Woodhouse

Richard Woodhouse
First appearance	"Mole Hunt"
Voiced by	George Coe
Information
Age	100+
Height	5'3"
Weight	103 lbs (naked and crying)
Eyes	Blue
Hair	Brown (White with age)
Affiliations
Nationality	British
Occupation	Sterling Archer's valet
Skills	Tailoring, Bar Tending, Proficiency with Bayonet and Sawed-Off Shotgun
Personal Life
Family	Dicky Woodhouse (brother)
Relationships	Sterling Archer (caregiver)
Dicky Woodhouse (brother)
Sterling Archer (caregiver)

Woodhouse is Sterling's elderly and devoted valet, who takes harsh and frequent criticism from his employer. Woodhouse raised Sterling since his boyhood, as Malory was a frequently absent mother and Sterling's father was unknown. Elderly Woodhouse is voiced by George Coe. In the episode "The Double Deuce," Roy McCrerey voiced the younger versions of Woodhouse.

Background

Woodhouse has lived an incredibly long (given that he would need to have been born in at least 1896 to be of age to serve in world war I) and colorful life. Serving in the King's African Rifles, as well as England in World War I. Later in life he became involved with the Archer family in Tangiers, literally birthing Sterling and has been with them ever since.

Early life and military career

Prior to World War I, Woodhouse served with The Kings African Rifles in Zambezi, where the local tribesman 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 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 during World War I

During a depressing time of the war, 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 soldiers.

When Reggie was shot down and his plane crash landed 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 which allowed an enemy rifleman to see their position and shoot Reggie 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 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".

Post-military life

After his discharge he wandered the world, spending time on a merchant ship in the orient, doing drugs and sleeping with women while letting his hair grow out. He then landed in Tangiers where he won a bar in a dice game, renaming the bar Reggie's Bar. One night Malory Archer burst in, stating that as she had just killed a man and her water just broke, she could really use a drink. She gave birth to Archer on the bar and Woodhouse cut the cord. While she was nursing him on the bar, Woodhouse gave Malory a rattle made of sterling silver for the baby, which is how Archer got his 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 men 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 to an OSS safe house, 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 Sterling didn't want to see his mother (who had an eye patch for reasons unexplained) 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). Sterling now has almost no regard for Woodhouse's feelings and treats him as if he were subhuman. Sterling often punishes Woodhouse (and many other women such as Cheryl Tunt) by his favorite method of throwing shoes and clothing off of his balcony. Sterling has even shown ecstatic joy over the potential of Woodhouse suffering.

Quotes

• "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. "

Trivia

Woodhouse's hobby dates back a long way.

• 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 Charlie Mingus while high.
• He and Corporal Bishop are the final two people in his World War I Tontine.
• He had a younger brother named Dicky who was in hiding in Mexico after escaping from a Nevada jail, Stage Two. Dicky was revealed to be dead in "The Papal Chase"
• He is partially deaf.
• His first name has not been revealed.
• 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" Jeeves.
• 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, due to his attraction to both Reggie Thistleton and Malory Archer.
• Woodhouse looks like the in-universe Pope.

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 four images from the gallery:

Helping to train Cyril

WoodhouseOrient.jpg

Lamenting Reggie

Parenting Archer

Feeding his drug addiction