Sherlock Holmes/Catalogs
Actors famous for playing Sherlock Holmes
According to Guinness, Sherlock Holmes remains the most widely-portayed fictional movie character.
Basil Rathbone, who created the catchphrase 'Elementary, my dear Watson' was, thanks to the longevity of film (as opposed to stage performaces) perhaps the best known Sherlock Holmes until Jeremy Brett's television portrayal later in the century. Brett is now widely considered the definitive Holmes thanks to his faithful portrayal and the writers' adherence to the Holmes canon. However, other actors have done well portraying the famous detective. These include:
Actors with multiple outings as Sherlock Holmes
Jeremy Brett in The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (1984 televsion series, Granada Television for ITV.
William Gillette in Sherlock Holmes, Conan-Doyle-Gillette, 1899 [1].
Ronald Howard (English actor) (Leslie Howard's son, became famous for protraying Holmes in , ( television series),
Basil Rathbone in a Hollywood film series,
A new British television series was launched in 2010. It has been well-received, and only time will tell if lead actor Benedict Cumberbatch will find his way onto a list of all-time great Sherlock Holmeses.
Notable one-time Holmeses
Robert Downey Jr. in Sherlock Holmes (2009, by Guy Ritchie)
Frank Langella in a revival of the Gillette Play,
Leonard Nimoy in a revival of the Gillette Play,
H. A. Saintsbury in the Doyle-Gillette Play Sherlock Holmes and the Conan Doyle play The Speckled Band, and the Holmes film The Valley of Fear (1916,
Brett Spiner in Star Trek: The Next Generation, episode: " "
Robert Stephens in The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes (1970, by Billy Wilder)
Derivative works
Without a Clue, 1988, Michael Caine, Ben Kingsley
Notes
- ↑ Conan-Doyle originally wrote the play, Gillette adapted it, making it more romantic and happier, but both manuscripts were lost in a fire. Gillette subsequently rewrote the play; Conan-Doyle and Gillette remained lifelong friends.