Peter Royce Brough (26 February 1916 – 3 June 1999) was an English radio

ventriloquist Ventriloquism or ventriloquy is an act of stagecraft in which a person (a ventriloquist) speaks in such a way that it seems like their voice is coming from a different location, usually through a puppet known as a "dummy". The act of ventrilo ...

who became a well-known name to audiences in the 1950s. He is associated with his puppet

Archie Andrews Archibald "Archie" Andrews, created in 1941 by publisher John L. Goldwater and artist Bob Montana in collaboration with writer Vic Bloom,

Early life and career

Peter Royce Brough was born on 26 February 1916 in Ealing, west London. His father, Arthur, was a ventriloquist and a frequent performer on the variety stages around London. Brough senior gave up performing in the early 1920s and concentrated on a textile business. Peter left school at 15 and worked for a Bayswater department store called Whiteleys, first as an errand boy and later as a counter salesman. He emulated his father by developing his ventriloquist skills, which he continued to practise whilst working at Whiteleys. Early press reports show Brough entertaining the patients at Acton hospital on Christmas Day, 1935. He continued entertaining at clubs and at concerts in the Acton area and by 1939 he was becoming a regular on the variety stage. His stage performances increased and in 1941 he was described as “England's Most Successful Young Ventriloquist”. He acted as a compere in the 1940 film ''Cavalcade of Variety'' featuring Billy Cotton and his band.

Radio days

Brough began his radio career in 1944 in ventriloquism but in 1950 he debuted Archie, a mischievous child who domineered his mentor. Archie's chief characteristics were his

Savile Row Savile Row (pronounced ) is a street in Mayfair, central London. Known principally for its traditional bespoke tailoring for men, the street has had a varied history that has included accommodating the headquarters of the Royal Geographical ...

-tailored blazers and manic eyes. Archie followed in the tradition of the American ventriloquist

Edgar Bergen Edgar John Bergen (né Berggren; February 16, 1903 – September 30, 1978) was an American ventriloquist, comedian, actor, vaudevillian and radio performer. He was best known for his characters Charlie McCarthy and Mortimer Snerd. Bergen ...

and his dummy Charlie McCarthy. His radio series based around the character – '' Educating Archie'' – featured in support the likes of Dick Emery, Freddie Sales,

Benny Hill Alfred Hawthorne "Benny" Hill (21 January 1924 – 18 April 1992) was an English comedian, actor and scriptwriter. He is best remembered for his television programme, ''The Benny Hill Show'', a comedy-variety show whose amalgam of slapstick, bu ...

Tony Hancock Anthony John Hancock (12 May 1924 – 25 June 1968) was an English comedian and actor. High-profile during the 1950s and early 1960s, he had a major success with his BBC series '' Hancock's Half Hour'', first broadcast on radio from 1954, ...

, Hattie Jacques,

Bruce Forsyth Sir Bruce Joseph Forsyth-Johnson (22 February 1928 – 18 August 2017) was an English entertainer and television presenter whose career spanned more than 75 years. Forsyth came to national attention from the late 1950s through the Associated Te ...

, Harry Secombe, Max Bygraves,

Beryl Reid Beryl Elizabeth Reid (17 June 1919 – 13 October 1996) was a British actress. She won the 1967 Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play for '' The Killing of Sister George'', the 1980 Olivier Award for Best Comedy Performance for '' Born in th ...

and even a young

Julie Andrews Dame Julie Andrews (born Julia Elizabeth Wells; 1 October 1935) is an English actress, singer, and author. She has garnered numerous accolades throughout her career spanning over eight decades, including an Academy Award, a British Academy Fi ...

as the girlfriend of Archie;

Eric Sykes Eric Sykes (4 May 1923 – 4 July 2012) was an English radio, stage, television and film writer, comedian, actor and director whose performing career spanned more than 50 years. He frequently wrote for and performed with many other leading com ...

was one of the series' main writers in the early 1950s. The show often averaged 15 million listeners, and a fan club had 250,000 members. Brough published his autobiography ''Educating Archie'' in 1955.

TV work

Because of the success of his radio show, Brough made his debut on

television Television (TV) is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. Additionally, the term can refer to a physical television set rather than the medium of transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertising, ...

in 1956 in the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

sitcom ''Here's Archie'' which co-starred

Irene Handl Irene Handl () (27 December 1901 – 29 November 1987) was a British character actress who appeared in more than 100 British films; she also wrote novels. Life Irene Handl was born in Maida Vale, London, the younger of two daughters of an Aus ...

and Ronald Chesney. The show was written by the latter and Ronald Wolfe, who would later team up on British

sitcoms A sitcom (short for situation comedy or situational comedy) is a genre of comedy produced for radio and television, that centers on a recurring cast of characters as they navigate humorous situations within a consistent setting, such as a home ...

The Rag Trade ''The Rag Trade'' is a British television sitcom broadcast by the BBC between 1961 and 1963 and by ITV (TV network), ITV between 1977 and 1978. Although a comedy, it shed light on gender, politics and the "class war" on the factory floor. Th ...

'' and '' On the Buses''. Two years later, Brough was on ITV in ''Educating Archie'', utilising the same team as before, although

Marty Feldman Martin Alan Feldman (8 July 1934 – 2 December 1982) was a British actor, comedian and writer. He was known for his exophthalmos, prominent, strabismus, misaligned eyes. He initially gained prominence as a writer with Barry Took on th ...

took some of the writing credit as well. The TV appearances exposed his limitations as a ventriloquist, as his lips were frequently seen to move and resulted in his use of a

cigar A cigar is a rolled bundle of dried and Fermentation, fermented tobacco leaves made to be Tobacco smoking, smoked. Cigars are produced in a variety of sizes and shapes. Since the 20th century, almost all cigars are made of three distinct comp ...

to mask such movements. In later years a critic remarked, "Ventriloquism on the radio - I could have done that." By 1961, Brough decided to retire Archie following the death of his father, also a ventriloquist, and he then took over the family's textile and menswear business. His TV appearances were sporadic from then on. He died on 3 June 1999 and was buried in

Maldon Maldon (, locally ) is a town and civil parish on the Blackwater Estuary in Essex, England. It is the seat of the Maldon District and starting point of the Chelmer and Blackwater Navigation. It is known for Maldon Sea Salt which is prod ...

cemetery in Essex. In November 2005, the original Archie Andrews doll was sold at auction in

Taunton Taunton () is the county town of Somerset, England. It is a market town and has a Minster (church), minster church. Its population in 2011 was 64,621. Its thousand-year history includes a 10th-century priory, monastic foundation, owned by the ...

for £34,000.

Personal life and death

Brough married twice. His first marriage was in 1940, to Peggy Franklin. The pair had a son and a daughter but the marriage ended in divorce. His second marriage was to Elizabeth Chantler, who died in 1994. The couple had one son and one daughter. In 1948 his sister, Edna Brough, married TV and film star Ernest Butcher, in

Wood Green Wood Green is a suburban district of the London Borough of Haringey, London, England. Its postal district is N22, with parts in N8 or N15. The London Plan identifies it as one of the metropolitan centres in Greater London, and today it forms ...

, London. Brough's son, Chris Brough, became a record producer and married the singer, actress and TV presenter Ayshea Brough in the 1970s. His daughter, Romey Brough, is an internationally collected artist with work in the Tate Gallery Archive. Brough died on 3 June 1999, aged 83 in Northwood, London.

References

External links