Stanley Roper
| Stanley Roper | |
|---|---|
| First appearance | A Man About the House |
| Last appearance | Night of the Ropers |
| Portrayed by | Norman Fell |
| Information | |
| Aliases |
Roper Mr. Roper |
| Gender | Male |
| Occupation | Landlord |
| Family | Karen (niece) |
| Spouse(s) | Helen Roper (Wife) |
| Relatives |
Theodore Morgan(Uncle)(deceased) Bert (Uncle) |
Stanley Roper is the name of a fictional character from the sitcom Three's Company and its spinoff The Ropers.
Background
In Three's Company, Stanley Roper owns and manages the apartment building in Santa Monica that is home to Jack Tripper, Janet Wood and Chrissy Snow. He has a love-hate relationship with his wife, Helen. Although they care deeply for each other, Helen and Stanley regularly bicker and engage in one-upmanship, with Helen usually the intellectual victor. A significant amount of their tension is due to Helen's regular desire for romance with Stanley, while Stanley is either clueless or uninterested. During the character's time on the series, he was known for breaking the fourth wall by smiling and snickering at the camera after telling a one liner joke, often at his wife's expense. He usually uses the term "Not tonight Helen, I got a headache."
Stanley is generally friendly towards the roommates but can be very angry if the rent is late. He is also not above exploiting his tenants' fear of raised rents to get chores and favors done. He is told that Jack is homosexual to bypass any objections he might have to a man living with two women. He does not appear to hate Jack or homosexuals in general, but he does see Jack's supposed homosexuality as a source of amusement and makes several jokes at his expense.
Stanley is extremely cheap (from episode "Stanley's Hotline" in which the roommates call him 'the cheapest man alive' and very much penny wise, pound foolish). He drives a run down 1958 Chevrolet Bel Air, which he attempted to sell to the roommates, but reneged when he learned he could get a lot more money for it from another buyer (who thought it was the classic and far more valuable 1957 model). After the intended buyer learned it was actually a 1958 model, he offered to tow it away if Roper paid him $25.
After Roper sold the building to Bart Furley, Bart's brother Ralph took over as landlord.
The Ropers series
For The Ropers, Stanley and Helen move to Cheviot Hills, California and live next door to snobby real estate agent, Jeffrey P. Brookes III (who eventually sells them their house).
Stanley intensely dislikes Jeffrey and the feeling is mutual. When Stanley and Helen were investigating buying the house, Jeffrey's son David came in and explained to Stanley that if his father didn't like Stanley and Helen, he would never let them move in. When Jeffrey arrived for the showing, Stanley begins telling an invented story that this house was perfect for his "drums" and "wild parties". Very quickly, Stanley and Helen are thrown out of the building by Jeffrey, but with much prompting from Helen, soon came back to get another look at it. Jeffrey puts a phony "sold" sign in front of the house to deter them. Stanley conceals his joy, but for Helen's sake he feigns sadness, saying "I would buy it this in an instant if it wasn't sold!" Seeing through Stanley's ploy, Jeffrey tells them that the house isn't sold and Stanley is stuck buying it.
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