| ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 Conrad Bain as Arthur, in the Season 1 episode "Doctor, Doctor" (episode #2). | ||||
| Personal Information | ||||
| Gender: | Male | |||
| Occupation/ Career: |
Medical Doctor | |||
| Character description: |
Arthur longtime friend since college, whom, shortly after divorcing his first wife, begins dating Maude's best friend and the before eventually marrying her about a year later | |||
| Spouse(s): | Vivian Cavender (1975-present (?)) (Agnes, ???-1969/70, deceased) | |||
| Related to: | Arnold Harmon (twin brother) Arthur Harmon, Jr. (son) Ian Harmon (grandson) | |||
| Character information | ||||
| Appeared on: | Maude (TV series) | |||
| Episodes appeared in: | 121 in series (Seasons 1-6) | |||
| Character played by: | Conrad Bain | |||
Arthur Harmon, Arthur Findlay's best friend, is a main character who appears on the CBS-TV series Maude. The part of Arthur is played by Conrad Bain.
About Arthur[]
A rather a stuffy, sardonic Republican, Arthur, who's the Findlay's next-door neighbor, has been best friends with Walter since they bunked together while serving together in World War II.
Arthur is a medical doctor; on one occassion, he used his profession to perscribe Maude with transquilizers. Being a conservative Republican, he often clashes with Maude on such controversial political issues such as women's lib, race relations, marriage. Maude also often makes jokes about him being "cheap" or too frugal, which he denies.
Arthur often speaks of his beloved first wife, Agnes, who died in 1969 or 1970, as he was still in the grieving process when he was introduced to Maude's old college friend Vivian Cavander (Rue McClanahan), who he began dating after her divorce from her first husband Chuck Cavender, shorty after their divorce was final, in 1973. The two would court each other, and marry on January 29, 1974. Though both of his wifes acted as housewives, Vivian's more willingness to be active in feminist causes and less willingness to please Arthur by fulfilling traditional "household duties" at times hurt their marriage. When comparing his late wife and his current wife, Arthur noted to Vivian how Agnes "would never have gone out and left the house the way you did" when she one time left their house to attend a Congress Of Women (COW) meeting, with Vivian replying "No, the only way Agnes could ever get out of the house was to die,"
Vivian, whose views are similar to those of Maude, and Arthur also clash from time to time over the same issues which Maude and he clash over, such as women's lib, the ERA amendment, a woman's choice to work or be an at-home housewife, but they always seem to make up, as Arthur is often forced to accept the changing times concerning women's rights.
Arthur's conservative, flag-waving views apparently also clashed with his son, Arthur, Jr., who's a Vietnam War draft dodger living in Canada. Arthur's allows his grandson Ian Harmon (played by Sparky Marcus in the in the episode "Arthurs' Grandson" in Season 6, episode #19) to visit, in hopes to mend fences with his son, Arthur, Ian's dad.
Arthur also has an identical twin brother named Arnold Harmon (also played by Conrad Bain's real life brother Bonar Bain in the episode "Vivian's Surprise") in Season 5 (episode #22).