Ten Actors Who Played Sherlock Holmes Through History

THE ANGLOTOPIA MAGAZINE
April 11, 2016 By John Rabon



Sherlock Holmes is one of the most famous literary character of the last 150 years, ever since he first appeared in the 1887 edition of Beeton’s Christmas Annual in “A Study in Scarlet”.  Holmes has been portrayed on stage, screen, and television over 250 times since his creation, with the first being William Gillette in a play written by himself and Holmes originator Arthur Conan Doyle.  He’s one of the most depicted characters in the world and that tends to attract some of the best in the acting profession.  Examine our own list of ten of the best Sherlock Holmes actors from the first to the most recent and let us know your own favorites in the comments.

Sherlock Holmes, a play written in four parts by Doyle and Gillette, was first performed in 1899 in New York City.  Doyle had previously tried his hand at writing a play, but little came of it until he was approached by Gillette, an American actor who even put on a deerstalker cap and a cape to convince the author to work with him.  After several films were made with various other actors in the role, Gillette tried his hand at a film adaptation of the play in 1916.  He would perform the role at least twice more in radio dramas.


BASIL RATHBONE

Appearing in his first Holmes film not long after Wortner, Rathbone starred in 1939’s adaptation of The Hound of the Baskervilles.  In fact, it was Rathbone’s success with the film in the United States that caused Wortner’s adaptation of the “Silver Blaze” to change its name to Murder at the Baskervilles for its American release in 1941 (despite having nothing to do with the Baskervilles).  Rathbone has played Sherlock Holmes the most times in films with a total of fifteen from 1939 to 1946.  He even made a posthumous cameo in Disney’s The Great Mouse Detective as the voice of Holmes, whose 221B Baker Street address also housed the animated protagonist.

JEREMY BRETT



Besides Wilmer, Brett is considered by many to be one of the best television actors to play Holmes, having done so in four series running for more than a decade from 1983 to 1994.  During that time, Brett also performed in a stage show titled The Secrets of Sherlock Holmes from 1988 to 1989.  Brett described Holmes as “the hardest part I have ever played—harder than Hamlet or Macbeth”, and despite fears of typecasting, he appeared 41 times as the detective before ill health caused him to retire from acting, passing away only months after his final episode aired.  Brett’s performance developed many personality ticks for the character from his laughter to his hand gestures as the actor wanted to bring more passion to what appeared to him to be an obsessive and depressive character.  Cementing his reputation as Holmes, Brett won a poll in 2014 of the best Holmes actors, beating out the next three, more-recent, entries.

BENEDICT CUMBERBATCH

With Holmes back in film, it wasn’t long before the detective returned to television as well, this time with an adaptation brought into the present day courtesy of Steven Moffat and Mark Gatiss.  Moffat was auditioning for Holmes and Doctor Who at the same time, and ended up casting two men who would become world-famous for their portrayals, Benedict Cumberbatch as Sherlock Holmes and Matt Smith as the Doctor. Alongside Martin Freeman as John Watson, Cumberbatch’s performance is the opposite of Downey’s, embracing the character’s nature as a “high-functioning sociopath”.  While Cumberbatch had been acting for some time before Sherlock, his portrayal has made him a household name and led to other projects such as Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy, The Imitation Game, and this year’s Doctor Strange. 

MORE... http://www.anglotopia.net/british-entertainment/brit-tv/ten-actors-played-sherlock-holmes-history/

The Sherlockians Assess Benedict Cumberbatch

SEATTLE WEEKLY NEWS
by John Longenbaugh Tue., Mar 4 2014 at 05:19PM



I’m a Sherlockian, hardcore. It’s like being the guy who puts on Vulcan ears to watch his favorite Star Trek episodes. I’ve written a much-produced play, Sherlock Holmes and the Case of the Christmas Carol, which debuted at Taproot in 2010, and a yet-unpublished Holmes novel. I even own—though seldom wear—a deerstalker cap. And once a month I meet with like-minded fanatics at The Sound of the Baskervilles gatherings (more on that later), where both Arthur Conan Doyle’s original texts and the new Sherlock Holmes TV shows are avidly discussed.

Suddenly, thanks to those shows, casual Sherlock fans are everywhere—latecomers, we purists scoff. There have never been more high-profile adaptations of Sherlock Holmes than today. Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law have starred in two recent Holmes action movies, with a third in the works.

On television we have Elementary on CBS, starring Jonny Lee Miller, and the BBC’s Sherlock, starring Benedict Cumberbatch. Both update Holmes to the contemporary world, though it’s the British version—which just streamed its third season on Netflix—that’s drawn the most critical approval, mine included.

Sherlock comes in big, meaty 90-minute episodes that feel like feature films, free of commercial breaks and the drawn-out storylines that plague American TV. While Sherlock’s London is contemporary, we still detect the underlying Victorian metropolis—the gristle and grit of the wonderful old city. The third season of Sherlock is, I would argue, the best yet, as it focuses on the subtleties of the very human friendship of its two central characters.

(Here let’s stipulate that the pedestrian, New York–set Elementary comes across as a pale copy of Monk or House ; Miller is mostly wasted playing yet another eccentric detective with a ho-hum drug habit; he’s not helped by Lucy Liu’s female yet otherwise unremarkable Watson; and the scripts are utterly mundane.)

Why is Sherlock so good? I am forced to concede that the show’s creators, Mark Gatiss and Stephen Moffat, are even bigger Sherlock nerds than I. They previously helped reboot Doctor Who, and they enliven this show with fancy edits, wipes, fades, and freezes that demonstrate Holmes’ mental processes. His mental observations—a worn collar cuff, a bit of dog hair, too much makeup—even appear on the screen in neat little white script. Graphics show us maps and diagrams as Holmes races through his “mind palace” in search of the correct clue. They also stuff each episode with references to the original Conan Doyle stories. In one repeating trope, a series of clients present their cases to Holmes in a flowing montage, with him providing solutions at lightning speed.

Granted, the show does make occasional missteps, puffing up its protagonist past superhuman and into superhero: Holmes surveys London from a rooftop as if he’s just been summoned by the Sherlock Signal; he leaps on a motorbike like James Bond.

The greatest pleasure to Sherlock is the perfect casting of Cumberbatch as the detective and Martin Freeman as Dr. John Watson; both are clearly having the time of their lives in these iconic roles. Cumberbatch is an actor built to play gods and demons (see: Star Trek Into Darkness). He’s angular and not quite handsome, with a searing intelligence and patrician air. Like the two other great screen Holmeses, Basil Rathbone and Jeremy Brett, there’s a thin, quivering element to his performance that shimmers with impatience. Unlike those earlier actors, however, Cumberbatch embraces Sherlock’s least likable elements. When a policewoman calls him a psychopath, he replies, “I’m a high-functioning sociopath. Do your research.”


READ MORE HERE: http://www.seattleweekly.com/home/951397-129/arts-the-sherlockians-assess-benedict-cumberbatch

Benedict Cumberbatch, Martin Freeman: Sherlock 'could go on 20 years' (SCOTSMAN)

Published on Wednesday 13 February 2013 05:52

Sherlock stars Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman could still be playing the successful sleuths in 20 years if the show's co-creator Mark Gatiss gets his way.

Mark created the hit BBC show, a modern re-imagining of Arthur Conan Doyle's classic detective stories, with Doctor Who supremo Steven Moffat.

Filming of the third series starts in March and Mark said he hoped the pair could equal Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce, who made a string of films as Holmes and Watson and were still playing the parts into their 50s.

He said: "I think one of the wonderful things, if everybody is up for it, is starting as we did with Sherlock and John as much younger men than they're usually portrayed as, we can play with the idea of them growing up.

"I'd love the idea of Benedict and Martin the same age as Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce. Who knows? Why not?"

READ MORE: http://www.scotsman.com/lifestyle/tv-and-radio/benedict-cumberbatch-to-play-sherlock-at-50-hopes-creator-1-2788107

Benedict Cumberbatch and Robert Downey Jr. give Jonny Lee Miller big 'Sherlock' shoes to fill By Bev Seinberg (ZAP 2 IT)

Benedict Cumberbatch: In the BBC series "Sherlock," which comes to U.S. viewers via "Masterpiece Mystery!" on PBS, Cumberbatch plays a thoroughly modern incarnation of Sherlock Holmes, who makes liberal use of texting, the Internet and GPS devices to solve crimes. It certainly doesn't hurt that the actor is exceedingly easy on the eyes.

Robert Downey Jr.: Although they're set in the Victorian England of the original stories, Downey's two (so far) feature-film turns as Holmes bring a certain 21st-century sensibility to the tales, making them accessible to an audience raised on big-screen blockbusters.

Jeremy Brett: Many consider Brett's portrayal of Holmes in four seasons of a British series -- also seen here on PBS - the definitive screen Sherlock of its time, if not all time. He played the role in a total of 41 episodes from 1984 to 1994 and might have continued had he not died at the relatively young age of 61.

Nicol Williamson: His single performance as Holmes wasn't in an Arthur Conan Doyle tale. Instead, he played the detective in the 1976 mystery "The Seven-Per-Cent Solution," which was adapted from a novel by Nicholas Meyer and dealt with the character's cocaine addiction and treatment by Sigmund Freud (Alan Arkin). While in Austria, however, he can't help getting involved in solving a crime.


READ MORE: http://blog.zap2it.com/frominsidethebox/2012/09/benedict-cumberbath-and-robert-downey-jr-give-jonny-lee-miller-big-sherlock-shoes-to-fill.html

Benedict Cumberbatch: ABC News Interview, with singing! (video)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=N_fXPfeJs48

'Sherlock': Is Benedict Cumberbatch the best Holmes? [Poll] By Liz Kelly Nelson May 3, 2012 4:17 PM ET (zap 2 it)

Since Sir Arthur Conan Doyle penned his popular tales of amateur sleuth Sherlock Holmes in 1887, he's captured the imagination of readers. And filmmakers/TV execs anxious to translate the astute detective's annoying charm to the screen. With Sunday's (May 6) debut of "Sherlock" Season 2 on PBS, the clamor for Benedict Cumberbatch's Holmes is growing into a frenzy.

But all the buzz has Zap2it wondering -- is Cumberbatch the best Holmes ever?

The truth is the character is so appealing, there's plenty of room for concurrent Holmes projects. In addition to Cumberbatch, Holmes is also played on the big screen by Robert Downey Jr. in a pair of blockbuster Guy Ritchie movies. And though both are loved, they couldn't be more different.

In fact, the most popular Sherlocks over the years -- Cumberbatch, Downey and the nosy (What? He's a detective) Basil Rathbone each took a markedly different approach to the character. Rathbone's Holmes was cold, aloof and unerring. He also sported what became the shorthand for the legendary detective -- a tweed deerstalker cap and matching coat.

READ MORE:  http://blog.zap2it.com/frominsidethebox/2012/05/sherlock-is-benedict-cumberbatch-the-best-holmes-poll.html

Sherlock site to publish book of fans' Holmes stories Proceeds will go to the campaign to save Undershaw, the house in which Sir Arthur Conan Doyle wrote tales of the great detective Paul Jones (RADIO TIMES)

Fans of Sherlock Holmes have a chance to become part of a publishing tribute to the great detective by submitting stories for inclusion in a new book to be compiled by website Sherlockology.

Sherlock’s Home: The Empty House - named after the adventure in which Holmes reappears following his apparent demise at the foot of the Reichenbach Falls - will be a selection of short stories and poems.

Proceeds from the sale of the book will go to the campaign to save Undershaw, the former Surrey residence of Sherlock Holmes creator Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, in which he penned adventures including The Hound of the Baskervilles and The Empty House.

Aspiring writers are challenged to come up with a story based on Conan Doyle’s characters, or on Undershaw itself. Copyright issues mean fans of BBC1's Sherlock cannot use characters created specifically for the series (so well-loved lab geek Molly Hooper, for example, is off limits) but otherwise, it seems, pretty much anything goes...

“You can change the character's genders, ages or nationality,” suggests Sherlockology. “You are limited only by your imaginations; tell a story of [Holmes and Watson] as children, or maybe solving crimes in the Swinging Sixties...

READ MORE:  http://www.radiotimes.com/news/2012-04-20/sherlock-site-to-publish-book-of-fans'-holmes-stories

Anna Karenina - the first great version with Greta Garbo

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZCu-eRyUMbM&feature=related

I know all of us Keira Knightley, Jude Law and Matthew Macfadyen fans are waiting for Anna Karenina to come out sometime this year, but this original Anna Karenina is lovely, although they all look a bit old for their parts.  Garbo is Garbo and positively beautiful.

I can see Keira as Anna very easily although I would have preferred Colin Firth to be Karenin and Matthew Macfadyen to be Vronsky.  Then I would have REALLY wanted to see the new Anna Karenina.

Director Joe Wright Talks Anna Karenina (FilmFilia)

 By Nick Martin | Mar 10, 2011 |         

English director Joe Wright tells About.com the prospect of shooting Leo Tolstoy’s Anna Karenina is in the fall. And that he got Oscar-winning screenwriter Tom Stoppard working on the script.
Joe Wright (Atonement, Pride and Prejudice) is currently doing press for his upcoming teen assassin thriller Hanna which looks like a big removal from his “Prejudice”. However, Wright is coming back to the world of classic literature adaptations:

I’m hoping to do ‘Anna Karenina’ in the Autumn and I’m reading about St. Petersburg society in the 18th century… You can make a 2 hour movie if you’ve got Tom Stoppard writing. He’s done an amazing script which involves Levin’s story as well as Anna’s story. Yeah, Tom Stoppard is just..also, he’s so immersed in Russian history and culture and identity or lack of it”

he says. According to The Daily Mail Tom Stoppard’s script was already done before Christmas 2010. Asked about settling such a heavy tome, Wright says:

I think Tolstoy wrote it as an accessible piece. It’s a family drama. ‘War and Peace’ was his big political drama and ‘Anna Karenina,’ as he says in the first sentence, is about families. ‘Happy families are all happy in the same way. Unhappy families are all unhappy in different ways.

The most famous and critically acclaimed film version of Anna Karenina is a 1935 creation directed by Clarence Brown, top-lining amazing Greta Garbo, Fredric March, Basil Rathbone and Maureen O’Sullivan. The 1967 Soviet Union romance with Tatyana Samojlova is also generating a high-like feeling among the audience.

Obviously, Stoppard’s adaptation will be contemporary as he wrote it to be read by the new emerging literate Russian population. And we hope far better than the last movie versions.
Keira Knightley, Wright’s star from “Atonement” and “Pride and Prejudice,” was previously attached to play the titular Anna and that apparently still is the case, though Wright wouldn’t confirm her name directly:

“Not sure yet. It’s fairly obvious, but I can’t quite say. She hasn’t signed on the line yet. I’m loyal to my actors.”

Get back to the good old classic and waiting for upcoming news.

POSTED UNDER : anna karenina, Joe Wright, Keira Knightley, tom stoppard

More on Filmofilia.com: http://www.filmofilia.com/director-joe-wright-talks-anna-karenina-38784/#ixzz1hMifgNx7