Summary
Of all the fictional detectives in the history of literature, film and television, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes is undoubtedly the most famous and most loved throughout the world. The pipe smoking caped crusader is so popular that many pale imitations of him have been created over the years. Doyle's creation, which is said to have been based on a doctor and teacher he had studied with at Edinburgh University, is still recognised as the greatest detective of all time. Holmes's sidekick Dr Watson had a lot in common with his creator. Both were officers in the British Army, both were doctors of medicine and both were writers. A Study in Scarlet, published in 1887, was Doyle's first Sherlock Holmes story and along with The Hound of the Baskervilles it still remains a firm favourite with many readers. Over the following 40 years, Doyle churned out four Sherlock Holmes novels and 56 short stories. Holmes with his super powers of observation and intellectual superiority resided in a flat on 221b Baker Street in London and often solved some crimes without even stepping outside. But the violin-playing and eccentric 'tec is not so clean cut as he first seems and has been depicted at times as something of a dope fiend.
Be that as it may, Doyle's classical fictional detective has been appearing on our cinema screens for more than a century now. And the long list of actors who have played him include John Barrymore, Clive Brook, Raymond Massey,Christopher Lee, Peter Cushing, Roger Moore, Nicol Williamson, Peter Cook, Ian Richardson, Robert Stephens and, of course, the Daddy of them all, Basil Rathbone.See the full content of this document
Extract
Sherlock Holmes
British actor Rathbone (1892-1967) played Sherlock Holmes in films some 14 times - more than any other film actor...
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