Sherlock Holmes

Kurt Brenkendorff – German actor chosen to make one
further film for Kowo GmbH, Germany, after Ferdinand
Bonn finished in the role. Made in 1919, it was entitled Murder
in the Hotel Splendid.
Jeremy Brett – Good-looking leading man who starred in a
major series for Granada TV under the supervision of Michael
Cox and then June Wyndham Davies. David Burke was Watson
for the first two series, followed by Edward Hardwicke for the
others. The series were as follows: The Adventures of Sherlock
Holmes (24 April–5 June 1984), The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes
(25 August–29 September 1985), The Return of Sherlock Holmes
(9 July–20 August 1986), The Sign of Four (29 November
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1987), The Return of Sherlock Holmes (6–27 April 1988), The
Hound of the Baskervilles (31 August 1988), The Case-Book of
Sherlock Holmes (21 February–28 March 1991), The Master
Blackmailer  (2 January 1992), The Four Oaks Mystery (18 July
1992 as part of ITV’s telethon appeal), The Last Vampyre (27
January 1993), The Eligible Bachelor (3 February 1993) and The
Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes (7 March–11 May 1994).
Brett also starred with Hardwicke in the stage play The Secret
of Sherlock Holmes by Jeremy Paul. It opened at the Yvonne
Arnaud Theatre, Guildford, Surrey, on 30 August 1988 (as A
Case for Sherlock Holmes), then transferred to the Richmond
Theatre, Surrey, on 12 September. Its London run at the
Wyndham’s Theatre began on 22 September 1988 and
continued until 16 September 1989. It then toured 11 venues,
finishing at the Theatre Royal, Bath, on 16 December 1989.
Brett died of heart failure on 12 September 1995. For many, he
is the definitive Sherlock Holmes.
Clive Brook – Handsome British leading man who appeared
in, and co-directed, The Return of Sherlock Holmes (Paramount,
1929), notable as the first Holmes film with a soundtrack
(although a silent version was also released). Set on board a
cruise liner, the story shows Holmes disguising himself as an
orchestra violinist to help locate the boyfriend of Watson’s
daughter. The climax sees Moriarty attempting to kill Holmes
with a poisoned thorn. Brook sent up the role in Murder Will
Out, a sketch in the 1930 film revue Paramount on Parade.
His second appearance was in Sherlock Holmes, made by Fox in
1932 (a ‘terrible film’, he said afterwards). Replacing Watson
with page-boy Billy, director William K Howard turned in a
polished and fast-paced production, albeit jarringly
Americanised. The script was by Bertram Millhauser, who
would later work on the Basil Rathbone series for Universal.
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CHE Brookfield – The first actor to play Holmes on stage, in
Under the Clock (1893),‘an extravaganza in one act’, co-written
by Brookfield and Seymour Hicks (who also played Watson).
Laidman Browne – Featured in Silver Blaze, part of the
Corner in Crime series for the BBC radio’s Home Service on 17
May 1945.