Basil Rathbone
Born: 1892-06-13 in Johannesburg, South African Republic
Died: 1967-07-21
Known For: Acting
Biography
Sir Basil Rathbone, KBE, MC, Kt (13 June 1892 – 21 July 1967), was an English actor. He rose to prominence in England as a Shakespearean stage actor and went on to appear in over 70 films, primarily costume dramas, swashbucklers, and, occasionally, horror films. He frequently portrayed suave villains or morally ambiguous characters, such as Murdstone in David Copperfield (1935) and Sir Guy of Gisbourne in The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938). His most famous role, however, was heroic—that of Sherlock Holmes in fourteen Hollywood films made between 1939 and 1946 and in a radio series. His later career included Broadway and television work; he received a Tony Award in 1948 as Best Actor in a Play.
Filmography
2005
- The Adventures of Errol Flynn as Self / Various Roles (archive sound) (archive footage)
1991
- Frankenstein: A Cinematic Scrapbook as Baron Wolf von Frankenstein (archive footage)
1986
- The Great Mouse Detective as Sherlock Holmes (voice)
1985
- The Many Faces of Sherlock Holmes as Sherlock Holmes (archive footage)
1983
- The Horror of It All as Carmichael (archive footage)
1979
- The Horror Show as (archive footage)
1974
- Madhouse as Basil (archive footage)
1968
- Autopsy of a Ghost as Canuto Pérez
- The Movie Orgy as Self (archival footage)
1967
- Hillbillys in a Haunted House as Gregor
- Soldier in Love as Duke of York
1966
- The Ghost in the Invisible Bikini as Reginald Ripper
- Queen of Blood as Dr. Farraday
- Summer Fun
1965
- Voyage to the Prehistoric Planet as Prof. Hartman, Lunar 7
1964
- The Comedy of Terrors as John F. Black
1963
- Burke's Law as Milo James
1962
- The Merv Griffin Show as Self
- Tales of Terror as Carmichael ("The Case of M. Valdemar")
- Pontius Pilate as Caiaphas
- The Magic Sword as Lodac
- Two Before Zero
1961
- Dr. Kildare as Frederick Foray
- Victoria Regina as Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli (Lord Beaconsfield)
- Mystic Prophecies and Nostradamus as Narrator
1960
1959
- A Christmas Carol as Scrooge
- Tales from Dickens as Scrooge
1958
- Aladdin as Emperor
- The Last Hurrah as Norman Cass Sr.
- Hans Brinker or the Silver Skates as Dr. Boekman
1957
- The Lark as Chief Inquisitor
- DuPont Show of the Month as Emperor
1956
- The Stingiest Man in Town as Ebenezer Scrooge
- The Black Sleep as Sir Joel Cadman
- Affair in Sumatra as Paul Charters
1955
- The Court Jester as Sir Ravenhurst
- Screen Director's Playhouse as Paul Charters
- We're No Angels as Andre Trochard
1954
- A Christmas Carol as Marley's Ghost
- The General's Boots as General Lee
- Casanova's Big Night as Lucio / Narrator
1951
- Hallmark Hall of Fame as Inquisitor
- Schlitz Playhouse of Stars as Self - Host / General Lee
1950
- What's My Line? as Self
- The Jack Benny Program as Basil Rathbone
- Your Show of Shows
- Lux Video Theatre as Frampton
1949
- Lights Out
- Suspense as Dr. Jekyll / Mr. Hyde
- The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad as Narrator (segment "The Wind in the Willows")
- The Wind in the Willows as Narrator (voice)
1948
- Studio One as Hazelton Crome
1946
- Heartbeat as Professor Aristide
- Terror by Night as Sherlock Holmes
- Dressed to Kill as Sherlock Holmes
1945
- The Woman in Green as Sherlock Holmes
- Pursuit to Algiers as Sherlock Holmes
- The House of Fear as Sherlock Holmes
1944
- Bathing Beauty as George Adams
- The Pearl of Death as Sherlock Holmes
- Frenchman's Creek as Lord Rockingham
- The Scarlet Claw as Sherlock Holmes
1943
- Sherlock Holmes Faces Death as Sherlock Holmes
- Sherlock Holmes in Washington as Sherlock Holmes
- The Spider Woman as Sherlock Holmes
- Crazy House as Sherlock Holmes
- Above Suspicion as Sig von Aschenhausen
1942
- Sherlock Holmes and the Secret Weapon as Sherlock Holmes
- Sherlock Holmes and the Voice of Terror as Sherlock Holmes
- Hedda Hopper’s Hollywood No. 6 as Himself
- Fingers at the Window as Cesar Ferrari / Dr. H. Santelle
- Crossroads as Henri Sarrou
1941
- International Lady as Reggie Oliver
- The Black Cat as Montague Hartley
- Paris Calling as Andre Benoit
1940
- The Mark of Zorro as Captain Esteban Pasquale
- Rhythm on the River as Oliver Courtney
- The Mad Doctor as Dr. George Sebastian / Dr. Langamann
1939
- The Hound of the Baskervilles as Sherlock Holmes
- Tower of London as Richard - Duke of Gloucester
- Rio as Paul Reynard
- The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes as Sherlock Holmes
- Son of Frankenstein as Baron Wolf von Frankenstein
- The Sun Never Sets as Clive Randolph
1938
- The Adventures of Robin Hood as Sir Guy of Gisbourne
- If I Were King as Louis XI
- Breakdowns of 1938 as Basil (archive footage) (uncredited)
- The Dawn Patrol as Maj. Brand
- The Adventures of Marco Polo as Ahmed
1937
- Tovarich as Commissar Dimitri Gorotchenko
- Love from a Stranger as Gerald Lovell
- Make a Wish as Johnny Selden
- Confession as Michael Michailow
1936
- Private Number as Thomas Wroxton
- Romeo and Juliet as Tybalt
- The Garden of Allah as Count Ferdinand Anteoni
1935
- Anna Karenina as Alexei Alexandrovitch Karenin
- Captain Blood as Levasseur
- A Tale of Two Cities as Marquis St. Evremonde
- David Copperfield as Mr. Edward Murdstone
- The Last Days of Pompeii as Pontius Pilate
- A Feather in Her Hat as Captain Randolph Courtney
- Kind Lady as Henry Abbott
1933
- Loyalties as Ferdinand de Levis
- One Precious Year as Derek Nagel
1932
- After the Ball as Jack Harrowby
- A Woman Commands as Capt. Alex Pastitsch
1930
- Sin Takes a Holiday as Reginald 'Reggie' Durant
- A Notorious Affair as Paul Gherardi
- The Lady of Scandal as Edward
- The Flirting Widow as Col. Smith
- This Mad World as Paul Parisot
- A Lady Surrenders as Carl Vandry
1929
- The Bishop Murder Case as Philo Vance
- The Last of Mrs. Cheyney as Lord Arthur Dilling
1926
- The Great Deception as Rizzio
1925
- The Masked Bride as Antoine
1924
- The Loves of Mary, Queen of Scots as Undetermined Subordinate Role
- Trouping with Ellen as Tony Winterslip
1923
- The School for Scandal as Joseph Surface
1921
- Innocent as Amadis de Jocelyn
- The Fruitful Vine as Don Cesare Carelli