Arthur Treacher

Arthur Veary Treacher, Jr. was an English actor born on 23 July 1894 in Brighton, England, and active in film, stage, and television from the 1920s through the 1960s. He died on 14 December 1975 at the age of 81 from cardiovascular disease. The son of Arthur Veary Treacher (1862–1924), a Sussex solicitor, and Alice Mary Longhurst (1865–1946), he was educated at Uppingham School in Rutland. He served as an officer of the Royal Garrison Artillery during World War I before establishing an acting career in England. In 1940 he married Virginia Taylor (1898–1984).

Treacher arrived in New York in March 1926 as part of a musical-comedy revue called Great Temptations, marking the beginning of a Broadway career that would span from 1926 to 1963. His New York stage credits included the plays Back to Methuselah, Getting Married, and The Fighting Cock, as well as the 1930 Billy Rose musical revue Sweet and Low. In 1962 he replaced Robert Coote as King Pellinore in the original Broadway production of Lerner and Loewe's Camelot, receiving over-the-title billing. He continued with the production through its Chicago engagement and post-Broadway tour, which concluded in August 1964. During 1961 and 1962, he and William Gaxton appeared in Guy Lombardo's production of the musical revue Paradise Island at the Jones Beach Marine Theater.

His film career began in 1929 with the Paramount Pictures feature The Battle of Paris, filmed in New York and released in November 1930. After a pause, he resumed motion picture work in Hollywood in 1933, freelancing among various studios rather than signing an exclusive contract with any single one. His casting as an English butler in Fashions of 1934 established a typecasting in servant and valet roles that defined much of his screen career. He portrayed P. G. Wodehouse's valet character Jeeves in Thank You, Jeeves! (1936) and Step Lively, Jeeves! (1937), and played butlers or valets in additional films including Personal Maid's Secret, Mr. Cinderella, Bordertown, and In Society. Treacher appeared in four Shirley Temple films — Curly Top (1935), Stowaway (1936), Heidi (1937), and The Little Princess (1939) — with scenes deliberately staged to contrast his 6-foot-4-inch frame against the child actress. In 1964 he was cast as Constable Jones in Walt Disney's Mary Poppins.

Treacher maintained a presence in American radio as well. In 1950 he hosted a program on WNBC Radio in New York City on which he played and commented on recordings of Gilbert and Sullivan music, and he appeared as a guest commentator on the NBC network's radio series The Chamber Music Society of Lower Basin Street. From the mid-1950s onward he became a recurring presence on television, appearing on programs including The Tonight Show and The Garry Moore Show. In early 1961 he appeared in episode 463 of I've Got a Secret, riding a horse on stage. In 1964 he played the English butler Arthur Pinckney in two episodes of The Beverly Hillbillies. Beginning in 1965, talk-show host Merv Griffin engaged him as announcer and bantering partner on The Merv Griffin Show, a role he held until 1970. In 1966 he and Griffin recorded an album together under the name 'Alf & 'Alf titled Songs of the British Music Hall. When Griffin moved his show from New York to Los Angeles in 1970, Treacher remained in New York.

During his later years Treacher lent his name to two commercial ventures: the Call Arthur Treacher Service System, a household help agency, and Arthur Treacher's Fish and Chips, a restaurant chain that grew to nearly 900 outlets during the 1970s. In interviews Treacher declined to confirm or deny any ownership stake in the restaurant company.