Arthur Veary Treacher

 Arthur Veary Treacher (July 23, 1894 – December 14, 1975)

Treacher was an English film and stage actor active from the 1920s to the 1960s, and known for playing English stereotypes, especially butler and manservant roles, such as the P.G. Wodehouse valet character Jeeves (Thank You, Jeeves ,1936) and the kind butler Andrews opposite Shirley Temple in Heidi (1937). In the 1960s, he became well-known on American television as an announcer/sidekick to talk show host Merv Griffin. He lent his name to the Arthur Treacher's Fish and Chips chain of restaurants From the mid-1950's on, Treacher became a familiar figure on American television as a guest on talk shows and panel games, including The Tonight Show, I've Got a Secret, and The Garry Moore Show. In 1964, Treacher was cast in the role of Constable Jones in the hugely successful Walt Disney movie Mary Poppins. That same year, he played the role of stuffy English butler Arthur Pinkney in two episodes of The Beverly Hillbillies. Pinkney mistakenly believed the hillbillies were the domestic servants of the family by whom he was hired, while the hillbillies believed Pinkney was a boarder at their Beverly Hills mansion. In 1969, Merv Griffin switched from syndication to the CBS network, network executives insisted that Treacher was too old for the show, but Griffin fought to keep Treacher and eventually won. However, when Griffin relocated his show to Los Angeles the next year, Treacher stayed behind, telling Griffin "at my age, I don't want to move, especially to someplace that shakes!" Treacher died at age 81 on December 14, 1975.