Editing Rupert Baxter

{{Short description|Fictional character in P. G. Wodehouse stories}}
'''Rupert J. Baxter''' is a fictional character in the [[Blandings Castle|Blandings]] stories by [[P. G. Wodehouse]]. Often called '''the Efficient Baxter''', he is [[Lord Emsworth]]'s secretary (although he routinely loses and regains this job), and an expert on many things, including [[Egypt]]ian [[scarab (artifact)|scarab]]s. He invariably wears his rimless spectacles, suspects many castle guests of being impostors (very often accurately and with good reason), and is, as his epithet suggests, extremely efficient.

==Character==
Baxter is an efficient and practical individual. He likes order, and despises Lord Emsworth's fuzzy mind and lifestyle. He sees himself as a man destined to bring order to Blandings, and is proud of his position as ''de facto'' ruler of one of England's largest houses. It is this pride which brings him back time and again to Blandings, despite the better pay and working conditions available to him in the household of Mr J. Horace Jevons, his employer before and after his reigns at Blandings, a man who treats him with the respect, and even obsequiousness, he demands; Mr Jevons' financial advice also allows Baxter to treble his savings.

Not the most emotional of men, his head is rarely turned by women, although on one occasion, meeting  Sue Brown but believing her to be Myra Schoonmaker, he finds himself approving very much of the idea of an heiress to sixty million dollars. He is a good [[chess]] player, and also enjoys [[bezique]]. His weak stomach is his [[achilles heel]].

==Appearances==
Baxter appears in four novels and a single short story:

* ''[[Something Fresh]]'' (1915)
* ''[[Leave it to Psmith]]'' (1923)
* ''[[Summer Lightning]]'' (1929)
* "[[The Crime Wave at Blandings]]", featured in the collection ''[[Lord Emsworth and Others]]'' (1937)
* ''[[Uncle Fred in the Springtime]]'' (1939)

He also receives mentions in ''[[Heavy Weather (Wodehouse novel)|Heavy Weather]]'' (1933), ''[[Service with a Smile]]'' (1962) and ''[[Galahad at Blandings]]'' (1965).

==Career==
At some point prior to working at Blandings, Baxter worked for Sir Ralph Dillingworth, the Yorkshire [[baronet]], who shot mice in the drawing room with an elephant gun; Baxter had to call in, and thus met, [[Sir Roderick Glossop]], a fact which came in useful when [[Uncle Fred]] visited the castle impersonating Glossop.  He also at one point worked for J. Horace Jevons, a Chicago millionaire.

Baxter first appears in ''[[Something Fresh]]''; a man perfectly suited to his job, he "had no vices, but he sometimes relaxed his busy brain with a game of solitaire." Lord Emsworth finds him invaluable, but begins to question his trust when Baxter is discovered in the middle of the night, in the midst of a sea of upset tables, broken china, and food.

By the time of ''[[Leave it to Psmith]]'', Baxter's efficiency has become a bane to the sunshine-loving Lord, and when he finds himself locked out of the castle wearing lemon-coloured [[Pajamas|pyjamas]] in the early morning, and throws flowerpots at Emsworth's bedroom window in an attempt to wake him, Emsworth decides he is insane and sacks him, replacing him with [[Psmith|Rupert Psmith]]. He returns to the employ of J. Horace Jevons, a [[Chicago, Illinois|Chicago]] millionaire for whom he had worked prior to coming to the castle.

Despite his being sacked, Baxter longs to organize the affairs of the absent-minded Emsworth, and remains a faithful friend and ally of [[Lady Constance Keeble|Lady Constance]]. He returns for a time in ''[[Summer Lightning]]'', while Hugo Carmody occupies his former position. He is called back by Lady Constance to steal [[Galahad Threepwood|Galahad]]'s scandalous memoirs, and arrives at the castle in a [[travel trailer|caravan]], pretending to be passing by on a caravaning tour. Not long after he arrives, he is disturbed while searching for the manuscript, and leaps from the library window to land in a flowerbed at Lord Emsworth's feet, adding to the Earl's poor opinion of Baxter's sanity, an opinion worsened further when, at the climax of proceedings, he is found hiding under Sue Brown's bed (a young girl for whom he had developed some affection, on the basis that she was a wealthy heiress, and was disgusted to find was an impostor).

In ''[[Heavy Weather (Wodehouse novel)|Heavy Weather]]'', days after Baxter has left, Galahad and Lord Emsworth are led to believe that he had been employed by [[Gregory Parsloe-Parsloe|Sir Gregory Parsloe-Parsloe]] to steal Emsworth's prize pig, [[Empress of Blandings]].

Baxter returns briefly to Blandings in "[[The Crime Wave at Blandings]]", at first as a stop on [[motorcycle]] tour of England, but he soon becomes a prospective tutor for George, Lord Bosham's second son and Lord Emsworth's grandson. However, when several members of the Blandings household shoot him in the hind parts with young George's [[air gun]], he is cured of his longing, despite Emsworth's offer of a return to his old post, and decides to leave Blandings permanently to work for Mr. Jevons.

Unable to stay away, Baxter returns again in ''[[Uncle Fred in the Springtime]]'', where he is employed by the grouchy Duke of Dunstable, who visits the castle as a friend of Lady Constance. He works for Dunstable helping to compile the Dunstable family history, but is poorly treated by the Duke, who suspects him of going on "toots", and hits him in the face with a well-thrown egg when he hears him singing on the lawn outside his rooms, and also has him help steal Empress of Blandings, a task which sorely tries Baxter's nerve; he is later slipped a [[Mickey Finn (drugs)|Mickey Finn]] by Uncle Fred. He is last mentioned in ''[[Galahad at Blandings]]'' as being in the employ of an American millionaire in [[Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania]].

==Adaptations==
;Television
*[[Anton Rodgers]] portrayed Baxter in an episode of ''[[The World of Wodehouse]]'' in 1967.
*Baxter was portrayed by [[David Walliams]] in the 2013–14 ''[[Blandings (TV series)|Blandings]]'' television series.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01q9dn8 |title=Blandings: The Go-Getter |author=<!--Not stated--> |date=2019 |website=BBC One |publisher=BBC |access-date=20 October 2019}}</ref>

;Film
*In the 1933 film ''[[Leave It to Me (1933 film)|Leave It to Me]]'', Baxter was played by [[Gus McNaughton]].
*[[Esme Percy]] portrayed Baxter in the 1933 film ''[[Summer Lightning (film)|Summer Lightning]]''.

;Stage
*[[Edward Chapman (actor)|Edward Chapman]] portrayed Baxter in the 1930 premiere of Wodehouse and [[Ian Hay]]'s play ''[[Leave It to Psmith (play)|Leave It to Psmith]]'' in London.<ref>{{cite book | author-last= Wodehouse | author-first= P. G. | authorlink= P. G. Wodehouse| title= Four Plays |publisher= [[Methuen Publishing|Methuen London Ltd]]|date=1983 | page=145 |isbn= 978-0413530202}}</ref>

;Radio
*In a 1939 radio dramatisation of "The Crime Wave at Blandings", Baxter was voiced by [[Carleton Hobbs]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://genome.ch.bbc.co.uk/65bf0fa5754d49c1ba58456f89f50a71 |title=C. V. France |author=<!--Not stated--> |date=2019 |website=BBC Genome |publisher=BBC |access-date=20 October 2019}}</ref>
*Baxter was voiced by [[Christopher Godwin]] in the 1981 radio adaptation of ''Leave It to Psmith''.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://genome.ch.bbc.co.uk/3d6d085eb273487f9031f4ed46f32086 |title=Saturday-Night Theatre: Leave it to Psmith |author=<!--Not stated--> |date=2019 |website=BBC Genome |publisher=BBC |access-date=20 October 2019}}</ref>
*Michael McClain voiced Baxter in "The Crime Wave at Blandings", adapted as part of the ''[[Blandings (radio series)|Blandings]]'' radio series, in 1985.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://genome.ch.bbc.co.uk/540a24f9358a49bfa492adcadd7b7033|title=Blandings: The Crime Wave At Blandings |author=<!--Not stated--> |date=2019 |website=BBC Genome Project |publisher=BBC |access-date=20 October 2019}}</ref> Christopher Godwin again portrayed Baxter in the 1987 radio adaptation of ''Summer Lightning''.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://genome.ch.bbc.co.uk/7a404f2c67104c3b957f049bcc98e67a |title=Blandings (Summer Lightning Part 3) |author=<!--Not stated--> |date=2019 |website=BBC Genome |publisher=BBC |access-date=20 October 2019}}</ref>
*In 2009, Rupert Baxter was voiced by [[Jared Harris]] in a radio adaptation of ''Something Fresh''.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://genome.ch.bbc.co.uk/0dc1d17bcd38456d9c74e0265ec6497a |title=Classic Serial: Something Fresh 2/2 |author=<!--Not stated--> |date=2019 |website=BBC Genome |publisher=BBC |access-date=20 October 2019}}</ref> Harris reprised his role as Baxter in the 2010 radio adaptation of ''Summer Lightning'',<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00swkc1 |title=Classic Serial, PG Wodehouse - Summer Lightning |date=2019 |website=BBC Radio 4 |access-date=20 October 2019}}</ref> and in the 2012 radio adaptation of ''Uncle Fred in the Springtime''.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/mediacentre/proginfo/2012/17/uncle-fred-in-the-springtime |title=Classic Serial - Uncle Fred In The Springtime |website= BBC Media Centre |date=2019 |accessdate=20 October 2019}}</ref>
*Joe Bannister played Baxter in the 2020 radio adaptation of ''Leave it to Psmith''.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000j7qj|website=BBC Radio 4|year=2020|title=Leave it to Psmith: 1. Poets at Blandings|publisher=BBC|accessdate=17 May 2020}}</ref>

==References==
;Notes
{{Reflist}}
;Sources
* {{cite web
 | author = Kuzmenko, Michel
 | title = Bibliography
 | work = The Russian Wodehouse Society
 | url = http://wodehouse.ru/bibssty.htm
 | accessdate = May 4, 2005
 }}
* {{cite book
 | author = Usborne, Richard
 | title = Plum Sauce: A P. G. Wodehouse Companion

 | location = London
 | publisher = Penguin Books
 | year = 1915
 | isbn = 0-14-028461-3
 | page = 58
 }}

{{Blandings Castle}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Baxter, Rupert}}
[[Category:P. G. Wodehouse characters]]
[[Category:Literary characters introduced in 1915]]
[[Category:Male characters in literature]]
[[Category:Fictional secretaries]]