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
- 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
- The Ghost in the Invisible Bikini as Reginald Ripper
- Queen of Blood as Dr. Farraday
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.
- Aladdin as Emperor
- Hans Brinker or the Silver Skates as Dr. Boekman
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
- The Court Jester as Sir Ravenhurst
- We're No Angels as Andre Trochard
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
- 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
- Dressed to Kill as Sherlock Holmes
- Terror by Night as Sherlock Holmes
- Heartbeat as Professor Aristide
1945
- The Woman in Green as Sherlock Holmes
- Pursuit to Algiers as Sherlock Holmes
- The House of Fear as Sherlock Holmes
1944
- The Pearl of Death as Sherlock Holmes
- The Scarlet Claw as Sherlock Holmes
- Bathing Beauty as George Adams
- Frenchman's Creek as Lord Rockingham
1943
- The Spider Woman as Sherlock Holmes
- Sherlock Holmes in Washington as Sherlock Holmes
- Sherlock Holmes Faces Death 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
- Crossroads as Henri Sarrou
- Fingers at the Window as Cesar Ferrari / Dr. H. Santelle
- Hedda Hopper’s Hollywood No. 6 as Himself
1941
- Paris Calling as Andre Benoit
- The Black Cat as Montague Hartley
- International Lady as Reggie Oliver
1940
- The Mark of Zorro as Captain Esteban Pasquale
- The Mad Doctor as Dr. George Sebastian / Dr. Langamann
- Rhythm on the River as Oliver Courtney
1939
- The Hound of the Baskervilles as Sherlock Holmes
- The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes as Sherlock Holmes
- Son of Frankenstein as Baron Wolf von Frankenstein
- 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 Dawn Patrol as Maj. Brand
- Breakdowns of 1938 as Basil (archive footage) (uncredited)
- The Adventures of Marco Polo as Ahmed
1937
- Tovarich as Commissar Dimitri Gorotchenko
- Confession as Michael Michailow
- Make a Wish as Johnny Selden
- Love from a Stranger as Gerald Lovell
1936
- Romeo and Juliet as Tybalt
- Private Number as Thomas Wroxton
- The Garden of Allah as Count Ferdinand Anteoni
1935
- A Tale of Two Cities as Marquis St. Evremonde
- Captain Blood as Levasseur
- David Copperfield as Mr. Edward Murdstone
- Anna Karenina as Alexei Alexandrovitch Karenin
- Kind Lady as Henry Abbott
- The Last Days of Pompeii as Pontius Pilate
- A Feather in Her Hat as Captain Randolph Courtney
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
- The Lady of Scandal as Edward
- Sin Takes a Holiday as Reginald 'Reggie' Durant
- A Lady Surrenders as Carl Vandry
- A Notorious Affair as Paul Gherardi
- The Flirting Widow as Col. Smith
- This Mad World as Paul Parisot
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
- Trouping with Ellen as Tony Winterslip
- The Loves of Mary, Queen of Scots as Undetermined Subordinate Role
1923
- The School for Scandal as Joseph Surface
1921
- Innocent as Amadis de Jocelyn
- The Fruitful Vine as Don Cesare Carelli