Backward Glance: P.G. Wodehouse

by Graeme W.I. Davidson

A Short discussion with Graeme W.I. Davidson, P. G. Wodehouse collector, wit, and Sage of Stockbridge.

(Image: Bain News Service. Fanny Brice & Nick Arnstein. [between ca. 1915 and ca. 1920]. Glass Negatives. Library of Congress: www.loc.gov/resource/ggbain.30692/)

One of P. G. Wodehouse’s cast of shady characters was Alex ‘Chimp’ Twist: a conman who used the alias J. Sheringham Adair as part of a scheme to sell fraudulent oil stock in Money in the Bank (1942). 

I first thought about the character’s name, when I was travelling in Norfolk (a county with many Wodehouse connections) and discovered that “Sheringham” is a Norfolk village. Although seemingly unconnected, it is worth noting that P.G.W. was a fan of Fannie Brice (1891-1951): American comedian, and the source of inspiration for the film, Funny Girl (1968). P.G.W. even wrote an early piece praising her ability in Vanity Fair. 

Fanny Brice was married to Nicky Arnstein, a gambler, and by all accounts another shady character who got involved in a variety of cons and scams. He was eventually imprisoned for his role in a  fraudulent oil stock scam, during which he used the alias J. Willard Adair.

One wonders whether P.G.W. was inspired to create the character J. Sheringham Adair knowing about Arnstein, or whether Arnstein was inspired to create his alias by having read Wodehouse. I would strongly argue for the former. 

P.G.W. liked Fanny Brice’s creativity (she wrote some of the material she performed), and likely would not have taken kindly to Arnstein. I suspect he would have felt it perfectly fair to use the “J. [something] Adair” formula as his conman’s alias. Through doing so, perhaps he would have felt he was scoring one in the eye for Brice whom he felt had been slighted. In the film Funny Girl, Brice was brilliantly portrayed by Streisland, and Arnstein’s character seemed surprisingly decent, when portrayed by Omar Sharif. The film’s rather glamorous take on Arnstein is clearly not P.G.W’s view. 

Wodehouse portrays J. Sheringham Adair not as a glamorous anti-hero but as a regular louse, thereby giving something of a deserved bloody nose to Fannie Brice’s husband (he was her second husband, poor F.B. deserved better). The choice of the “J. [something] Adair” formula shouts out as meriting further investigation. It appears likely that Wodehouse would have thought it fair and reasonable that he give Arnstein an unwelcome name check to help redress Arnstein’s apparently shameful treatment of the loyal, hard-working, and talented Fanny Brice. 

As an aside, I would add that Funny Girl is an excellent film and deserves not to be forgotten—I for one had forgotten how enjoyable I found it almost 60 years ago in my local cinema in Blairgowrie, Scotland. Carefree days. 

- Graeme W.I. Davidson