Much Obliged, JeevesMuch Obliged, Jeeves is a novel by P. G. Wodehouse, first published in the United Kingdom on October 15 1971 by Barrie & Jenkins, London and in the United States on October 15 1971 by Simon & Schuster, Inc., New York under the name Jeeves and the Tie that Binds. Much Obliged, Jeeves is a novel by...
).
Family
Bertie's family relationships are a major theme in the stories and novels in which he appears, particularly the relationships with his aunts. Due to the volume of stories and time span over which they were written, there are a number of inconsistencies and contradictions in the information given about his relatives. Also, "Bertie" and several of his relations appear in the early Wodehouse story "Extricating Young Gussie," however the family name in that story is Mannering-Phipps, not Wooster, and the story has never been included in collections of Jeeves and Wooster materials, casting doubt on whether family information included in that story can be considered part of Bertie Wooster's history.
Bertie's immediate family: It is established throughout the series that Bertie is an orphan. In the story "
Bertie Changes His MindThis is a Jeeves and Wooster short story collected in the book Carry on Jeeves, published in 1925. This short story tells the reader why Bertie Wooster has such a fear of public speaking, which expanded upon in the novel Right Ho, Jeeves . It is told, in a change, from Jeeves' perspective....
" he mentions a sister who has two daughters. None are these are named, and no other siblings are mentioned.
Bertie's aunts and uncles: Bertie's father is said to have had many siblings. In "Extricating Young Gussie" Bertie's Uncle Cuthbert is described as the "late head of the family". Bertie's Uncle George carries the title of Lord Yaxley.
Other uncles who come into the stories are Henry Wooster, a "looney", whom the family find a considerable embarrassment; and
Willoughby Wooster, upon whom Bertie is initially dependent for financial support, but who passes away during the course of the stories, allowing Bertie to inherit a vast fortune.
Two sisters of Bertie's father play major roles in most of the stories and novels. They are
Aunt DahliaDahlia Travers is a recurring fictional character in the Jeeves novels of British comic writer P. G. Wodehouse, being best known as Bertie Wooster's bonhomous, red-faced Aunt Dahlia. She is much beloved by her nephew, in contrast with her sister, Bertie's Aunt Agatha...
and
Aunt AgathaAgatha Gregson, née Wooster, later Lady Worplesdon, is a recurring fictional character from the Jeeves stories of British comic writer P. G. Wodehouse, being best known as Aunt Agatha, Bertie Wooster's least favourite aunt, and a counterpoint to her sister, Bertie's Aunt Dahlia...
.
An aunt by marriage, Aunt Julia, the widow of Uncle Cuthbert, appears only in
Extricating Young Gussie"Extricating Young Gussie" is a short story by British comic writer P. G. Wodehouse, being the first appearance of two of his most popular characters, the ingenious valet Jeeves and his master Bertie Wooster. It was first published in the U.S. in the 15 September 1915 issue of The Saturday Evening...
but is mentioned by Bertie occasionally.
Bertie has three uncles-by-marriage throughout the series; they are
Tom TraversTom Travers is a character in P.G. Wodehouse's Jeeves stories. Travers is the he husband of Aunt Dahlia and the uncle of Bertie Wooster. Travers, known to Bertie as Uncle Tom, reluctantly funded his wife's rarely-profitable magazine Milady's Boudoir, which he always called "Madame's Nightshirt"...
, Aunt Dahlia's husband; Spenser Gregson, Aunt Agatha's first husband; and Percy Craye, Earl of Worplesdon, her second.
Bertie's Cousins: Henry's twin sons, Claude and Eustace, play significant roles in several stories, as do Aunt Dahlia's children, Angela and Bonzo Travers, and Aunt Agatha's young son, Thomas Gregson, nicknamed "Thos". The title character of "Extricating Young Gussie" is Bertie's cousin Gussie, son of Aunt Julia and Uncle Cuthbert.
The family title: Bertie's Uncle George is Lord Yaxley, indicating that he is the eldest living uncle and that Bertie's paternal grandfather likely held the title as well. However, the relative ages of Bertie's father and remaining uncles is unclear, so it is unknown whether Bertie or one of his male cousins would be in line to inherit the title. In "Extricating Young Gussie" Uncle Cuthbert is described as the "late head of the family" however it is explicitly stated that his son Gussie "has no title."
Education
Bertie's early education took place at the semi-fictional
Malvern House Preparatory SchoolMalvern House Preparatory School, at Kearsney, Kent, was a preparatory school which specialised in preparing boys for entry to the Royal Naval College at Dartmouth. The comic writer P. G...
. Wodehouse himself attended a school by that name, located in Kearsney, Kent; however, the Malvern House which appears in the stories is located in the fictional town of Bramley-on-Sea.
He was further educated at the non-fictional
EtonEton College, often referred to simply as Eton, is a British independent boarding school for boys aged approx. 13 to 19. It was founded in 1440 by King Henry VI as "The King's College of Our Lady of Eton besides Wyndsor"....
and
Magdalen College, OxfordMagdalen College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. As of 2006 the college had an estimated financial endowment of £153 million....
.
Most of Bertie's friends and fellow Drones Club members depicted in the stories attended one or more of these institutions with him. Also, Bertie's former schoolmaster at Malvern House,
Aubrey UpjohnThe Reverend Aubrey Upjohn is a recurring fictional character from the Jeeves and Drones Club stories of British comic writer P. G. Wodehouse, being the Headmaster at Malvern House Preparatory School during Bertie Wooster's tenure there.-Overview:...
, appears or is mentioned several times.
One detail of Bertie's school life which comes into several stories is his winning of the prize for Scripture Knowledge while at Malvern House. Bertie speaks with pride of this achievement on several occasions; however, in
Right Ho, JeevesRight Ho, Jeeves is a novel by P. G. Wodehouse, the second full-length novel featuring the popular characters Jeeves and Bertie Wooster, after Thank You, Jeeves. It also features a host of other recurring Wodehouse characters, and is mostly set at Brinkley Court, the home of Bertie's Aunt Dahlia...
, the character of Gussie Fink-Nottle publicly accuses Bertie of having achieved the award through cheating.
Romance
Bertie never marries, but does become engaged in nearly every story and novel. In the early years he is rather given to sudden and short-lived infatuations, under the influence of which he proposes to
Florence CrayeLady Florence Craye is a fictional character who appears in P. G. Wodehouse's Jeeves stories and novels. Lady Florence, the daughter of Percy Craye, Earl of Worplesdon and elder sister to Edwin, a nasty little runtish type of lad, is the sometime fiancee of Bertie Wooster...
(in
Jeeves Takes Charge"Jeeves Takes Charge" is a short story written by P. G. Wodehouse. It was first published in the United States in The Saturday Evening Post on November 28, 1916, and in the United Kingdom in the April 1923 edition of Strand Magazine. Its first book publication was in Carry on, Jeeves in 1925...
, the second story in terms of publication and the first in the internal timeline of the books), Pauline Stoker, and
Bobbie WickhamRoberta "Bobbie" Wickham is a recurring fictional character in the Jeeves and Mr Mulliner stories of British comic writer P. G. Wodehouse, being a troublesome redheaded girl, enamoured of practical jokes which often result in general pandemonium.-Overview:...
. In all of these cases, he rethinks the charms of the holy state and a "lovely profile" upon a closer understanding of the personalities of the girls in question. However, having already received a proposal from him, each assumes in her own way that she has an open invitation to marry Bertie whenever she has a spat with her current fiancé.
Madeline BassettMadeline Bassett is a recurring character in the Jeeves stories by English comic writer P. G. Wodehouse, being one of the young women to whom Bertie Wooster periodically finds himself threateningly engaged.-Overview:...
and
Honoria GlossopHonoria Glossop is a particularly formidable female from the Jeeves stories by P. G. Wodehouse. She is of a rather muscular, sporty temperament, and as such remains unattached...
are similarly deluded, though in their cases Bertie was attempting to plead the case of a friend (Gussie Fink-Nottle and Bingo Little respectively) but was misinterpreted as confessing his own love. In all of these cases, Bertie feels himself honour-bound (also known as the Code of the Woosters) to agree to the marriage. He often cites his determination to act as a
preux chevalier, and observes that "one is either
preux or one isn't". In the later stories and novels, Bertie regards engagement solely as a dire situation from which Jeeves must extricate him.
Aunt Agatha is of the opinion that Bertie, whom she believes to be a burden to society in his present state, must marry and carry on the Wooster name; furthermore, he must marry a girl capable of moulding his personality and compensating for his many defects. (Interestingly, though, in the short story
Jeeves Takes Charge, Lady Florence Craye tells Bertie that his Aunt Agatha "called you a spineless invertebrate and advised me strongly not to marry you". Aunt Agatha later marries Florence's father Lord Worplesdon, and Florence begins to call Agatha "mother", to Bertie's bemusement, so evidently the two terrifyingly imperious females feel some sort of spiritual kinship.) This prospect mortifies Bertie, not least because it would mean he and Jeeves would have to part ways.
Jeeves
When Bertie catches his valet Meadowes stealing his silk socks, he sacks him and sends for another from the agency.
JeevesReginald Jeeves is a fictional character in the short stories and novels of P. G. Wodehouse, being the "gentleman's personal gentleman" of Bertie Wooster . Created in 1915 and named in the title of most of his stories since 1916 and most of his books from 1919 to 1974, Jeeves is Wodehouse's most...
, arriving in
Jeeves Takes Charge, mixes Bertie a hangover cure. This comprises an egg yolk, Worcestershire sauce, cinnamon oil, a hefty portion of
cognacCognac is a commune in the French département of Charente, of which it is a sub-prefecture. The inhabitants of the town are known as Cognaçais.-Geography:Cognac is situated on the river Charente between the towns ofAngoulême and Saintes...
and perhaps a final ingredient of a chili-based concoction (such as
TabascoTabasco sauce is a mass-produced brand of hot sauce made from tabasco peppers , vinegar, and salt, and aged in white oak barrels for three years...
) of his own invention. The cure is remarkably effective, and Jeeves is hired almost immediately. According to the text, Bertie is twenty-four when he hires Jeeves. Thereafter, Bertie cedes much of the control of his life to Jeeves, clashing occasionally on matters of dress and appearance. When Jeeves expresses disapproval of a particular article of Bertie's clothing or grooming, be it a brightly-colored
cummerbundA cummerbund is a broad waist sash, usually pleated, which is often worn with single-breasted dinner jackets .. The cummerbund was first adopted by British military officers in colonial India as a cool alternative to a waistcoat, and later spread to civilian use...
, a check
suitA suit is a set of garments crafted from the same cloth, consisting of at least a jacket and trousers. Lounge suits are the most common style of Western suit, originating in England as country wear...
, purple
socksSOCKS is an Internet protocol that facilitates the routing of network packets between client-server applications via a proxy server. SOCKS performs at Layer 5 of the OSI model—the Session Layer...
, white mess jacket, various
hatA hat is a head covering. It may be worn for protection against the elements, for religious reasons, for safety, or as a fashion accessory. In the past, hats were an indicator of social status...
s or even a mustache, it is certain that it will be disposed of by the end of the story, sometimes after a period of coolness between the two.
Jeeves frequently displays apparent mastery over a vast range of subjects from philosophy (his favourite philosopher is Spinoza) to an encyclopedic knowledge of poetry, science, history, psychology, geography, politics and literature. In one particular instance, he goes to the extent of breaking a vase he disliked which had been purchased by Bertie. He is also a 'bit of a whiz' in all matters pertaining to gambling, car maintenance, etiquette and women. However, his most impressive feats are a flawless knowledge of the British aristocracy and making antidotes (esp. for hangovers). His mental prowess is attributed to eating fish, according to Bertie, and the latter often offers the dish to Jeeves.
Among Bertie's many reasons for not wanting to marry are his dislike of children and that all of his fiancées seem to have an aversion to Jeeves, insisting that Bertie sack him after their wedding. More importantly Jeeves is disagreeable to the prospect of his master's matrimonial alliance, as any prospective wife would likely dethrone him as the "true master" of the Wooster household. Because of this, he manages to steer Bertie out of every close relationship, sometimes against Bertie's will. Aunt Agatha also disapproves strongly of Jeeves's influence on Bertie, seeing his position as Bertie's "keeper" as further proof of self-insufficiency and unwillingness to take responsibility. Bertie's Aunt Dahlia, on the other hand, is extremely impressed by Jeeves's intelligence and is often party to his clever schemes.
Acquaintances
Bertie has several friends who keep popping into his life mostly for Jeeves' help. A list of those who play major roles are:
- Hildebrand "Tuppy" Glossop
Hildebrand "Tuppy" Glossop is a fictional character appearing in some of P. G. Wodehouse Jeeves books. He is a member of the Drones Club and a good friend of Bertie Wooster. In Right Ho, Jeeves, we learn that Tuppy is of Scottish origin.-Relationships:...
, who once challenged Bertie to swing across the pool in the Drones club and looped the rope across the last ring thereby ensuring Bertie had to jump into the pool in "correct evening costume", or tie and tails. He is the cousin of Bertie's sometime fiancée, Honoria Glossop, and is usually engaged to Bertie's cousin Angela.
- Augustus "Gussie" Fink-Nottle
Augustus "Gussie" Fink-Nottle is a recurring fictional character in the Jeeves novels of British comic writer P. G. Wodehouse, being a lifelong friend of Jeeves's master Bertie Wooster, and a possible member of the Drones Club...
, who keeps newts and has a face like a fish.
- Oofy Prosser
Alexander Charles "Oofy" Prosser is a recurring fictional character from the stories of British comic writer P. G. Wodehouse, being the millionaire member of the Drones Club and a friend of Jeeves's master Bertie Wooster...
, the Drones Club Millionaire with a pimply face. His wealth apparently exceeds Bertie's, though it can't be by much.
- Richard "Bingo" Little
Richard P. "Bingo" Little is a recurring fictional character from the Drones and the Jeeves stories of British comic writer P. G. Wodehouse, being a friend of Jeeves's master Bertie Wooster and a member of the Drones Club.-Overview:...
, who had the penchant of falling in love with every girl he met before finally marrying Rosie M. Banks.
- Rev. Harold P. "Stinker" Pinker, Curate
From the Latin curatus , a curate is a person who is invested with the care, or cure , of souls of a parish. In this sense it correctly means a parish priest. In Anglican churches, however, the term is usually used for an assistant priest or deacon...
of Totleigh-in-the-Wold. Pinker is consistently clumsy except when playing rugbyRugby union is a full contact team sport, a form of football which originated in England in the early 19th century. One of the codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. It is played with an oval-shaped ball, outdoors on a level field, usually with a grass surface, 100 m...
as a prop forward.
- Freddie Widgeon
Freddie Widgeon is a recurring fictional character from the Drones Club stories of English comic writer P. G. Wodehouse, being a friend of Bingo Little and Jeeves' master Bertie Wooster.-Overview:...
- Harold Winship, Stands for Parliament as the Conservative candidate in Market Snodsbury.
- Beefy Bingham, Parson
In the pre-Reformation church, a parson was the priest of an independent parish church, that is, a parish church not under the control of a larger ecclesiastical or monastic organisation...
in the East End
- Marmaduke "Chuffy" Chuffington, the young landowner of Chuffnell Regis, an estate he tries to sell.
- George "Sippy" Sipperly, an author who is arrested for assaulting the police on boat race
The Boat Race, also known as the University Boat Race and The Oxford and Cambridge Boat Race, is a rowing race in England between the Oxford University Boat Club and the Cambridge University Boat Club. It is rowed annually between competing eights each spring on the Thames in London...
night.
- Claude "Catsmeat" Potter-Pirbright
Claude Cattermole "Catsmeat" Potter-Pirbright is a recurring fictional character from the Jeeves stories of British comic writer P. G. Wodehouse, being a member of the Drones Club and a longtime school friend of Jeeves's master Bertie Wooster...
, an old school friend of Bertie's.
- Charles "Biffy" Biffen
- Cyril "Barmy" Fotheringay-Phipps
In the stories and novels of P. G. Wodehouse, Cyril "Barmy" Fotheringay-Phipps is a member of the Drones Club along with fellow club members Tuppy Glossop, Psmith, and Bertie Wooster...
Bertie is known for being incredibly loyal to his friends, willing to do whatever he can to solve their problems. He considers it a duty to be able to help them, saying "when it comes to helping a pal we Woosters have no thought of self." This has led to somewhat of a bad connotation in his life though, as he is regularly volunteered for troublesome tasks - he muses in
Jeeves in the Offing that "whenever there is dirty work to be undertaken at the crossroads, the cry that goes around my little circle is always 'Let Wooster do it.'" However, to his credit he never shies away from these tasks or enlisting Jeeves' assistance with them.
Bertie belongs to the
Drones ClubThe Drones Club is a recurring fictional location in the stories of British comic writer P. G. Wodehouse, being a gentlemen's club in London. Many of his Jeeves and Blandings Castle stories feature the club or its members....
, and many of these characters are fellow members and appear in the separate Wodehouse "Drones Club" series of stories. Bertie is also acquainted with Lord Emsworth, another of Wodehouse's best-known characters, and mentions having visited
Blandings CastleBlandings Castle is a recurring fictional location in the stories of British comic writer P. G. Wodehouse, being the seat of Lord Emsworth , home to many of his family, and setting for numerous tales and adventures, written between 1915 and 1975.The series of stories which take place at the castle,...
.
Bertie also has several adversaries who are constantly suspicious of him and on occasion, threaten him. Among them are:
- G. d'Arcy "Stilton" Cheesewright - who is engaged to Florence Craye; and threatens to break Bertie's spine in three, four or five pieces when he suspects him of flirting with Florence
- Lord Sidcup (Roderick Spode) - is in love with Madeline Bassett
Madeline Bassett is a recurring character in the Jeeves stories by English comic writer P. G. Wodehouse, being one of the young women to whom Bertie Wooster periodically finds himself threateningly engaged.-Overview:...
and had been since their shared childhood. He threatens Bertie when he believes Bertie to be toying with her affections or breaking her heart.
- Orlo Porter - who is a self-described communist, is Bertie's chief nemesis in Aunts Aren't Gentlemen
Aunts Aren't Gentlemen is a novel by P. G. Wodehouse, first published in the UK on October 17 1974 by Barrie & Jenkins, London, and in the U.S. under the title The Cat-nappers on April 14 1975 by Simon & Schuster, New York...
. Like Roderick Spode, Porter repeatedly threatens Bertie with bodily harm. Bertie says he takes Porter's threats more seriously than he did Spode's. In the end Porter inherits a considerable sum and his politics moderate.
Language
With a single exception, all the Bertie Wooster stories are told in the first person by Bertie himself. This perspective allows Wodehouse a comedic paradox: although Bertie himself is, as Jeeves puts it, "mentally negligible", his descriptive style employs a considerable facility with English.
Bertie displays a fondness for pre-war slang, peppering his speech with words and phrases such as "What ho!", "pipped", "bally", and so on. He also commonly abbreviates words and phrases, such as "eggs and b." As the years pass, popular references from film and literature would also feature in his narratives.
Depictions outside the Wodehouse stories
In the Granada Television series "
Jeeves and WoosterJeeves and Wooster is a British comedy television series adapted by Clive Exton from P.G. Wodehouse's Jeeves stories. The series was produced by Picture Partnership Productions for Granada Television and screened on the ITV network from 1990 to 1993...
", Bertie is depicted as being a very capable
pianistA pianist is a musician who plays the piano. A professional pianist can perform solo pieces, play with an ensemble or orchestra, or accompany one or more singers, solo instrumentalists, or other performers....
and singer. He often plays and sings
show tuneA show tune is a popular song originally written as part of the score of a "show" , especially if the piece in question has become a "standard", more or less detached in most people's minds from the original context...
s and popular songs of the 1920s and 1930s, including the songs "
Nagasaki"Nagasaki" is a jazz song from 1928 by Harry Warren and Mort Dixon that became a popular Tin Pan Alley hit. The silly, bawdy lyrics have only the vaguest relation to the Japanese port city of Nagasaki...
", "
Puttin' on the Ritz"Puttin' on the Ritz" is a pop song written and published in 1929 by Irving Berlin and introduced by Harry Richman in the musical film Puttin' on the Ritz . The title derives from the slang expression "putting on the Ritz," meaning to dress very fashionably. The expression was inspired by the...
", "
Minnie the Moocher"Minnie the Moocher" is a jazz song first recorded in 1931 by Cab Calloway and His Orchestra, selling over 1 million copies. "Minnie the Moocher" is most famous for its nonsensical ad libbed lyrics...
", and "
You Do Something to Me"You Do Something to Me" is a song written by Cole Porter. It is notable in that it was the first number in Porter's first fully integrated-book musical Fifty Million Frenchmen...
".
In the fictional biography
Jeeves: A Gentleman's Personal Gentleman by Northcote Parkinson, Bertie comes into the title of Lord Yaxley upon the death of his uncle George Wooster, marries Bobbie Wickham and makes Jeeves the landlord of the Angler's Rest pub, which is on the Yaxley estate. Jeeves then supplants Mr Mulliner as the resident expert and storyteller of the pub.
In
Alan MooreAlan Oswald Moore is an English writer known for work in comics, including the acclaimed comic book series Watchmen, V for Vendetta and From Hell...
's graphic novel
The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen: Black DossierThe League of Extraordinary Gentlemen: Black Dossier is an original graphic novel in the comic book series The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, written by Alan Moore and illustrated by Kevin O'Neill...
, Bertie appears in the segment "What Ho, Gods of the Abyss?" which comically mixes elements of Wodehouse with H.P. Lovecraft's
Cthulhu MythosThe Cthulhu Mythos is a shared universe created in the 1920s by American horror writer H. P. Lovecraft. The term Lovecraft Mythos is preferred by some — most notably the Lovecraft scholar S.T. Joshi....
. Bertie blithely recounts the arrival of a
Mi-goThe Mi-go are a race of extraterrestrials in the Cthulhu Mythos. They were created by H. P. Lovecraft and first described in his sonnet cycle Fungi from Yuggoth...
to
Brinkley CourtBrinkley Court is a recurring fictional location, a country house in the stories of British comic writer P. G. Wodehouse, being the seat of Tom and Dahlia Travers...
and
Aunt DahliaDahlia Travers is a recurring fictional character in the Jeeves novels of British comic writer P. G. Wodehouse, being best known as Bertie Wooster's bonhomous, red-faced Aunt Dahlia. She is much beloved by her nephew, in contrast with her sister, Bertie's Aunt Agatha...
's
possessionDemonic possession is often the term used to describe the control over a human form by a demon. Descriptions of demonic possessions often include: erased memories or personalities, convulsions, “fits” and fainting as if one were dying...
by
CthulhuCthulhu is a fictional cosmic entity created by horror author H. P. Lovecraft in 1926, first appearing in the short story "The Call of Cthulhu" when it was published in Weird Tales in 1928....
. The Lovecraftian menaces are driven off by Jeeves with the assistance of Mina Murray,
Allan QuatermainAllan Quatermain is the protagonist of H. Rider Haggard's 1885 novel King Solomon's Mines and its various prequels and sequels. Allan Quatermain was also the title of a book in this sequence.- History :...
,
CarnackiThomas Carnacki is a fictional supernatural detective created by English fantasy writer William Hope Hodgson. Carnacki was the protagonist of a series of six short stories published between 1910 and 1912 in The Idler magazine and The New Magazine....
, and
OrlandoOrlando: A Biography is an influential novel by Virginia Woolf, first published on 11 October 1928. A semi-biographical novel based in part on the life of Woolf's intimate friend Vita Sackville-West, it is generally considered one of Woolf's most accessible novels...
. Throughout the events, Bertie remains unaware of the true nature of the goings-on.
Controversy
Bertie's foppish foolishness was not popular with everyone. Papers released by the
Public Record OfficeThe Public Record Office of the United Kingdom is one of the three organisations that make up the National Archives...
have disclosed that when Wodehouse was recommended for a Companion of Honour in 1967, Sir
Patrick DeanSir Patrick Henry Dean, GCMG, was Permanent Representative of the United Kingdom to the United Nations from 1960 to 1964 and British Ambassador to the United States from 1965 to 1969....
, British ambassador in Washington, argued that it "would also give currency to a Bertie Wooster image of the British character, which we are doing our best to eradicate".
Actors
Film and TV actors
- David Niven
James David Graham Niven , known as David Niven, was an English actor and novelist, best known for his roles as Phileas Fogg in Around the World in 80 Days and Sir Charles Litton, a.k.a. "the Phantom," in The Pink Panther.-Early life:David Niven was born in London, England...
was the only actor to play Bertie in a theatrical film, in Thank You, Jeeves!Thank You, Jeeves! is a comedy film starring Arthur Treacher and David Niven. The screenplay, written by Stephen Gross and Joseph Hoffman, is loosely based on the Jeeves novels of P.G. Wodehouse....
(1935). But this film bore almost no resemblance to Wodehouse's fiction, and portrayed Bertie as a woman chaser, the opposite of the usual situation in the stories.
- Ian Carmichael
Ian Carmichael OBE is an English film, stage, television and radio actor.-Early life:Carmichael was born in Hull, Yorkshire. His father was an optician and he was educated at Scarborough College and Bromsgrove School, before training as an actor at RADA...
played the part of Bertie (opposite Dennis PriceDennis Price was an English actor, remembered for his suave screen roles, particularly Louis Mazzini in Kind Hearts and Coronets, and for his portrayal of the omniscient valet Jeeves in 1960s television adaptations of P. G...
as Jeeves) in the earlier BBCThe British Broadcasting Corporation, usually referred to by its abbreviation as the "BBC", is the longest established and largest broadcaster in the world...
World of Wooster (1965–1967).
- Hugh Laurie
James Hugh Calum Laurie, OBE , best known as Hugh Laurie, is an English actor, comedian, writer, and musician.He first reached fame as one half of the Fry and Laurie double act, along with his friend and comedy partner, Stephen Fry, and then as a cast member of Blackadder. Since 2004, he has...
portrayed Bertie in the early-1990s ITVITV is a public service network of British commercial television broadcasters, set up under the Independent Television Authority to provide competition to the BBC. ITV is the oldest commercial television network in the UK...
series Jeeves and WoosterJeeves and Wooster is a British comedy television series adapted by Clive Exton from P.G. Wodehouse's Jeeves stories. The series was produced by Picture Partnership Productions for Granada Television and screened on the ITV network from 1990 to 1993...
opposite his long-time comedy partner, Stephen FryStephen John Fry is a British actor, writer, comedian, author, television presenter and film director. With Hugh Laurie, as the comedy double act Fry and Laurie, he co-wrote and co-starred in A Bit of Fry and Laurie, and the duo also played the title roles in Jeeves and Wooster...
, as Jeeves. (Laurie also portrayed in Blackadder the ThirdBlackadder the Third is the third series of the BBC situation comedy Blackadder, written by Richard Curtis and Ben Elton, which aired from 17 September to 22 October 1987....
the Prince Regent, whose butler Mr. E. BlackadderEdmund Blackadder, Esq. was the main character in the third series of the BBC sitcom Blackadder. He was played by Rowan Atkinson.The series was set in the reign of George III of the United Kingdom...
, like Wooster's valet Meadowes, stole his socks.)
Radio actors
- Terry-Thomas
Thomas Terry Hoar-Stevens was a distinctive English comic actor, known as Terry-Thomas. He was famous for his portrayal of disreputable members of the upper classes, especially cads, with a "toothbrush" moustache, the trademark gap in his front teeth, cigarette holder, smoking jacket, and...
played Bertie in a dramatisation of "Jeeves Takes Charge" released as a record album in the 1960s.
- Richard Briers
Richard David Briers, CBE is an English actor whose career has encompassed theatre, television, film and radio.He first came to prominence as George Starling in Marriage Lines in the 1960s, but it was in the following decade when he played Tom Good in the BBC sitcom The Good Life that he became a...
portrayed Bertie in BBC Radio 4BBC Radio 4 is a domestic UK radio station that broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history. It replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967.-Outline:...
series What Ho, Jeeves! opposite Michael HordernSir Michael Murray Hordern was an English actor, knighted in 1983 for his services to the theatre.-Early life:...
as Jeeves. The series ran occasionally from 1973 to 1981.
- Simon Cadell
Simon John Cadell was an English actor.Born in London, he was the grandson of the Scottish character actor Jean Cadell and the brother of the actress Selina Cadell...
played Bertie opposite David SuchetDavid Suchet , OBE is an English actor, known for his work on British television. He is recognised for his RTS- and BPG award-winning performance as Augustus Melmotte in the 2001 British TV mini-drama The Way We Live Now, alongside Matthew Macfadyen and Paloma Baeza, and a 1991 British Academy...
as Jeeves in a BBC radio adaptation of The Code of the Woosters.
- Marcus Brigstocke
Marcus Alexander Brigstocke is an English comedian and satirist who has worked extensively in stand-up comedy, television and radio...
played Bertie in a Radio 4 adaptation of The Code of the Woosters in 2006, with Andrew SachsAndrew Sachs is a German-born British actor. He made his name on British television and is best known for his portrayal of Manuel in Fawlty Towers, a role for which he was BAFTA-nominated...
as Jeeves.
Audiobook actors
Audiobooks of many of the Jeeves stories and novels have been recorded by British actors, including
Simon CallowSimon Phillip Hugh Callow, CBE is an English actor, writer and theatre director.-Early years:Callow was born in Streatham, London, UK, to Yvonne Mary Guise, a secretary, and Neil Francis Callow, a businessman...
,
Jonathan CecilJonathan Cecil is an artist and entrepreneur. Cecil, publicly known as , is known for his short animations posted on YouTube. Cecil has gained worldwide attention from people interested in aviation by independently creating short films utilizing Microsoft Flight Simulator 2004.Jonathan Cecil is an...
, Martin Jarvis,
Frederick DavidsonFrederick Harvey Davidson was Mayor of Winnipeg from 1917 to 1918.He was born in Brockville, Ontario and moved to Western Canada when he was 18 years old...
, and Alexander Spencer.
See also
- Other characters in the Jeeves stories
- By Jeeves
By Jeeves, originally Jeeves, is a 1975/1996 musical by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Alan Ayckbourn, based on the novels of P. G. Wodehouse....
, originally Jeeves, a musical since 1975
External links