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David Read

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David Read
David Read 2.png
Gender Male
Animal Aardvark[1]

Hair color Brown[2]

Favorite color Lemon yellow[3]
Yellow[4]
Residence Arthur's House, Elwood City
Family Thora Read (mother)
Jane Read (wife)
Arthur Read (son)
D.W. Read (daughter)
Kate Read (daughter)
Thora's mother's great-uncle (maternal great-great-great-uncle)
Thora's father (maternal grandfather)
Thora's mother (maternal grandmother)
Thora's brother 1 (maternal uncle)
Thora's brother 2 (maternal uncle)
Thora's brother 3 (maternal uncle)
David's brother (brother)
Sean (brother or brother-in-law)
Bonnie (sister or sister-in-law)
Minnie Read (sister)
George (nephew)
Bud (brother or brother-in-law)
Loretta (sister or sister-in-law)
Monique (niece)
Ricky (nephew)
Loretta's daughter (niece)
Ryder Read (nephew)
Theodore Read (grand-uncle)
Dave (father-in-law)
Richard (brother-in-law)
Jessica (sister-in-law)
Cora (niece)
Fred (brother-in-law)
Lucy (sister-in-law)
Lucy's husband (brother-in-law)
Job Catering chef
Book debut Arthur's Nose
Cartoon debut "Arthur's Eyes"
Voiced by Bruce Dinsmore (TV series)
Tony Fardella (Living Books)

David L. Read[5] is the father of Arthur, D.W., and Kate, and the son of Thora Read. He is married to Jane Read. He is a chef who runs a catering business from home.

Physical appearance

In short, he looks like an older version of his son Arthur, just without the glasses. His usual outfit is a white top with blue borders with corduroy pants and brown loafers. He was originally bald-headed in the earlier books but was later given clumps of hair that were brown in the books, although it was restricted to black lines in the cartoon in order to simplify animation process. For sleepwear, he has been seen wearing green pajamas. In the summer, for summer clothes, he wears a white t-shirt with an aqua green collar, blue shorts, and brown sandals. In "Cast Away", he is shown wearing an orange checkered shirt and brown shorts

Personality

Although not very strict, David urges Arthur and D.W. to try new foods that he bakes; however, the foods are usually weird and exotic ones that Arthur and D.W. do not like. Mr. Read is equally disgusted at their preferred food, saying it will only give them dental problems. He also says that a year's supply of junk food is no prize. ("Arthur and the Crunch Cereal Contest".)

As with all father figures, David sometimes tends to come across as hard on Arthur and D.W. a lot of times, but that's only because he only wants them to do their best in life.

But all the same, he has a great relationship with his wife, children, family and other associates.

Past life

When David was a baby, he wore a pink shirt, white cloth diapers with a pin, and brown shoes. During his high school years, when he started dating Jane, as seen in a photo album in "Arthur's Eyes", he had a brown mullet hairstyle and a mustache and goatee and wore white and blue disco clothes that were fashionable between the late 1970s and early 1980s. He grew up in Elwood City with his two sisters, brother and his mother, Thora Read, who possibly raised them all by herself due to the fact that her husband is unknown and has been absent throughout the series and is possibly deceased.

Appearances

Other Media

In the Living Books computer games, he had a light brown complexion in Arthur's Teacher Trouble, and it was changed to pale in Arthur's Birthday. In these two games, he was voiced by Tony Fardella before the cartoon show replaced him with Bruce Dinsmore.

In the later games during the 32-bit era of computers and software, such as Arthur's Thinking Games, his appearance was the same as he looks in the cartoon show.

Career

Mr. Read is a catering chef. He has been shown to do all his work in part of a very large detached garage filled with expensive cooking and restaurant equipment. He has his own commercial vehicle with a mascot resembling Hamburger Helper & Pillsbury Dough Boy painted on the body of the van. He delivers the food to his customers in the van. It is based on Harry Boyle's catering delivery company from the American adult animated sitcom Wait Till Your Father Gets Home. David's biggest customer is Ed Crosswire, of which he and Jane are very dependent on. If Ed were to cancel, David's business would be in jeopardy. David's biggest fan is Mr. Ratburn, who creates situations to meet David and follows Ed to the catering events. ("Dad's Dessert Dilemma", "The Secret Life of Dogs and Babies".)

Relationships

Family

The Read's family consist of 6 members of the household: David Read, Jane, Arthur, D.W., Kate and the family dog, Pal. His son Arthur always refers to him as "Dad", but D.W. usually refers to him as "Daddy", because D.W. is younger than Arthur. David has a mother also living in Elwood City, Thora Read. He has an older sister named Loretta whose only plot-relevant appearance is in the episode "Arthur's Cousin Catastrophe", with all of her other appearances being cameos. His father was never seen, and it is likely that his father may be deceased. He also had three uncles, who are shown in the episode "Clarissa is Cracked" and some or all of them may be deceased.

Friends

  • Ed Crosswire - A friend and usual customer of both the Reads' businesses.
  • Ramón Molina - They quickly become friends when they meet each other the first time. They both have a passion for cooking exotic foods.
  • Tatsuya Matsumoto - Tatsuya used to be David's pen pal when the two were children. Given his nostalgic moment when he rediscovered one of Tatsuya's letters, it can be assumed that the two were good friends when they still wrote to each other.
  • Nigel Ratburn - They went to college together, he likes David's cooking, and was invited to stay with The Reads.
  • Bailey - They went to college together.

Trivia

Quotes

“

Weird? When have I ever made anything weird? Oops, time to check on my turnip muffins!

”
—David Read to Arthur, "Dad's Dessert Dilemma"

Gallery

Dear Adil 29.jpg
The full image gallery for David Read may be viewed at David Read/Gallery.

References

  1. ↑ http://www.pbs.org/parents/arthur/help/answers/faq_friends.html (archived page)
  2. ↑ As seen in flashback scenes in "Arthur's Eyes" and "Operation: D.W.!"
  3. ↑ http://pbskids.org/arthur/print/tradingcards/cards.html#pg-dad2
  4. ↑ Arthur Loses His Patience.
  5. ↑ "Behold the David L. Read Super Soufflé." — David Read to Jane Read, "Arthur's Family Feud"



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