Arthur Ernest Mullard (né Mullord;^[1] 19 September 1910^[2][3] – 11 December 1995)^[4] was an English actor and singer.

Following military service and a brief boxing career, Mullard found work as a cockney character actor in film and TV comedy, notably in the series Romany Jones.

His legacy was posthumously tarnished by allegations of domestic violence against his wife and child sexual abuse of his daughter.

Mullard was born to a humble background in Islington, London, and named Arthur Mullord. He started work at the age of 14 as a butcher's assistant and joined the army at 18. It was there that he began boxing, becoming champion of his regiment. When he left the army after three years, he had a short stint at boxing professionally. This ended after 20 fights over three years, following a knock-out from which he lost his memory. In 1939, he was a general labourer living with his parents at 35 Douglas Street, Islington.^[5] He rejoined the army in the Second World War, becoming a warrant officer (sergeant major) in the Royal Artillery.^[6]

Mullard continued to live in a council house in Islington after his success and spent much of his free time socialising in local pubs. He wrote an autobiography, Oh, Yus, It's Arthur Mullard, which was published in 1977. Mullard died in his sleep on 11 December 1995, aged 85. He married Florence Rose in 1939, and the couple had three children: Brian, Barbara and Johnny. Florence died in 1961, aged 48.^[11][12][13]

In May 1996, five months after his death, the Sunday Mirror reported that a This Is Your Life episode about Mullard had been planned, but it was cancelled by host Eamonn Andrews. This came after the show's producers contacted Mullard's eldest son, Brian, who had left home after "a massive row" with his father, and heard his allegations of Mullard's history of domestic violence and of sexual abuse of his daughter Barbara, beginning when she was 13 in the early 1950s. Despite his alleged child sexual abuse against Barbara, which she recounted in an interview with the Sunday Mirror, she had nursed him in his dotage. He left her and one of her brothers £5,000 each, and £250,000 to a children's home.^[12] It was reported at the time that Mullard's son Johnny had become a successful comedian in Sydney, Australia; he defended his father as generous and supportive and stated that in his view, the allegations resulted from a "bust up" between Mullard and his daughter over Mullard's money, resulting in his decision to leave it to charity.^[14]

Mullard's wife Florence had committed suicide in 1961 by taking an overdose of sleeping tablets, after suffering from poor physical and mental health for several years.^[6] Her death was claimed by Barbara to be partly the result of the extreme physical and mental violence Mullard perpetrated against her. According to Barbara, Florence left a suicide note which said, "I don't want to live any more because of what you're doing with Barbara. Please look after my Johnny." Barbara claimed that Mullard tore up the note after showing it to her, making them the only two to have seen it.^[12]

• Mullard, Arthur Oh, Yus, It's Arthur Mullard , autobiography, published by Everest, London, 1977; ISBN 9780905018317