Recently I was thinking about John Houseman and how when I was a kid (late 70s/early 80s) he seemed to me the definition of an Englishmen. Looking back, that’s kinda odd since he was actually Irish/Romanian Jewish and his accent was more mid-Atlantic than true English. To you, what actor is the fallback when you think “Englishman”?
Ian Richardson
Graham Chapman, as “Upper Class Twit”.
David Niven?
Patrick “John Steed” MacNee,
Patrick “John Drake” McGoohan,
David Niven, fer sure!
Terry-Thomas
Arthur Treacher
Hugh Grant leapt immediately to mind when reading the title of the thread. Not because he’s the best actor or, lately, the most prolific actor, but because his characters are always so very, very, English.
I don’t think he’s very famous as an actor (he’s more often a TV presenter), but Alexander Armstrong
When I was growing up, in the 1970s, it would have probably been David Niven, or maybe James Mason. But, one of the most iconic Englishmen to me, in that era, was Alistair Cooke.
Today, maybe Michael Caine?
Quite so.
Cleese.
You’re all very sweet.
I can’t think who it would be, but your 21st century archetypal Englishman would be overweight, drunk, under-educated, mildly if not overtly xenophobic, itching for a fight, rude, ugly and poorly dressed.
This, by the way, is from a long and detailed observation of the species at close quarters.
For some reason Noel Gallagher screams British to me.
Edit: Yes, I know he is British, I just mean everything about him gives off a very British vibe to me.
As someone who grew up in the UK, I had the same thought.
But “archetypal” is not quite the same thing as saying “typical” or “average”.
Trevor Howard.
ETA: Yes, I’m old.
nvm
My choice would be John Cleese, or at least the characters he plays. For some reason, Rob Brydon also screams “typical Englishman”, albeit a more up-to-date version (so not really stereotypical, perhaps). And he’s Welsh, I think…
There’s a difference between Englishman and English gentleman. Macnee, Howard, Niven, et al exemplify the latter. There’s considerable variety in the former.
So, Jeremy Clarkson?
Brian Glover
Sean Bean
Ray Winstone