Sir Arthur Streeb-Greebling

Last updated

Sir Arthur Streeb-Greebling is a fictional character played by British comedian Peter Cook throughout his career. Streeb-Greebling (or Greeb-Streebling, depending on Cook's mood) is a stereotype of the upper class English duffer, described as "narrow-minded" and occasionally a "heartless bastard". [1] John Cleese described him as one of Cook's range of "men, particularly English men, so trapped by their culture that they never knew how to live". [2]

Contents

He was usually presented in the form of interviews with various comedians or journalists acting as the interviewer, including Chris Morris and Ludovic Kennedy. [3] The most frequent (and famous) interviewer was Cook's comedy partner, Dudley Moore, in Beyond the Fringe and Not Only... But Also .

Biography

Sir Arthur is the son of Lady Beryl Streeb-Greebling—a "wonderful dancer" who was still dancing at 107 years of age, and who "was capable of breaking a swan's wing with a blow of her nose"—who inspired him to take up his life's work of teaching ravens to fly underwater. Sir Arthur claims "She came up to me in the conservatory—I was pruning some walnuts—and she said 'Arthur'—I wasn't Sir Arthur in those days—'if you don't get underwater and start teaching ravens to fly, I'll smash your stupid face off,' and I think it was this that sort of first started my interest in the whole business." However, his work is largely inconsequential. When Moore's interviewer asks "Is it difficult to get ravens to fly underwater?" his honest response is "Well, I think the word difficult is an awfully good one here. Yes, it is. It's nigh impossible ... There they are sitting on my wrist. I say 'Fly! Fly you little devils!!' ... [then] they drown. Little black feathery figure topples off my wrist and spirals to a watery grave. We're knee deep in feathers off that part of the coast ... not a single success in the whole forty years of training." When a perplexed Moore asks if this makes his life a miserable failure, Sir Arthur is forced to reply, "My life has been a miserable failure, yes."

Sir Arthur's thirty-five years as a restaurateur were nothing short of disastrous. His restaurant The Frog and Peach was a catastrophic failure, owing to its location in the middle of a bog in the heart of the Yorkshire Moors, and its very limited menu—the "nauseating" Frog à la Pêche and the "positively revolting" Pêche à la Frog.

It was Sir Arthur's father who inspired his life's other work: the study of worms. Sir Arthur's father claimed to have found the world's longest worm, at approximately three thousand miles. He came across the head in the Andes and spent five years tracing it back to the Azores. However, accusations were made that he had actually discovered the head of one worm in the Andes and the tail of another worm in the Azores. As a result, Streeb-Greebling spent a great deal of his life trying to encourage worms to speak to him, again to no avail.

Later interviews

Towards the end of his life, Cook appeared as Streeb-Greebling, interviewed by Ludovic Kennedy in "A Life In Pieces". [3] The series of twelve five-minute interviews saw Sir Arthur recounting snippets of his life loosely based on "The Twelve Days of Christmas". Another set of more famous and successful interviews involving Cook as Streeb-Greebling with Chris Morris as the interviewer (basing his performance on his abrasive newsreader character from On the Hour and The Day Today ) were broadcast on Why Bother? on BBC Radio 3 in 1994, less than a year before Cook's death.

Reaction

William Cook described the character as "one of Peter's greatest comic creations", and felt it was a character that Peter Cook was "born to play", seeing Streeb-Greebling as the closest to his own background. [1] Harry Thompson agrees that the character was clearly autobiographical. [2] Ben Thompson called the interviews with Morris "some of the finest work either man has ever produced". [4]

Related Research Articles

<i>Meet the Feebles</i> 1989 film by Peter Jackson

Meet the Feebles is a 1989 New Zealand puppet musical black comedy film directed by Peter Jackson, and written by Jackson, Fran Walsh, Stephen Sinclair and Danny Mulheron. It features Jim Henson-esque puppets in a perverse comic satire. Like Henson's Muppets, the Feebles are animal-figured puppets who are members of a stage troupe. However, whereas the Muppets characterize positivity, naïve folly, and innocence, the Feebles largely present negativity, vice, and other misanthropic characteristics.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Peter Cook</span> British comedian, actor, satirist (1937–1995)

Peter Edward Cook was an English comedian, actor, satirist, playwright and screenwriter. He was the leading figure of the British satire boom of the 1960s, and he was associated with the anti-establishment comedic movement that emerged in the United Kingdom in the late 1950s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dudley Moore</span> English actor, comedian and musician (1935–2002)

Dudley Stuart John Moore CBE was an English actor, comedian, musician and composer. He first came to prominence in the UK as a leading figure in the British satire boom of the 1960s. He was one of the four writer-performers in the comedy revue Beyond the Fringe from 1960 that created a boom in satiric comedy. With a member of that team, Peter Cook, Moore collaborated on the BBC television series Not Only... But Also. As a popular double act, Moore's buffoonery contrasted with Cook's deadpan monologues. They jointly received the 1966 British Academy Television Award for Best Entertainment Performance and worked together on other projects until the mid-1970s, by which time Moore had settled in Los Angeles to concentrate on his film acting.

<i>Arthur</i> (1981 film) 1981 film by Steve Gordon

Arthur is a 1981 American romantic comedy film written and directed by Steve Gordon. It stars Dudley Moore as Arthur Bach, a drunken New York City millionaire who is on the brink of an arranged marriage to a wealthy heiress but ends up falling for a common working-class young woman from Queens. It was the sole film directed by Gordon, who died in 1982 of a heart attack at age 44.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Roger Moore</span> English actor (1927–2017)

Sir Roger George Moore was an English actor. He was the third actor to portray fictional secret agent James Bond in the Eon Productions/MGM Studios film series, playing the character in seven feature films: Live and Let Die (1973), The Man with the Golden Gun (1974), The Spy Who Loved Me (1977), Moonraker (1979), For Your Eyes Only (1981), Octopussy (1983), and A View to a Kill (1985). Moore's seven appearances as Bond are the most of any actor in the Eon-produced entries.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Matt Lucas</span> English actor and comedian (born 1974)

Matthew Richard Lucas is an English actor, comedian, writer and television presenter. He is best known for his work with David Walliams on the BBC sketch comedy series Little Britain (2003–2006) and Come Fly with Me (2010–2011).

<i>Bedazzled</i> (1967 film) 1967 British film by Stanley Donen

Bedazzled is a 1967 British comedy DeLuxe Color film directed and produced by Stanley Donen in Panavision format. It was written by comedian Peter Cook and starred both Cook and his comedy partner Dudley Moore. It is a comic retelling of the Faust legend, set in the Swinging London of the 1960s. The Devil (Cook) offers an unhappy young man (Moore) seven wishes in return for his soul, but twists the spirit of the wishes to frustrate the man's hopes.

Why Bother? is a comedy radio series made for BBC Radio 3, consisting of five 10-minute-long spoof interviews between Chris Morris and Peter Cook's character Sir Arthur Streeb-Greebling. Recorded in late 1993, the show was originally broadcast from 10–14 January 1994. Cook received the sole writing credit whilst Morris also produced the series, although the pair ad-libbed the majority of the dialogue, which Morris then edited.

<i>Not Only... But Also</i> British TV sketch comedy show (1964–1970)

Not Only... But Also is a BBC British sketch comedy show starring Peter Cook and Dudley Moore that aired in three series between 1964 and 1970.

<i>Trail of the Pink Panther</i> 1982 comedy film by Blake Edwards

Trail of the Pink Panther is a 1982 comedy film directed by Blake Edwards and starring Peter Sellers. It is the seventh film in The Pink Panther series, the first film in the series following Sellers's death and also the last in which he appeared as Inspector Clouseau. Sellers died 18 months before production began; his performance consists entirely of scenes from previous films. The newly shot material in the film stars Joanna Lumley as journalist Marie Jouvet searching for the missing Clouseau – and running afoul of the inspector's enemies who do not wish to see him return.

<i>Derek and Clive Ad Nauseam</i> 1978 studio album by Derek and Clive

Derek and Clive Ad Nauseam is the third and final recording made by Peter Cook and Dudley Moore featuring their characters Derek and Clive. It also charts the breakup of Cook and Moore's partnership.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ludovic Kennedy</span> Scottish journalist and broadcaster (1919–2009)

Sir Ludovic Henry Coverley Kennedy, was a Scottish journalist, broadcaster, humanist and author. As well as his wartime service in the Royal Navy, he is known for presenting many current affairs programmes and for reexamining cases such as the Lindbergh kidnapping and the murder convictions of Timothy Evans and Derek Bentley. He also campaigned for the abolition of the death penalty in the United Kingdom.

<i>Monte Carlo or Bust!</i> 1969 film by Ken Annakin

Monte Carlo or Bust! is a 1969 epic comedy film, also known by its American title, Those Daring Young Men in Their Jaunty Jalopies. A co-production of the United Kingdom, France and Italy, the story is based on the Monte Carlo Rally – first raced in 1911 – and the film, set in the 1920s, recalls this general era. A lavish all-star film, it is the story of an epic car rally across Europe that involves a lot of eccentric characters from all over the world who will stop at nothing to win.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kevin Bishop</span> English actor, comedian, and writer

Kevin Brian Bishop is a British actor, comedian and writer. He is best known for his roles as Jim Hawkins in Muppet Treasure Island, Stupid Brian in My Family, and Nigel Norman Fletcher in the 2016 revival of Porridge, and as star of The Kevin Bishop Show, which he co-wrote with Lee Hupfield.

<i>The Tale of Mr. Jeremy Fisher</i> Childrens book by Beatrix Potter

The Tale of Mr. Jeremy Fisher is a children's book, written and illustrated by Beatrix Potter. It was published by Frederick Warne & Co. in July 1906. Jeremy's origin lies in a letter she wrote to a child in 1893. She revised it in 1906, and moved its setting from the River Tay to the English Lake District. The tale reflects her love for the Lake District and her admiration for children's illustrator Randolph Caldecott.

<i>The Rise and Rise of Michael Rimmer</i> 1970 British film by Kevin Billington

The Rise and Rise of Michael Rimmer is a 1970 British satirical film directed by Kevin Billington, and starring Peter Cook, Vanessa Howard and John Cleese. It was co-written by Cook, Cleese, Graham Chapman and Billington. The film was devised and produced by David Frost under the pseudonym "David Paradine".

Judy Huxtable is a British actress.

<i>The Hound of the Baskervilles</i> (1983 film) 1983 film directed by Douglas Hickox

The Hound of the Baskervilles is a 1983 British made-for-television mystery thriller film directed by Douglas Hickox, starring Ian Richardson as Sherlock Holmes and Donald Churchill as Dr. John H. Watson. It is based on Arthur Conan Doyle's 1902 novel The Hound of the Baskervilles.

The Hound of the Baskervilles is a 1982 British television serial made by the BBC. It was produced by Barry Letts, directed by Peter Duguid, and starred Tom Baker as Sherlock Holmes and Terence Rigby as Doctor Watson. The adaptation aired as a four-part serial. The serial is based on Arthur Conan Doyle's 1902 Sherlock Holmes novel The Hound of the Baskervilles. The music score was composed and conducted by Carl Davis.

Play Wisty For Me – The Life of Peter Cook is an original play by Matthew Perret and Jeremy Limb, using the characters portrayed by Peter Cook and Dudley Moore to tell the story of Peter Cook's life and pay tribute to his comic genius. After Moore's death, it was slightly rewritten, to become more of a tribute to Moore too.

References

  1. 1 2 William Cook (ed), Goodbye again: the definitive Peter Cook and Dudley Moore, Random House, 2005, pp 352-2
  2. 1 2 Harry Thompson, Biography Of Peter Cook, Hachette UK, 2011
  3. 1 2 ALEX MUSSON & PETER GORDON, "The Greatest Hits of Peter Cook", Mustard Magazine website, http://www.mustardweb.org/petercook/index.htm
  4. ↑ Ben Thompson, Sunshine on Putty: The Golden Age of British Comedy from Vic Reeves to The Office, HarperCollins UK, 2010
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.