Arkwright (Open All Hours) to be too small for the act. Arkwright and Gladys apparently never got married before Arkwright's death; Gladys claims he died to save the cost of the church. Arkwright (Open All Hours) Albert E. Arkwright, usually referred to simply as Arkwright, is a fictional character and the main protagonist of the British sitcom, "Open All Hours", played by Ronnie Barker. Arkwright is the uncle of Granville and the proprietor of an old fashioned Yorkshire corner shop, which in the era of the programme (1970s and 1980s) was a product of a bygone age. Arkwright's signature characteristic is his stutter, which
Ronnie Barker in Pinner for many years, and subsequently in a converted mill in Dean, Oxfordshire. According to Corbett, Barker was "first and foremost a family man". Joy died in January 2011, aged 78. Barker received an OBE in 1978. He was an avid collector of antiques, books and posters and amassed a collection of over 53,000 postcards. He produced several compilation books of them, including "Ronnie Barker's Book of Bathing Beauties", "A Pennyworth of Art", and "Sauce". Barker rarely appeared in public, and when he did, it was almost always in character. He once said, "I've always known I haven't a