Jeeves is a character created by PG Wodehouse and featured in 35 short stories and 11 novels. He is a symbol of impeccable service and has inspired other types of personal servants. Jeeves is known for his portrayal by Stephen Fry in the TV series Jeeves and Wooster, and a musical called By Jeeves has been staged around the world.
Jeeves is a character created by the English author PG Wodehouse (1881-1975). Wodehouse featured him in a 1915 short story called “Untangling Young Gussie,” and the character recurred, along with his employer Bertie Wooster, throughout Wodehouse’s literary career. Jeeves is the quintessential waiter, or personal servant, ready with an answer to any problem.
The character has become the symbol of impeccable service and his name is used as a watchword in this sense. He has become a stereotypical name for other types of personal servants besides valets, such as butlers and chauffeurs. Also, he inspired the online search engine Ask Jeeves.
Wodehouse’s work on Wooster and his butler includes 35 short stories and 11 novels. The stories are humorous, and the rich, saccharine, and slightly goofy Wooster is the foil to the perpetually perfect butler. The history of their relationship can be traced through the canon. Jeeves began working for Wooster when the latter was 24, and Wooster comes to trust him in all matters, down to the minutiae of his wardrobe. In many of the stories, Bertie Wooster gets into trouble of some sort and Jeeves deftly finds a solution.
Jeeves is also known to audiences for his portrayal of actor Stephen Fry in the British television series Jeeves and Wooster, which ran from 1990 to 1993 and was closely based on Wodehouse’s stories. Hugh Laurie, Stephen Fry’s comedy partner since the early 1980s and currently the star of House, played Bertie Wooster. The show was very successful and introduced PG Wodehouse’s stories to a new generation.
There is also a musical based on the characters, entitled By Jeeves, with music by Andrew Lloyd Weber and libretto by Alan Ayckbourn. It first opened in 1975, but closed after a month. In 1996, it saw better success with a new script and has been staged around the world ever since.
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