Wodehouse, Sir P(elham) G(renville)
Wodehouse, Sir P(elham) G(renville) (1881-1975),
Anglo-American writer, born in Guilford, England, and educated
at Dulwich College. From 1903 to 1909 he edited the humorous
"By the Way" column for the London Globe. His reputation as
a humorous novelist was established with Psmith in the City
(1910). He maintained his enormous popularity with nearly 100
novels depicting amusing characters in absurd and intricate
situations. Among them are Very Good Jeeves (1930), The
Butler Did It (1957), and Bachelors Anonymous (1974).
Perhaps best known of his fictional creations are the hapless
young gentleman Bertie Wooster and his efficient butler,
Jeeves. Wodehouse was also the coauthor of numerous plays
and musical comedies, including O, Kay (1926) and Rosalie
(1928), produced mostly in America, where he did much of his
early writing. During the 1940s he was interned in Germany. In
1955 he became an American citizen, and in 1975, he was
made a Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire.