Bertie Wooster

Bertram Wilberforce Wooster is a fictional character created by P. G. Wodehouse. He is a foppish, somewhat dim-witted, and fabulously wealthy British aristocrat and member of the "idle rich." In Wodehouse's stories he always appears alongside his highly intelligent "personal gentleman's gentleman" Jeeves, whose genius manages to extract Bertie or one of his friends from an awkward or difficult situation. Bertie is the narrator of the numerous short stories and novels concerning himself and Jeeves; the pair, dubbed Jeeves and Wooster, have become one of the best-known comic duos in English literature.

Bertie is filthy rich, but nonetheless allows himself to be dominated by his aunts: Aunt Dahlia, whose company he enjoys, and Aunt Agatha, who (he believes) chews broken bottles and conducts human sacrifices during the full moon. Bertie is indolent, a parody of Edwardian Era playboys from Wodehouse's youth, yet due to a good heart, sweetness of nature, and unbreakable naivete he remains in the reader's good graces, even as he struggles to extricate himself from such mishaps as getting engaged to unsuitable women such as Madeline Bassett or being mistakenly accused of crimes. Jeeves, whose omniscience borders on the supernatural, always saves the day. Somehow women like Madeline Bassett and Florence Craye seem to believe that Bertie is madly in love with them and are ready to marry him just for that.

Bertie belongs to the fashionable Drones Club, where many of his adventures take place.

Bertie's foppish foolishness was not popular with everyone, however. Papers released by the Public Record Office have disclosed that when Wodehouse was recommended for a Companion of Honour in 1967, Sir Patrick Dean, British ambassador in Washington, argued that it "would also give currency to a Bertie Wooster image of the British character which we are doing our best to eradicate."

Bertie was portrayed by Hugh Laurie in the early-1990s ITV series Jeeves and Wooster.