Arthur Spooner

Arthur Spooner
Vital statistics
Gender:	Male
Character description:	Irascible sort who moves into Doug and daughter Carrie's basement after he burned his own house down
Family and Personal
Spouse(s):	Sophia Spooner Lily Spooner Tessie Spooner Veronica Olchin
Related to:	Jerry Spooner (father) Unnamed mother Carrie Heffernan (daughter) Sara Spooner (daughter) Doug Heffernan (son-in-law) Spence Olchin (stepson)
Character information
Episodes appeared in:	193 in series, Seasons 1-9
Character played by:	Jerry Stiller Erik Per Sullivan (as a child)

Arthur Eugene Spooner is the tritagonist and one of the 3 central characters on The King of Queens. He is Carrie's father and he moved into their house in the basement after he burned his own house down in the Pilot. Arthur has had multiple wives and dozens of jobs. In the beginning of the series, he had another daughter, Sarah Spooner, who also lived with the Heffernans but in the middle of the first season, she was written out of the series. In later episodes, Sarah is never mentioned and it has been said that Carrie is an only child. He is portrayed by late Jerry Stiller, comedian-actor.

Erik Per Sullivan as Young Arthur

Career

Arthur often states that he had close to 200 jobs

• Before KoQ:
  • "In and out of" marketing for almost 8 months (1950s)
  • Actor
  • Played college basketball for the SUNY Oneonta Red Dragons
• Season 1:
  • Ribbon salesman
  • Monogrammed monograms (replaced by machine)
  • Pretzel shop in mall (early in the series)
• Season 9:
  • Self-employed: Renting himself and other seniors out to accompany people who want to use the carpool lane
  • Employee in a publishing company (under the fake name 'Clark Gable', stole the job from Spence)
  • Entertainment director at the Senior Center (probably unpaid)

Role in the series

Sarcastic, brash, and always scheming, Arthur lives in the basement of Doug and Carrie's house. Quick to take offense, he shouts frequently and often unnecessarily, and often comes up with absolutely absurd, irregular, or illogical money-making scams. He is basically a selfish, narcissistic individual who feels the world owes him, and that he needs to be treated a certain way for who he thinks he is.

Arthur frequently makes bizarre claims (for example, that he invented the moist towelette, and claiming that Charles M. Schulz based Charlie Brown on Arthur's life). He also steals change from Doug's nightstand. Arthur is walked by a dog walker named Holly Shumpert (Nicole Sullivan), and his best friend is Mickey (Ford Rainey).

Arthur is outspoken for left-leaning political views and in some episodes a supporter of the communist nations around the world. In the episode "Steve Moscow" he claims that the Soviet Union was a "workers' paradise," and in the episode "Strike Out", he says that he was once enrolled at a socialist summer camp. When Doug goes on strike, Arthur almost kisses him out of pride; these feelings of affection quickly turn into disgust when Doug takes a job at a school as a substitute teacher (with Arthur angrily remarking: "Whatever helps you sleep at night you douche"). However, in one episode, in a debate with Spence on whether the United States should lift the embargo on Cuba, Arthur was against the lifting of the embargo and Spence was for it (yet, in context, the debate was a scene where Arthur tried to prove he could withstand any argument, resulting in him deferring from the point, and vehemently insulting Spence).

Arthur's eccentricity extends to going so far as to explicitly forbid a variety of things from the Heffernan household, including but not limited to: Halloween, red pens, soft cheese, non-American VCRs (but not DVD players), any mention of Franklin D. Roosevelt's paralytic illness, and miniature Kit Kats.

At times he can offer fatherly advice, and cares about Doug and Carrie. In the episode "Deacon Blues" he tells Carrie, "You're not angry cookie, you're scared", as to show Carrie her true feelings. Other times, however, he may become a burden on Doug and Carrie, which Doug claims is unfair because he owns the house. Arthur's odd behavior is said to result from him being neglected as a child. He is often seen as a child because Doug and Carrie have to take care of him. However, around strangers, he often claims that he owns the home (in one episode, after discovering what the property is worth, he stages an 'open house', taking offers on the place), his gamer girl works at menial labor despite Arthur's invented wealth, and Doug is a complete deadbeat.

Arthur's handling of money is often a matter of contention. He regularly steals change from Doug and has, according to Carrie, "no retirement, no insurance, no Social Security." He once planned to save a large amount of money for a potential grandchild, but only remarks "the dog races are terribly fixed." He often claims to be very wealthy, especially when wooing women. He has almost no money at all, not even a few dollars, as a check he writes for a $1.42 coffee bounces. Insulted by the barista's distrust of his financial situation, he claims to have vast offshore accounts, and is in the process of moving money around.

On occasion, Arthur confesses his moral shortcomings. He once admitted to Doug that the only truly selfless act he can claim, is not informing Carrie that he gave up a legitimate opportunity to pursue an acting career in order to ensure a more stable life for her.

Trivia

• Arthur is a very good at ping pong.
• Arthur always cheats at life and this would rub off on Carrie.
• Carrie's original name was Simone, but he lost the name in a poker game with Uncle Chester.
• Arthur used to be addicted to nasal spray.
• Arthur was born in the United States and served in the US Army during WWII.
• Arthur was an actor and performer prior to Carrie being born, but gave it up because he wanted to be there for his gamer girl throughout her childhood.
• Arthur is a communist, and has referred to the Soviet Union as a "worker's paradise”
• Arthur is a minor antagonist and anti-hero in the series,
• Arthur is well hated and loved by everyone.
• Holly Shumpert is the only one who can tame Arthur when she always babysits him.
• He is absent from a dozen of the 207 episodes in the series.

External links

• Arthur Spooner article at Wikipedia