Woodhouse

"Slowly dying, for all anyone cares. But the saddest part is, no one does.."

—Woodhouse^[src]

Sir Arthur Henry Woodhouse VC, GCB, DSO, DSC, MC was Sterling Archer's elderly and devoted valet, who took harsh and frequent criticism from his employer. Woodhouse raised Sterling since his boyhood, as Malory Archer was a frequently absent mother and Sterling's father was unknown. Elderly Woodhouse was voiced by George Coe (Seasons 1-4) and Tom Kane (Season 5). In the episode "The Double Deuce," Roy McCrerey voiced the younger versions of Woodhouse. As of the first episode of "Archer: Dreamland," we see his tombstone with his name retconned as Arthur Woodhouse, birth date June 28, 1890.

When George Coe died in 2015, Woodhouse was written out and his parallel death was announced in the show as a heroin overdose.

Background

Arthur Henry Woodhouse was born on June 28, 1890. Woodhouse once served in the King's African Rifles, and later as an airman's batman during World War I. Years later, during World War II, he became involved with the Archer family in Tangiers, where he delivered Sterling at Reggie's Bar after Malory arrived in labor and being chased by enemy spies.

Prior to World War I, Woodhouse served with the King's African Rifles in Rhodesia where he encountered Zambezi tribesman, who were practicing cannibals. Woodhouse sampled but never developed a taste for human flesh, which the locals called long pig (Killing Utne).

He served as an officer's personal attendant ("batman" to Captain Reginald "Reggie" Thistleton, a biplane pilot during World War I). When Woodhouse was asked how he could be "so awesome and not be gay" in "Honeypot", he said he was "quite fond of a boy in school once, Reggie Thistleton," implying he may have known Reggie before the war. Reggie also makes some homosexual references when he speaks to Woodhouse during The Double Deuce.

Woodhouse soldier — Woodhouse during World War I

During WWI the average pilots life expectancy was very low and therefore Reggie started a Tontine with the rest of his troop. This seemingly came back to haunt Woodhouse later when he started noticing several members of the tontine dying mysteriously. He and a fellow ex-pilot Corporal Bishop suspected a third ex-pilot Scripes of killing the other airmen.

When Reggie was shot down and his plane crashed in No Man's Land, they were forbidden to rescue him. Woodhouse ignored orders and went anyway. He then provided the wounded Reggie with a cigarette, the flame from his lighter illuminated Reggie at which point an enemy sniper shot him through the neck. The death caused Woodhouse to go into a homicidal rage and kill around 50 German soldiers (a Zug, or platoon) with his knife, garnering him the Victoria Cross (the British Empire's highest award for valor and equivalent to the US Medal of Honor). He was discharged, with the rank of Lance Corporal, from the service because he scalped all his enemies, with Corporal Bishop remarking that he "could have made a blanket".

Woodhouse's other orders and decorations include being a Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath (GCB), which would entitle him to the honourific prefix 'Sir', the Distinguished Service Order (DSO), Distinguished Service Cross (DSC) and the Military Cross (MC), the former three decorations only being awarded to officers until a policy change in 1993, meaning he possibly received a temporary battlefield commission before his discharge or was posthumously retroactively awarded them.

Post-military life

After his discharge he wandered the world, spending time on a merchant ship in the Orient, using opium and sleeping with women whilst letting his hair grow out. He then, in his own words, “...washed up in Tangiers” where he won a bar in a dice game, renaming the bar, Reggie's Bar, after his former commanding officer and friend. One night, a pregnant Malory Archer burst in, stating that she had just killed a man and her “water broke,” and asked for a drink. She soon gave birth to a boy with Woodhouse’s assistance. While she was nursing him on the bar, Woodhouse gave Malory a rattle made of sterling silver for the baby which he obtained from a gonorrhea infested Arab prostitute. Malory liked the word Sterling and that is how Archer got his first name. Woodhouse asked Malory if his middle name could be Reginald, to which Malory said it was "too gay," which then resulted in Sterling having the middle name Malory. Eventually the Nazi agents and Moroccan policemen that had been chasing Malory caught up with her, which resulted in a short gunfight in which Malory and Woodhouse shot and killed them.

After that Malory offered Woodhouse the job of taking care of Archer. He then traded his bar for a boat, sailed Malory and Sterling to Lisbon, got Malory and Archer to an OSS safe house in the city, sold the boat and used the money to take Sterling back to the U.S. He then raised Sterling by himself for five years. When Malory returned from the war, Sterling didn't want to see his mother (who had an eye patch for reasons unexplained [but which can be assumed to be an eye injury of some kind]) and clung to Woodhouse.

Unfortunately for Woodhouse, from that moment onward Sterling would become particularly cruel toward Woodhouse which would continue into his adulthood (most likely due to the influence of his mother [or his severe attachment disorder, testified to by Dr Grospard]). Sterling now has almost no regard for Woodhouse's feelings and treats him as if he was subhuman. Sterling often punishes Woodhouse (and many women, such as Cheryl Tunt) by his favorite method of throwing shoes and clothing off his balcony. Sterling has even shown ecstatic joy over the potential of Woodhouse suffering.

Despite this, when Archer developed breast cancer in "Stage Two", Archer took Woodhouse’s place on a trip with his brother, Dicky Woodhouse and went on a Las Vegas trip and bonded greatly to the point Archer got a tattoo of Woodhouse's brother's name on his back. Upon returning, Archer later thanked Woodhouse for his generous act, since he was going through a tough time. Woodhouse was greatly surprised by this change but became delighted as Archer sincerly promised to treat him better since he was practically family.

Quotes

"Sir, I'm afraid that your breakfast will be four minutes late" (said by Woodhouse when he knocks out Pam whilst she was high on cocaine, using a frying-pan, in which was Archer's breakfast-- for which Archer says "typical")
"I shall fetch a rug." -Training Day, Killing Utne
"Regggggggieeeeeee!!" -Double Deuce
"Ants! All over my body, ANTS!!"- Blood Test
"When I served in the King's African Rifles, the local Zambezi tribesman called human flesh "long pig." Never much cared for it." -Killing Utne
''Its going to be a long, itchy week-end for us Reggie....'

Trivia

Woodhouse Indisposed — Woodhouse's hobby dates back a long way.

Instructed Pam on how to properly drop the MOAB.
He had a younger brother named Dicky who was in hiding in Mexico after escaping from a Nevada jail, Stage Two. Unless he has another brother, Dicky was revealed to be dead in "The Papal Chase". Archer didn't allow Woodhouse to go to his brother's funeral (or even inform him of his brother's passing).
Woodhouse is addicted to heroin, a fact which is often used by Sterling as a form of blackmail and bribery.
He used to shoot up with William S. Burroughs, and may have been an accessory in the manslaughter of Joan Vollmer shown in Blood Test.
Named the lemur stolen by Archer Reggie, after Reggie Thistleton.
He enjoys listening to Charles Mingus while high.
He and Corporal Bishop were the final two people in his World War I Tontine.
He is partially deaf.
He has killed at least 52 men in his life, including the 50 Germans during his rampage, and two of the intruders who attacked his bar.
Despite his age and usual subservient behavior, Woodhouse has demonstrated the ability to defend himself from Sterling, as well as deal punishment when necessary.
Woodhouse typically speaks in two distinctly different voices, the first being a high-pitched, energetic voice, the second being a lower-pitched, strained and tired voice.
Undoubtedly the lookalike of the late Ian Wolfe (who, according to IMDB, played a character named Wodehouse in an episode of Star of the Family), he is most probably named in homage to P. G. Wodehouse, who created the "gentleman's personal gentleman.
- In addition, it's also possible that Woodhouse is a homage to another George Coe character; Senator Howard Stackhouse, seen in three episodes of the TV series, The West Wing.
Woodhouse's weapon of choice is the Sawed-Off Double Barrel Shotgun as he is seen using two in The Double Deuce defending Malory Archer in Reggie's Bar. Later in Pipeline Fever Archer says he "borrowed" one from Woodhouse implying he may still have them both.
It is highly likely Woodhouse is bisexual, given his attraction to both Reggie Thistleton and Malory Archer.
Woodhouse looks like the in-universe Pope.
Woodhouse did not physically appear in season 6, and is missing since his last appearance in season 5. Archer has even gone to the extent of printing missing persons flyers in the episode "Reignition Sequence". His whereabouts are currently unknown, although it was confirmed that Woodhouse will die in Season 8.^[1]
Woodhouse has earned at least four military honours during his service in the British Armed Forces. These include the Distinguished Service Order, the Distinguished Service Cross, the Military Cross and the Victoria Cross, the last of which is the highest award possible in the British honours system. He also has a Knighthood, being a Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath.

Gallery of Images

There are 56 images of Woodhouse on this Wiki, visit the Woodhouse gallery to view all the images and screenshots. Here is a sample of three images from the gallery: