Contents
P. G. Wodehouse
Creating Jeeves and Bertie Wooster, with comic plots powered by exquisite sentences and social misunderstandings.
The Inimitable Jeeves · Right Ho, Jeeves
- Born
- 15 October 1881
- Birthplace
- Guildford, England
- Died
- 14 February 1975
More people
P. G. Wodehouse
P. G. Wodehouse built a fictional world of troublesome engagements, country houses and ingenious rescues. Alongside his novels and stories, he wrote lyrics and contributed to the development of musical comedy.
Early life
An English education
His father’s work in Hong Kong meant periods away from his parents. Dulwich College became an especially important part of his youth.
Banking before writing
Unable to follow his preferred university route, he worked briefly in a bank while writing in his spare time.
Career
- 1902–1910s
A professional writer
School stories, journalism and early novels allowed him to leave banking.
- 1910s–1930s
Characters and musicals
Jeeves, Bertie Wooster and Blandings developed alongside collaborations in American musical theatre.
- 1940–1941
War and controversy
Interned by Germany, he later made humorous radio talks from Berlin that drew strong criticism in Britain.
- 1947–1975
An American final chapter
He settled in the United States and continued writing novels and stories into his nineties.
Selected work
The Inimitable Jeeves
Linked stories pit Bertie’s misjudgments against his valet’s quietly superior intelligence.
Right Ho, Jeeves
A country-house visit becomes an intricately tangled sequence of romantic and social mishaps.
Uncle Fred in the Springtime
Impersonation and intervention disrupt life at Blandings Castle.
Beyond work
A lasting marriage
He married Ethel Wayman in 1914 and adopted her daughter Leonora.
Songs as well as stories
Work with Guy Bolton and Jerome Kern helped refine the close fit between dialogue, songs and plot in musical comedy.
Sources & photo credit
Life and career ↗Institutional or specialist reference ↗Featured contribution ↗Photo: Unlisted photographer for Screenland. Public domain · Original image. Cropped and displayed in monochrome.
