Arthur, aka Rosey, aka Ross, grew up in Revere, Mass., where his dad owned a fruit market, and whence sprang his lifelong ardor for the Red Sox, Patriots, and the Kennedys. Princeton: hosting WPRB’s Eclipse (“calculated to keep you in the dark”); earning Chapel credits, this nice Jewish boy, by claiming to attend Father Halton’s Masses; and suffering the casual cruelties of bicker before joining Key & Seal.
Arthur worked in New York advertising in its golden age but preferred getting stoned with pals in the West Village to Mad Men martinis. Also: author of a half-dozen best-selling children’s books, headliner of Cooking with Arthur on NPR. In the early ’80s, he moved to Norfolk, Conn., home of his closest friend and Triangle co-star, Vint Lawrence, and there was elected first selectman (de facto mayor) three times. His last six years he was confined to a nursing home, but bore it with valor, buoyed by old friends who loved him and stayed in close touch. Ever a star, Arthur died Oct. 29, 2022.