Biography

Arthur was born in Rugby, Warwickshire and educated at Lawrence Sheriff School and the University of Durham before going to train for the theatre in London. He has worked as an actor in many regional repertory theatres including Watford, Plymouth, Guildford, Coventry, Exeter, Birmingham and Bromley.

Arthur is best known for the role of Crabtree in the hit BBC TV comedy series 'Allo 'Allo! He appeared in the series from 1985 to 1992, together with record-breaking seasons of the stage version in the West End, Australia, New Zealand and on national tours of the UK.

Arthur has just finished tours of “The Merry Widow” for Carl Rosa Opera and “Anyone For Breakfast” in which he played Roger. Other recent theatre work includes national tours of Sheridan’s “The Rivals” with Gabrielle Drake, Kate O’Mara and Michael Jayston and “Bedside Manners” with Tim Brooke-Taylor and Kim Hartman. He has also recently toured “Canterbury Tales” and co-starred with Patrick Mower in “Don’t Dress For Dinner” at the Mill at Sonning Theatre.

In 1997 he appeared at the Octagon Theatre, Bolton in Henry Livings' 'Rough Side of the Boards' and at The Haymarket Theatre Basingstoke as Sir Andrew Aguecheek in 'Twelfth Night' by William Shakespeare for Kate O'Mara's British Actors' Theatre Company. Other stage roles include the lead role of Aubrey Allington in Alan Dossor's production of 'Tons of Money' at the West Yorkshire Playhouse, Jerome in 'Three Men In A Boat', a tour of 'The Canterbury Tales' and a new play by Rodney Clark 'My Native Land' at the Lyric Studio, Hammersmith.

In 1995 he co-starred with Brian Blessed and Peter Duncan in a national tour of 'The Wizard Of Oz' playing Tin Man. This was revived for the 1995 - 1996 Christmas season at the Yvonne Arnaud Theatre at Guildford, and again for a short summer season in Belfast the following year.

Other TV credits include Don Felipe in 'Return To Treasure Island' (HTV), George Bartlett in 'Miss Marple: The Body In The Library' (BBC), 'Hi-De-Hi', 'Just Good Friends' and the award-winning BBC drama 'Fothergill' with Robert Hardy. Most recently he appeared in three episodes of the Carlton TV thriller '99-1' as Walker. He has made many commercials for both the United Kingdom and abroad.

Arthur lives in Manchester and his interests include cooking, travel, films and people-watching. He has trained as a Life Coach and been appointed as a Life Coach for the National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts (NESTA).