Douglaston's Own: Arthur Treacher

Arthur Treacher moved from England to the United States to pursue an acting career and lived in Douglaston during the late 1920s and 1930s.

The actor was born in Brighton, Sussex and, in his early 20s, fought in World War I.

After the war, he began his stage career in England, but moved to the U.S. in the late 1920s as part of a musical comedy revue.

Treacher graduated to the silver screen in 1930s, starring in four Shirley Temple films: “Curly Top,” “Stowaway,” “Heidi” and “The Little Princess.” The six-foot-four-inch actor towered over the petit child star.

The thespian first played the role of a butler in P.G. Wodehouse’s “Thank You, Jeeves” and “Step Lively, Jeeves” in the mid-1930s, but also played butlers in “Personal Maids” and “Bordertown.”

For the next three decades, Treacher would nab roles in a handful of movies, including “National Velvet,” “The Countess of Monte Cristo” and “Mary Poppins.”

In the early 1960s, he returned to playing a butler in two episodes of “The Beverly Hillbillies.”

He made a number of appearances on “The Merv Griffin Show” in the late 1960s, acting as the host’s announcer and sidekick.

Treacher then used his name brand recognition from Griffin’s show for several franchised businesses, including Arthur Treacher’s Fish and Chips and Call Arthur Treacher Service System, a household help agency.

The former business venture became a popular restaurant chain in the 1970s and eventually grew to nearly 900 franchised eateries.

The actor died at age 81 from cardiovascular disease in Manhasset, Long Island.