Profile of P.G. Wodehouse on Famous Like Me

Sir Pelham Grenville Wodehouse (October 15, 1881 – February 14, 1975) was an English comic writer who enjoyed enormous popular success for more than seventy years. Described by Sean O'Casey as "English literature's performing flea", Wodehouse was an acknowledged master of English prose admired both by contemporaries like Hilaire Belloc, Evelyn Waugh and Rudyard Kipling and by modern writers like Salman Rushdie, Douglas Adams and Terry Pratchett.

Best-known today for the Jeeves and Blandings Castle novels and short stories, Wodehouse was also a talented lyricist who worked with Cole Porter on the musical Anything Goes and frequently collaborated with Jerome Kern. He wrote the lyrics for the hit song "Bill" in Show Boat.

Life

Born in Guildford, Wodehouse (pronounced "Wood-house") was nicknamed 'Plum'. He was educated at Dulwich College, but his anticipated progression to university was stymied by family financial problems. Subsequently he worked for the Hong Kong and Shanghai Bank for two years, though he was never really interested in banking as a career. Having taken up writing as his profession, he eventually went to Hollywood, where he earned enormous amounts as a screenwriter. Many of his novels were also serialized in magazines such as The Saturday Evening Post, which also paid large amounts of money. He married in 1914, gaining a stepdaughter.

Although Wodehouse and his novels are considered quintessentially English, from 1924 on he lived in France and the United States, and in 1955 he became an American citizen. He was also profoundly uninterested in politics and world affairs. When World War II broke out in 1939 he remained at his seaside home in Le Touquet, France, instead of returning to England, apparently failing to recognize the seriousness of the conflict. He was subsequently taken prisoner by the Germans in 1940 and interned by them for a year, first in Belgium, then at Tost in Upper Silesia (now in Poland). While at Tost, he entertained his fellow prisoners with witty dialogues, which, after being released from internment a few months short of his 60th birthday, he used as the basis for a series of radio broadcasts he was persuaded by the Germans to make from Berlin. Wartime England was in no mood for light-hearted banter, however, and the broadcasts led to many accusations of collaboration and even treason. Some libraries banned his books. Foremost among his critics was A. A. Milne, author of the "Winnie the Pooh" books; Wodehouse got some revenge by creating a ridiculous character named "Timothy Bobbin," who starred in hilarious parodies of some of Milne's children's poetry. Among Wodehouse's defenders were Evelyn Waugh and George Orwell (see links below).

The criticism led Wodehouse to move permanently to America with his wife, Edith. He became an American citizen in 1955, and never returned to his homeland. He was made a Knight of the British Empire (KBE) in 1975, shortly before his death. It is widely believed that the honour was not given earlier because of lingering resentment about the German broadcasts.

Many consider Wodehouse as second only to Charles Dickens in fecundity of character invention. His characters however were not always popular with the establishment, notably the foppish foolishness of Bertie Wooster. Papers released by the Public Record Office have disclosed that when P. G. Wodehouse was recommended in 1967 for a Companion of Honour, Sir Patrick Dean, the 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."

Writings

For a complete list, see List of books by P. G. Wodehouse.

Wodehouse was a prolific author, writing ninety-six books in a career spanning from 1902 to 1975. His works include novels, collections of short stories, and a musical comedy. Many characters and locations appear repeatedly throughout his short stories and novels, leading readers to classify his work by "series".

• The Blandings books are about the upper-class inhabitants of the fictional Blandings Castle, including the eccentric Lord Emsworth, obsessed by his prize-winning pig, the "Empress of Blandings".
  • Something Fresh (U.S. title: Something New) (1915)
  • Leave it to Psmith (1923)
  • Summer Lightning (1929)
  • Heavy Weather (1933)
  • Lord Emsworth and Others (U.S. title: Crime Wave at Blandings) (1937)
  • Sunset at Blandings (1977)
• The wealthy, foppish Bertie Wooster narrates a number of stories and novels that recount the improbable and unfortunate situations in which he and his friends find themselves, and the manner in which his ingenious valet Jeeves is always able to extricate them. Collectively called "the Jeeves stories", they are Wodehouse's most famous. The Jeeves stories are a valuable compendium of pre-World War II English slang in use, perhaps most closely mirrored in American literature by the work of Damon Runyon.
  • Right Ho, Jeeves (1922)
  • Thank You, Jeeves (1934)
  • Much Obliged, Jeeves
  • The Code of the Woosters (1939)
  • Joy in the Morning (U.S. title: Jeeves in the Morning) (1946)
  • Jeeves and the Feudal Spirit (U.S. title: Bertie Wooster Sees It Through) (1954)
  • Jeeves in the Offing (1960)
  • Aunts Aren't Gentlemen (U.S. title: The Catnappers) (1974)
  • Stiff Upper Lip, Jeeves (1963)
• Mr Mulliner is a long-winded pub raconteur who tells outrageous stories about his family.
  • Meet Mr. Mulliner (1927)
  • Mr. Mulliner Speaking (1929)
  • Mulliner Nights (1933)
• Many stories were built around the sport of golf, a pursuit which all characters involved consider the only important part of life. The Oldest Member tells most of them.
  • The Clicking of Cuthbert (1922)
  • The Heart of a Goof (1926)
• Psmith is an ingenious jack-of-all-trades. Some of the Psmith stories overlap with the Blandings stories in that Psmith works for Lord Emsworth, lives at Blandings, and becomes a friend of Freddie Threepwood.
  • Mike and Psmith (1909)
  • Psmith in the City (1910)
  • Psmith Journalist (1915)
  • Leave it to Psmith (1923)
• School stories
  • The Pothunters (1902)
  • A Prefect's Uncle (1903)
  • The Gold Bat (1904)
• Stanley Featherstonehaugh Ukridge is a scheming character, always looking to enlarge his income.
  • Love Among the Chickens (1906)
  • Ukridge (1924)
• Uncle Fred:
  • Uncle Fred in the Springtime (1939)
  • Uncle Dynamite
  • Cocktail Time (1958)
• Other:
  • Piccadilly Jim (1917)
  • Laughing Gas (1936)
  • Quick Service (1940)
  • Performing Flea (Autobiography, 1951)

Both the Blandings and Jeeves stories have been adapted as BBC television series: the Jeeves series has been adapted twice, once in the 1960s (for the BBC) with Ian Carmichael as Bertie Wooster, and Dennis Price as Jeeves, and again in the 1990s (by Granada Television for ITV), with the title Jeeves and Wooster, starring Hugh Laurie as Bertie and Stephen Fry as Jeeves. David Niven and Arthur Treacher also starred as Bertie and Jeeves, respectively, in a few films made in the 1930s.

Characters

For a more extensive list of characters, see List of P. G. Wodehouse characters.

Major characters

• Madeline Bassett
• Monty Bodkin
• Clarence Threepwood, 9th Earl of Emsworth
• Galahad Threepwood
• Gussie Fink-Nottle
• Barmy Fotheringay-Phipps (pronounced Barmy Fungy-Phipps)
• Agatha Gregson (Aunt Agatha)
• Bingo Little
• Jeeves
• Mr Mulliner
• Oofy Prosser
• Dahlia Travers (Aunt Dahlia)
• The Oldest Member
• Psmith
• Stanley Featherstonehaugh Ukridge
• Bertie Wooster
• Frederick Twistleton, 5th Earl of Ickenham (Uncle Fred)

Minor Characters

• Mr. Anstruther, "wettest man in Worcestershire"
• Anatole, chef extraordinaire
• Rupert Baxter, Lord Emsworth's efficient secretary
• Sebastian Beach, butler at Blandings Castle
• Major Brabazon-Plank
• Sir Roderick Glossop, famed looney doctor
• Honoria Glossop, Sir Roderick's intimidating daughter
• Tuppy Glossop, Sir Roderick's nephew
• Roderick Spode, 8th Earl of Sidcup, amateur dictator
• Pongo Twistleton, Uncle Fred's nephew

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