Job Actor
Years active 1911-67
Known for Suave cold-hearted villains, morally ambiguous characters; Sherlock Holmes
Top Roles Count Sigurd 'Sig' von Aschenhausen, Sir Guy of Gisbourne, Sherlock Holmes, Marquis St. Evremonde, Mr. Murdstone
Top GenresDrama, Comedy, Mystery, Romance, Thriller/Suspense, Film Adaptation
Top TopicsBook-Based, Detectives, England
Top Collaborators (Director), (Producer), (Director), (Producer)
Shares birthday with Ben Johnson, Lois Weber, Jean Adair  see more..

Basil Rathbone Overview:

Legendary character actor, Basil Rathbone, was born Philip St. John Basil Rathbone on Jun 13, 1892 in Johannesburg, South Africa. Rathbone appeared in over 120 film and TV roles. His best known films include David Copperfield, The Adventures of Robin Hood, Captain Blood, Tower of London, The Mark of Zorro, Anna Karenina and The Hound of the Baskervilles (the first of 14 film appearances as master detective, Sherlock Holmes). Rathbone died at the age of 75 on Jul 21, 1967 in New York City, NY and was laid to rest in Ferncliff Cemetery in Hartsdale, Westchester County, NY.

MINI BIO:

Already a veteran stage actor in both London and on Broadway, Basil Rathbone made his film debut in 1921 in the silent film The Fruitful Vine. He went on to appear in over 120 film and TV roles, frequently portraying suave, cold-hearted villains. Some of his most memorable roles were as Murdstone in David Copperfield, Levasseur in Captain Blood, Sir Guy of Gisbourne in The Adventures of Robin Hood, and as Sherlock Holmes in The Hound of the Baskervilles and 13 other films.

(Source: article by Annmarie Gatti for Classic Movie Hub).

HONORS and AWARDS:

.

Although Rathbone was nominated for two Oscars, he never won a competitive Academy Award.

Academy Awards

YearAwardFilm nameRoleResult
1936Best Supporting ActorRomeo and Juliet (1936)TybaltNominated
1938Best Supporting ActorIf I Were King (1938)Louis XINominated
.

He was honored with three stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in the categories of Radio, Motion Pictures and Television.

BlogHub Articles:

A Farewell to

By Neve on Jul 21, 2023 From The Baz

... Read full article


in Summer Stock

By Neve on May 18, 2022 From The Baz

Sea Cliff Summer Theatre, Long Island... Read full article


A Year in the Life of ? 1940

By Neve on Nov 18, 2021 From The Baz

Rathbone standing on the garden steps outside his Bel Air home... Read full article


The Violent Deaths of

By Neve on May 16, 2021 From The Baz

Don Diego finishes off Capitan Esteban Pasquale in The Mark of Zorro (1940)... Read full article


THE BLOGATHON: Tower of London, 1939

on Jun 13, 2020 From Caftan Woman

Pale Writer is hosting The Suave Swordsman: Blogathon on June 13th and 14th. Click HERE to read about the actor's exciting life and career. Thank you, Gabriela. Richard III plays a dangerous game of thrones in Tower of London, 1939 from Universal Studios. The historical epic wa... Read full article


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Basil Rathbone Quotes:

Captain Esteban Pasquale: Conditions have changed since you left, Don Diego. Your father resigned. Age, you know! Since then, the peons have become um... more industrious. As to the caballeros. they're encouraged to think of their own affairs. WE take care of the government!


Don Diego Vega: [as Esteban repeatedly stabs a piece of fruit with a knife at the dinner table] Captain, you seem to regard that fruit as an enemy.
Captain Esteban Pasquale: A rival!


Doctor Watson: Holmes, the girl waiting. What an extraordinary thing.
Sherlock Holmes: Elementary, my dear Watson.
Doctor Watson: No, no, no. It's an amazing deduction. How on earth did you arrive at it?
Sherlock Holmes: Barham told me.


read more quotes from Basil Rathbone...



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Best Supporting Actor Oscar 1936






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Basil Rathbone on the
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Basil Rathbone Facts
Although earlier in his career he had quit playing Sherlock Holmes out of disgust at what he thought was typecasting, later in life he had a change of heart and openly embraced the role. He began appearing as Holmes on television and in several movies, and even wrote (along with his wife), a play about Holmes, in which he played the character on stage.

Was related by marriage to the famous Huxley family. His wife's niece, Ouida Branch, whom they brought up from an early age, married David Bruce Huxley, the brother of famed writers Aldous Huxley and Julian Huxley and Nobel Prize-winning scientist Andrew Huxley.

He is considered the greatest swordsman in Hollywood history, superior even to on-screen foes Errol Flynn and Tyrone Power. However, because he was so frequently cast as the villain, he won only two on-screen duels in his career - as Tybalt in Romeo and Juliet (1936), for which he earned an Oscar nomination, and as Captain Esteban Pascuale against the friar (Eugene Pallette), who was so outclassed by "the Capitan" he was harmlessly disarmed in a matter of seconds, in The Mark of Zorro (1940). His last, filmed when the actor was 63, was with Danny Kaye in The Court Jester (1956). It is considered by some the best sword fight ever filmed.

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