Arthur Brough, born Frederick Arthur Baker, (26 Feburary 1905 — 28 May 1978), was a British actor best known for playing Mr. Grainger in Are You Being Served?.
Alongside his wife Elizabeth, he formed a theatre company called "The Arthur Brough Players". After enlisting in World War II, he went back to acting on stage.
As television took off as an entertainment medium, Brough began to seek roles away from the stage. At first, he found it hard to adjust from screen to stage as his acting was considered far too hammy for films. One of his first screen roles was in The Green Man with Alastair Sim.
Brough made several small appearances on TV, most notably his role as Mr. Boyle in Dad's Army caught the eye of producer David Croft, leading him to be cast as Mr. Grainger in Are You Being Served?. Brough played the role of the sleepy senior salesman for the first five series and the film, but after the death of his wife Elizabeth in 1978, he was heartbroken and announced he was quitting acting.
Despite Jeremy Lloyd and David Croft planning to persuade him to return to AYBS? for Series 6, he died two months later at the age of 73.
Works on TV Tropes he appeared in:
Film
- Are You Being Served? (1977) — Mr. Ernest Grainger
- Z Cars, 2 episodes:
- "Further Enquiries" (1962) — Frank Jevons
- "Checkmate" (1965) — Josh Oldroyd
- Adam Adamant Lives!, episode "The Terribly Happy Embalmers" (1966) — Mr. Percy
- Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased), episode "That's How Murder Snowballs" (1969) — Snowy
- Dad's Army, episode "A. Wilson (Manager)?" (1970) — Mr. Boyle
- Doomwatch, episode "Invasion" (1970) — Sandy Larch
- Doctor at Large, episode "The Viva" (1971) — Mr. Begley
- The Persuaders!, episode "Greensleeves" (1971) — Moorehead
- Jason King, episode "The Constance Missal" (1972) — Jenkins (Deleted Role)
- Doctor in Charge, episode "The Long, Long Night" (1972) — Medical Officer of Health
- Are You Being Served?, 34 episodes (1972-77) — Mr. Ernest Grainger
- Upstairs Downstairs, episode "A House Divided" (1973) — Stallinbrass
- Bless This House, episode "Money Is the Root Of..." (1974) — Mr. Sayers
