Basil Rathbone
Born: 1892-06-13 in Johannesburg, South African Republic
Died: 1967-07-21
Known For: Acting
Biography
Basil Rathbone, 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)
1992
- Dracula in the Movies as (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
- The Movie Orgy as Self (archival footage)
- Autopsy of a Ghost as Canuto Pérez
1967
- Hillbillys in a Haunted House as Gregor
- Soldier in Love as Duke of York
1966
- Summer Fun
- Queen of Blood as Dr. Farraday
- The Ghost in the Invisible Bikini as Reginald Ripper
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
- The Magic Sword as Lodac
- Tales of Terror as Carmichael ("The Case of M. Valdemar")
- Pontius Pilate as Caiaphas
- 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
- Tales from Dickens as Scrooge
- A Christmas Carol as Scrooge
1958
- The Last Hurrah as Norman Cass Sr.
- Hans Brinker or the Silver Skates as Dr. Boekman
- Aladdin as Emperor
1957
- DuPont Show of the Month as Emperor
- The Lark as Chief Inquisitor
1956
- The Black Sleep as Sir Joel Cadman
- The Stingiest Man in Town as Ebenezer Scrooge
- Affair in Sumatra as Paul Charters
1955
- Screen Director's Playhouse as Paul Charters
- We're No Angels as Andre Trochard
- The Court Jester as Sir Ravenhurst
1954
- Casanova's Big Night as Lucio / Narrator
- A Christmas Carol as Marley's Ghost
- The General's Boots as General Lee
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
- Lux Video Theatre as Frampton
- Your Show of Shows
1949
- Suspense as Dr. Jekyll / Mr. Hyde
- Lights Out
- 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
- Terror by Night as Sherlock Holmes
- Dressed to Kill as Sherlock Holmes
- Heartbeat as Professor Aristide
1945
- The Woman in Green as Sherlock Holmes
- The House of Fear as Sherlock Holmes
- Pursuit to Algiers as Sherlock Holmes
1944
- Bathing Beauty as George Adams
- The Pearl of Death as Sherlock Holmes
- The Scarlet Claw as Sherlock Holmes
- Frenchman's Creek as Lord Rockingham
1943
- Sherlock Holmes in Washington as Sherlock Holmes
- Sherlock Holmes Faces Death as Sherlock Holmes
- The Spider Woman as Sherlock Holmes
- Above Suspicion as Sig von Aschenhausen
- Crazy House as Sherlock Holmes
1942
- Sherlock Holmes and the Secret Weapon as Sherlock Holmes
- Sherlock Holmes and the Voice of Terror as Sherlock Holmes
- Fingers at the Window as Cesar Ferrari / Dr. H. Santelle
- Crossroads as Henri Sarrou
- Hedda Hopper’s Hollywood No. 6 as Self
1941
- The Black Cat as Montague Hartley
- International Lady as Reggie Oliver
- Paris Calling as 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
- Son of Frankenstein as Baron Wolf von Frankenstein
- The Hound of the Baskervilles as Sherlock Holmes
- The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes as Sherlock Holmes
- Rio as Paul Reynard
- Tower of London as Richard - Duke of Gloucester
- 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
- The Adventures of Marco Polo as Ahmed
- The Dawn Patrol as Maj. Brand
- Breakdowns of 1938 as Basil (archive footage) (uncredited)
1937
- Tovarich as Commissar Dimitri Gorotchenko
- Love from a Stranger as Gerald Lovell
- Confession as Michael Michailow
- Make a Wish as Johnny Selden
1936
- Romeo and Juliet as Tybalt
- The Garden of Allah as Count Ferdinand Anteoni
- Private Number as Thomas Wroxton
1935
- Captain Blood as Levasseur
- Anna Karenina as Alexei Alexandrovitch Karenin
- David Copperfield as Mr. Edward Murdstone
- A Tale of Two Cities as Marquis St. Evremonde
- 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
- A Woman Commands as Capt. Alex Pastitsch
- After the Ball as Jack Harrowby
1930
- Sin Takes a Holiday as Reginald 'Reggie' Durant
- The Lady of Scandal as Edward
- This Mad World as Paul Parisot
- A Lady Surrenders as Carl Vandry
- The Flirting Widow as Col. Smith
- A Notorious Affair as Paul Gherardi
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