# Most archetypal Englishmen? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 20, 2017, 3:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-archetypal-englishmen/782589 "2017-03-20T03:52:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![installLSC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/54ee81/32.png) [@installLSC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/installLSC)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2017, 3:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-archetypal-englishmen/782589/1 "2017-03-20T03:52:16Z")
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”? ---
**Author:** ![koeeoaddi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/koeeoaddi/32/408_2.png) [@koeeoaddi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/koeeoaddi)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2017, 3:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-archetypal-englishmen/782589/2 "2017-03-20T03:53:59Z")
Ian Richardson ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2017, 3:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-archetypal-englishmen/782589/3 "2017-03-20T03:55:59Z")
Graham Chapman, as “Upper Class Twit”. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2017, 4:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-archetypal-englishmen/782589/4 "2017-03-20T04:07:11Z")
David Niven? ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2017, 4:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-archetypal-englishmen/782589/5 "2017-03-20T04:29:31Z")
Patrick “John Steed” MacNee, Patrick “John Drake” McGoohan, David Niven, fer sure! ---
**Author:** ![drad\_dog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@drad\_dog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drad_dog)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2017, 4:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-archetypal-englishmen/782589/6 "2017-03-20T04:56:14Z")
Terry-Thomas Arthur Treacher ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2017, 5:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-archetypal-englishmen/782589/7 "2017-03-20T05:07:26Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![Mijin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mijin/32/9369_2.png) [@Mijin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mijin)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2017, 5:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-archetypal-englishmen/782589/8 "2017-03-20T05:46:15Z")
I don’t think he’s very famous as an actor (he’s more often a TV presenter), but Alexander Armstrong ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2017, 6:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-archetypal-englishmen/782589/9 "2017-03-20T06:07:13Z")
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? ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2017, 6:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-archetypal-englishmen/782589/10 "2017-03-20T06:22:13Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > Patrick “John Steed” MacNee, Quite so. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2017, 6:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-archetypal-englishmen/782589/11 "2017-03-20T06:51:27Z")
Cleese. ---
**Author:** ![RobDog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f07891/32.png) [@RobDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RobDog)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2017, 6:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-archetypal-englishmen/782589/12 "2017-03-20T06:56:16Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![Nobody](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/94ad74/32.png) [@Nobody](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nobody)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2017, 7:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-archetypal-englishmen/782589/13 "2017-03-20T07:25:11Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![Mijin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mijin/32/9369_2.png) [@Mijin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mijin)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2017, 7:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-archetypal-englishmen/782589/14 "2017-03-20T07:32:34Z")
> [@RobDog](#): > > 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. 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”. ---
**Author:** ![TonySinclair](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/49beb7/32.png) [@TonySinclair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TonySinclair)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2017, 7:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-archetypal-englishmen/782589/15 "2017-03-20T07:45:08Z")
Trevor Howard. ETA: Yes, I’m old. ---
**Author:** ![foolsguinea](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foolsguinea/32/14751_2.png) [@foolsguinea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/foolsguinea)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2017, 8:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-archetypal-englishmen/782589/16 "2017-03-20T08:46:41Z")
nvm ---
**Author:** ![Les\_Espaces\_Du\_Sommeil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/les_espaces_du_sommeil/32/308_2.png) [@Les\_Espaces\_Du\_Sommeil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Les_Espaces_Du_Sommeil)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2017, 9:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-archetypal-englishmen/782589/17 "2017-03-20T09:04:29Z")
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… ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2017, 9:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-archetypal-englishmen/782589/18 "2017-03-20T09:52:30Z")
There’s a difference between Englishman and English gentleman. Macnee, Howard, Niven, et al exemplify the latter. There’s considerable variety in the former. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2017, 10:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-archetypal-englishmen/782589/19 "2017-03-20T10:13:11Z")
> [@RobDog](#): > > 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. So, Jeremy Clarkson? ---
**Author:** ![Stanislaus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stanislaus/32/3391_2.png) [@Stanislaus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stanislaus)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2017, 10:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-archetypal-englishmen/782589/20 "2017-03-20T10:14:57Z")
Brian Glover Sean Bean Ray Winstone [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-archetypal-englishmen/782589.md?page=2)