Arthur Brough
Arthur Brough | |
|---|---|
| Born | Frederick Arthur Baker |
| Years active | 1926-1978 |
| Spouse | Elizabeth Addyman (1929-1978) |
Arthur Brough (born Frederick Arthur Baker February 26, 1905, Petersfield, Hampshire; died May 28, 1978 Folkestone, Kent, England, UK) is best known as the senior clothing salesman Mr. Grainger on the BBC-TV comedy series Are You Being Served? in the 1970s.
The diminutive actor (5'2") originally wanted to become a teacher, but couldn't get a job and so went to work in a solicitor's office. Work there was 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 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 as collateral to rent the Leas Pavilion, a repertory theatre in Folkestone, Kent. They had one daughter, Joanna, who was educated at Ashford School for Girls.
Arthur both ran the company ("The Arthur Brough Players") and acted in the shows and, once the new Folkestone rep was established, he began establishing new repertory companies in Bradford, Bristol, Blackpool, Keighley, Leeds, Lincoln, Oxford and Southampton, as well as other acting companies throughout the country. With the advent of World War II, he enlisted in the Royal Navy, where he served for the duration.This included helping with the evacuation of Dunkirk in 1940, his ship returning to the rescue scene several times.
Upon being demobilized, he resumed his acting career by reopening the Folkestone rep. Many notable actors began their careers with the Arthur Brough Players, including Peter Barkworth, who appeared in The Guinea Pig in 1948: Eric Lander, later a star of the TV series No Hiding Place, in 1949: Polly James in the 1960s: and Anne Stallybrass, 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, who went on to marry Barry Morse: and Trevor Bannister, 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 Southend and Eastbourne.
With the rise of television, 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 movies and television. His daughter, Joanna Hutton, said 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 his daughter, he found it hard adjusting from stage to screen at first. "He realized how hammy he was. He used to take the mickey out of himself; he'd always acted in a Shakespearean manner and suddenly realized he had to tone down his performance for film."
One of the first jobs he did away from the stage was the film The Green Man (film) with Alastair Sim, in which he played the landlord of the eponymous hotel. He had a minor role opposite Jayne Mansfield in the 1960 film The Challenge, and made guest appearances in TV shows such as Upstairs, Downstairs( Episode 3.2), Dad's Army, Z-Cars, The Persuaders and Jason King. He also continued to appear in theatrical productions, including Half a Sixpence (1967), playing a shopkeeper. The Folkestone Rep continued until 1969 before closing, at the same time as Brough's wife Elizabeth began to suffer ill-health.
In 1972, Brough was cast as Ernest Grainger in the BBC sit-com Are You Being Served? by Jeremy Lloyd and David Croft. Initially a pilot episode in the Comedy Playhouse series, it was well-received and commissioned to begin full production in May 1973. Set in a fading department store, Brough played the senior menswear assistant, alongside John Inman and Trevor Bannister. The show became enormously popular, with an audience of 22 millions in 1979, and running till 1985.
After the show completed its fifth season (1977). all was going well when, on Easter Sunday 1978, Arthur Brough's wife of 50 years, Elizabeth, died, and the emotionally devastated Brough announced he was quitting acting. According to his daughter, he stayed with her for a few weeks, during which time David Croft and Jeremy Lloyd made contact to say they were writing him into the next series. Unfortunately, he died just six weeks after his wife, on May 28, 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.
Arthur Brough dedicated his life to the theatre, and Are You Being Served? co-star Mollie Sugden credits him with helping train a generation of actors. His colleagues have fond memories of working with Arthur, who - as his daughter noted - "was a highly respected actor who'd spent forty years in the profession." At the time of Arthur's 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 filming. Despite this however, Trevor Bannister, for example, still holds 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 off 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 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!'
His daughter, Joanna Hutton became the first female curator of the Brontë Parsonage Museum in Haworth, for a period in the 1960s.