Butler > Catalogs

From Citizendium, the Citizens' Compendium

This is an annotated list of butlers, valets and major domos. For full articles, please see butler and valet. See also related articles: batman, great house, domestic service, housekeeper.

Contents 1 Non-fictional butlers 2 Fictional butlers 3 Fictional valets 4 Male housekeepers

Non-fictional butlers

• Paul Burrell, former butler to the late Diana, Princess of Wales
• Hugh Edgar, butler, The Edwardian Country House, 2002 British historical recreation TV series – Edgar is an architect by profession, but was noted for immersing himself completely in his role.
• Paul Hogan,Australian former diplomat who portrays "the butler" in the US TV series Joe Millionaire – There has been some argument over whether the character in this series is actually a butler, but Hogan himself is now a professional butler. ^[1]
• Arthur Richard Inch, longtime real-life butler, Butler Technical Consultant for the film Gosford Park ^[2]
• Ivor Spencer, Toastmaster and etiquette specialist, head of the Ivor Spencer International School for Butler Administrators/Personal Assistants and Estate Managers

Fictional butlers

Alfred Pennyworth, from Batman, unusually known as “Alfred” rather than “Pennyworth”, “Hudson” of Upstairs, Downstairs fame and Crichton, from J.M. Barrie's The Admirable Crichton are probably the best-known butlers in English-language literature. Other notables include:

• Lynn Belvedere, from the novel Belvedere, the adapted feature film and its sequels, and the TV series Mr. Belvedere. Belvedere was originally a housekeeper; the gag was that because his first name was “Lynn”, the family was expecting a female. Belvedere is usually taken to be a butler in the television series.
• Benson, from the TV series Soap and Benson. Actor Robert Guillaume played Benson against type; his "running gag" was to pause when the doorbell rang, look at his employers quizzically and say, "You want me to get that?".
• Bunter, from the Lord Peter Wimsey series by Dorothy L. Sayers. Mervyn Bunter was originally batman, then valet to Lord Peter, but following Wimsey’s marriage appears to have transitioned seamlessly to de facto family butler.
• Cadbury, from Richie Rich
• Godfrey, from My Man Godfrey
• Geoffrey, from The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air
• Lurch, from The Addams Family
• Niles, from The Nanny
• Stevens, from The Remains of the Day

Fictional valets

• Jeeves, created in 1915 by P. G. Wodehouse, starred in a series of stories until Wodehouse's death in 1975. Arguments abound concerning Jeeves's proper title: he was clearly a "gentleman's gentleman" but was called upon to act as butler more than once and in general functioned over and above the requirements of simple valeting. However, such service is typical of "the best servants". Reginald Jeeves has been considered the epitome of the "British Butler" prototype for decades. He is so well known that his name was given to Internet search engine Ask Jeeves (from 1996 to 2006, now Ask.com), and is now a generic term in dictionaries such as the Oxford English Dictionary.
• Mervyn Bunter, created in 1923 by Dorothy L. Sayers in the Lord Peter Wimsey series; as discreet and competent as Jeeves and also performed above and beyond the call of duty.
• Giles French, from the TV series Family Affair (later functioned as the family butler).
• Hobson (Sir John Gielgud), from the comedy film Arthur (1981).
• Rochester Van Jones, played on radio and television by Eddie Anderson on the Jack Benny Show.
• Passepartout, in the 1872 novel Around the World in Eighty Days by Jules Verne.
• Figaro, the Count of Almaviva's valet from Beaumarchais' play The Marriage of Figaro and the opera of the same name.
• Probert (Derek Jacobi), valet to Sir William McCordle (Michael Gambon), and Robert Parks (Clive Owen), valet to Lord Stockbridge (Charles Dance), in the 2001 film Gosford Park, directed by Robert Altman.
• Mr. Belvedere, movie and television show starring Christopher Hewitt and Bob Ueker.
• Baptistin, in The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas. Changed to ? for the 19XX film.

Male housekeepers

• Mr Belvedere, from the novel, Belvedere and the movies and television series Mr. Belvedere. Characterisation of Belvedere is somewhat problematic; he was originally conceived as a housekeeper. See above.
• Who's the Boss?. American television series.