# Capt. Peacock, floorwalker in that Great Dept. Store in the Sky (RIP, Frank Thornton) **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 18, 2013, 1:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/capt-peacock-floorwalker-in-that-great-dept-store-in-the-sky-rip-frank-thornton/653249 "2013-03-18T13:16:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Toucanna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3bc359/32.png) [@Toucanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Toucanna)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2013, 1:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/capt-peacock-floorwalker-in-that-great-dept-store-in-the-sky-rip-frank-thornton/653249/1 "2013-03-18T13:16:11Z")
[Frank Thornton](http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frank_Thornton) died on March 16, 2013, at the age of 92. Many 'Dopers might know him best as “Capt. Peacock” on the UK series, _Are You Being Served?_. Maybe now, Mrs. Slocombe will allow him to pet her pussy. :eek: ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2013, 1:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/capt-peacock-floorwalker-in-that-great-dept-store-in-the-sky-rip-frank-thornton/653249/2 "2013-03-18T13:18:46Z")
Sorry to hear that. I just recently discovered this show, and I love it. ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2013, 1:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/capt-peacock-floorwalker-in-that-great-dept-store-in-the-sky-rip-frank-thornton/653249/3 "2013-03-18T13:24:22Z")
Damn. He played his part to perfection. I believe of all the original cast, only Mr. Rumbold and Mr. Lucas remain with the living. ---
**Author:** ![ralph124c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2013, 1:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/capt-peacock-floorwalker-in-that-great-dept-store-in-the-sky-rip-frank-thornton/653249/4 "2013-03-18T13:42:29Z")
RIP Frank-he was a great character actor. I also remember him from many movies…including “The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes”. So…was Captain Peacock really a captain? Or was he only a private? The question was never answered in the series. ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2013, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/capt-peacock-floorwalker-in-that-great-dept-store-in-the-sky-rip-frank-thornton/653249/5 "2013-03-18T13:53:23Z")
> [@ralph124c](#): > > RIP Frank-he was a great character actor. I also remember him from many movies..including “The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes”. > So..was Captain Peacock really a captain? Or was he only a private? The question was never answered in the series. Shhhh… Mr. Goldberg remembered him as Corporal Peacock! ---
**Author:** ![Baron\_Greenback](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baron_greenback/32/48_2.png) [@Baron\_Greenback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baron_Greenback)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2013, 1:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/capt-peacock-floorwalker-in-that-great-dept-store-in-the-sky-rip-frank-thornton/653249/6 "2013-03-18T13:59:26Z")
> [@BobLibDem](#): > > Damn. He played his part to perfection. I believe of all the original cast, only Mr. Rumbold and Mr. Lucas remain with the living. Mr Lucas died in 2011. I must admit I’m surprised Mr Rumbold is still alive, he played one of the older members of staff. Probably one of those folk who look middle-aged from birth. ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2013, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/capt-peacock-floorwalker-in-that-great-dept-store-in-the-sky-rip-frank-thornton/653249/7 "2013-03-18T14:02:14Z")
I was as shocked as **BobLibDem** likely will be to learn that Trevor had gone, too, and as surprised that Mr. Rumbold is still with us. ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2013, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/capt-peacock-floorwalker-in-that-great-dept-store-in-the-sky-rip-frank-thornton/653249/8 "2013-03-18T14:10:35Z")
> [@KneadToKnow](#): > > I was as shocked as **BobLibDem** likely will be to learn that Trevor had gone, too, and as surprised that Mr. Rumbold is still with us. Ah damn, I missed Mr. Lucas’ death. Trevor Bannister was 76 when he died in 2011. I was surprised to see that would have made him in his 40s during the bulk of AYBS. So Mr. Rumbold wins the Survivor AYBS contest. ---
**Author:** ![Baron\_Greenback](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baron_greenback/32/48_2.png) [@Baron\_Greenback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baron_Greenback)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2013, 2:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/capt-peacock-floorwalker-in-that-great-dept-store-in-the-sky-rip-frank-thornton/653249/9 "2013-03-18T14:17:56Z")
> [@BobLibDem](#): > > So Mr. Rumbold wins the Survivor AYBS contest. The similar _Dad’s Army_ contest is a death-match between Ian Lavender and Frank Williams. Did Dad’s Army show in the US as much as AYBS seems to have? ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2013, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/capt-peacock-floorwalker-in-that-great-dept-store-in-the-sky-rip-frank-thornton/653249/10 "2013-03-18T14:22:56Z")
I watched every episode of Are You Being Served. Great cast of actors. I even watched the sequel Grace and Favor. R.I.P. Captain Peacock ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2013, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/capt-peacock-floorwalker-in-that-great-dept-store-in-the-sky-rip-frank-thornton/653249/11 "2013-03-18T14:43:45Z")
Any Captain Peacock fans would enjoy Grace and Favor. I liked him better in this show. Same character but he’s retired from the store. He has to interact with Mrs. Slocombe, Miss Brahms and the others in a more equal way. It’s fascinating to see how Frank Thornton deftly changes his character. He was a really skilled comic actor. It came out on DVD several years ago. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2013, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/capt-peacock-floorwalker-in-that-great-dept-store-in-the-sky-rip-frank-thornton/653249/12 "2013-03-18T14:50:42Z")
I actually watched the movie _Gosford Park_ in part to see him. While I liked the movie, I couldn’t even find him. He’s in the first couple of minutes; he’s the butler who holds the umbrella over Maggie Smith’s character as she walks from her door to her car. If he has a line at all it’s something like “The car is ready, m’lady”. Well, I suppose it beat staying at home that day. RIP Cap. ---
**Author:** ![Baron\_Greenback](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baron_greenback/32/48_2.png) [@Baron\_Greenback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baron_Greenback)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2013, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/capt-peacock-floorwalker-in-that-great-dept-store-in-the-sky-rip-frank-thornton/653249/13 "2013-03-18T15:01:01Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > He was a really skilled comic actor. He really was. It’s maybe a bit easier to see this as a British person, but he played someone pretending to be of a better social class perfectly. Like someone said in the thread “Corporal Peacock”. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2013, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/capt-peacock-floorwalker-in-that-great-dept-store-in-the-sky-rip-frank-thornton/653249/14 "2013-03-18T16:52:52Z")
ARE YOU FREE, CAPTAIN PEACOCK? I think my “slapped in the face by time” moment for AYBS was recently (like within the last 10 years) seeing Miss Brahms (Wendy Richard) as a matronly figure on an accidentally-caught episode of Eastenders. ---
**Author:** ![SirRay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/cc9497/32.png) [@SirRay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SirRay)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2013, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/capt-peacock-floorwalker-in-that-great-dept-store-in-the-sky-rip-frank-thornton/653249/15 "2013-03-18T17:25:02Z")
> [@BobLibDem](#): > > Ah damn, I missed Mr. Lucas’ death. Trevor Bannister was 76 when he died in 2011. I was surprised to see that would have made him in his 40s during the bulk of AYBS. > > So Mr. Rumbold wins the Survivor AYBS contest. Well, that title is technically up in the air, and could still be won by [Mike Berry](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mike_Berry_(actor)), who played Mr. Lucas’s replacement Mr Spooner for the last few seasons and according to wiki is about 8 years younger than [Nicholas Smith](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicholas_Smith_(actor))(Mr Rumbold). If you go by the AYBS Actors who starred in the [1977 movie](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Are_You_Being_Served%3F_(film)), then yes, Nicholas Smith wins. ---
**Author:** ![Kilvert\_s\_Pagan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/c37758/32.png) [@Kilvert\_s\_Pagan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kilvert_s_Pagan)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2013, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/capt-peacock-floorwalker-in-that-great-dept-store-in-the-sky-rip-frank-thornton/653249/16 "2013-03-18T17:38:28Z")
He was also Truly of the Yard for several seasons in the latter years of _Last of the Summer Wine._ I really liked him - he will be missed. ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2013, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/capt-peacock-floorwalker-in-that-great-dept-store-in-the-sky-rip-frank-thornton/653249/17 "2013-03-18T18:09:08Z")
> [@SirRay](#): > > Well, that title is technically up in the air, and could still be won by [Mike Berry](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mike_Berry_(actor)), who played Mr. Lucas’s replacement Mr Spooner for the last few seasons and according to wiki is about 8 years younger than [Nicholas Smith](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicholas_Smith_(actor))(Mr Rumbold). > > If you go by the AYBS Actors who starred in the [1977 movie](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Are_You_Being_Served%3F_(film)), then yes, Nicholas Smith wins. I was thinking of the original floor staff, Grainger, Slocoumbe, Brahms, Lucas, Humphries, and Peacock plus Young Mr. Grace and Mr. Rumbold. I’m not surprised that Spooner is still around but by the time he came aboard the show was well past its prime. I’m sure some of the Rumbold Bimbo Secretaries are still around and probably Miss Belfridge as well. ---
**Author:** ![SirRay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/cc9497/32.png) [@SirRay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SirRay)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2013, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/capt-peacock-floorwalker-in-that-great-dept-store-in-the-sky-rip-frank-thornton/653249/18 "2013-03-18T22:09:14Z")
> [@BobLibDem](#): > > I was thinking of the original floor staff, Grainger, Slocoumbe, Brahms, Lucas, Humphries, and Peacock plus Young Mr. Grace and Mr. Rumbold. I’m not surprised that Spooner is still around but by the time he came aboard the show was well past its prime. I’m sure some of the Rumbold Bimbo Secretaries are still around and probably Miss Belfridge as well. Well, the “packing department” guys usually played a big part in most episodes (and the movie). The first few seasons it was Mr. Mash, played by Larry Martyn (I thought his character’s name was Mr. Nash). The second “main” packing department guy from 1976 on was Mr Harmon (Arthur English), who provided different kinds of support when the floor staff put on one of their skits/muscials/commericals and so on, among other day to day activities like bringing dodgy sales displays onto the department floor. Arthur English was in the 1977 movie, and that cast is the one I think of as the arch-type “Are You Being Served” cast. Both gentlemen according to wiki passed away in the mid-1990s, actually only 9-10 years after the original show ended. ---
**Author:** ![ralph124c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2013, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/capt-peacock-floorwalker-in-that-great-dept-store-in-the-sky-rip-frank-thornton/653249/19 "2013-03-18T22:55:42Z")
Great memories…“young Mr. Grace”-with his blond bimbo secretary/nurses. The cafeteria was also funny-with pompous Captain Peacock delineating where the upper class staff could sit! The show was really hilarious-hard to realize it was made such a long time ago. The British class system must have provided endless scenarios for comedy- “Keeping Up Appearances” is in the same vein. Mr. Goldberg was a hoot-he knew how to control Peacock…with his “dirty little secret”.😉 ---
**Author:** ![alphaboi867](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alphaboi867/32/3898_2.png) [@alphaboi867](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alphaboi867)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2013, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/capt-peacock-floorwalker-in-that-great-dept-store-in-the-sky-rip-frank-thornton/653249/20 "2013-03-19T17:50:53Z")
[Frank Thorton](http://news.yahoo.com/british-actor-frank-thornton-being-served-dies-92-143438607.html), best known to Americans as Captain Peacock of **Are You Being Served?** is dead. Nicholas Smith (Mr Rumbold) is now the only surviving cast member. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/capt-peacock-floorwalker-in-that-great-dept-store-in-the-sky-rip-frank-thornton/653249.md?page=2)