Basil Rathbone
ActingSir 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.
Known For
The Great Mouse Detective
Sherlock Holmes (voice)
Casanova's Big Night
Lucio / Narrator
The Adventures of Robin Hood
Sir Guy of Gisbourne
The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad
Narrator (segment "The Wind in the Willows")
The Court Jester
Sir Ravenhurst
The Movie Orgy
Self (archival footage)
Captain Blood
Levasseur
The Mark of Zorro
Captain Esteban Pasquale
Dressed to Kill
Sherlock Holmes
Son of Frankenstein
Baron Wolf von Frankenstein
Filmography — Acting
The Great Mouse Detective
Sherlock Holmes (voice)
Casanova's Big Night
Lucio / Narrator
The Adventures of Robin Hood
Sir Guy of Gisbourne
The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad
Narrator (segment "The Wind in the Willows")
The Court Jester
Sir Ravenhurst
The Movie Orgy
Self (archival footage)
Captain Blood
Levasseur
The Mark of Zorro
Captain Esteban Pasquale
Dressed to Kill
Sherlock Holmes
Son of Frankenstein
Baron Wolf von Frankenstein
The Woman in Green
Sherlock Holmes
Tales of Terror
Carmichael ("The Case of M. Valdemar")
Paris Calling
Andre Benoit
We're No Angels
Andre Trochard
The Hound of the Baskervilles
Sherlock Holmes
The Dawn Patrol
Maj. Brand
Madhouse
Basil (archive footage)
Anna Karenina
Alexei Alexandrovitch Karenin
The Black Cat
Montague Hartley
The Last Hurrah
Norman Cass Sr.
The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes
Sherlock Holmes
The Scarlet Claw
Sherlock Holmes
Crossroads
Henri Sarrou
Bathing Beauty
George Adams
Private Number
Thomas Wroxton
The Horror Show
(archive footage)
If I Were King
Louis XI
The Adventures of Marco Polo
Ahmed
The Spider Woman
Sherlock Holmes
Terror by Night
Sherlock Holmes
Sherlock Holmes in Washington
Sherlock Holmes
The Garden of Allah
Count Ferdinand Anteoni
Sherlock Holmes Faces Death
Sherlock Holmes
Tovarich
Commissar Dimitri Gorotchenko
The House of Fear
Sherlock Holmes
Crazy House
Sherlock Holmes
Sherlock Holmes and the Secret Weapon
Sherlock Holmes
Pursuit to Algiers
Sherlock Holmes
A Tale of Two Cities
Marquis St. Evremonde
The Ghost in the Invisible Bikini
Reginald Ripper
The Comedy of Terrors
John F. Black
Above Suspicion
Sig von Aschenhausen
David Copperfield
Mr. Edward Murdstone
Kind Lady
Henry Abbott
Fingers at the Window
Cesar Ferrari / Dr. H. Santelle
Loyalties
Ferdinand de Levis
Queen of Blood
Dr. Farraday
Heartbeat
Professor Aristide
The Adventures of Errol Flynn
Self / Various Roles (archive sound) (archive footage)
Confession
Michael Michailow
Voyage to the Prehistoric Planet
Prof. Hartman, Lunar 7
The Last of Mrs. Cheyney
Lord Arthur Dilling
Rio
Paul Reynard
Love from a Stranger
Gerald Lovell
Sin Takes a Holiday
Reginald 'Reggie' Durant
Breakdowns of 1938
Basil (archive footage) (uncredited)
The Wind in the Willows
Narrator (voice)
The Pearl of Death
Sherlock Holmes
Pontius Pilate
Caiaphas
The Black Sleep
Sir Joel Cadman
Sherlock Holmes and the Voice of Terror
Sherlock Holmes
The Lark
Chief Inquisitor
The Last Days of Pompeii
Pontius Pilate
The Magic Sword
Lodac
Tower of London
Richard - Duke of Gloucester
International Lady
Reggie Oliver
Rhythm on the River
Oliver Courtney
Frenchman's Creek
Lord Rockingham
A Feather in Her Hat
Captain Randolph Courtney
Frankenstein: A Cinematic Scrapbook
Baron Wolf von Frankenstein (archive footage)
The Stingiest Man in Town
Ebenezer Scrooge
Make a Wish
Johnny Selden
The Mad Doctor
Dr. George Sebastian / Dr. Langamann
The Lady of Scandal
Edward
Hillbillys in a Haunted House
Gregor
The Sun Never Sets
Clive Randolph
The Masked Bride
Antoine
Romeo and Juliet
Tybalt
Dracula in the Movies
The Many Faces of Sherlock Holmes
Sherlock Holmes (archive footage)
Hans Brinker or the Silver Skates
Dr. Boekman
Autopsy of a Ghost
Canuto Pérez
Innocent
Amadis de Jocelyn
The Horror of It All
Carmichael (archive footage)
A Notorious Affair
Paul Gherardi
The Great Deception
Rizzio
This Mad World
Paul Parisot
The Flirting Widow
Col. Smith
Aladdin
Emperor
A Woman Commands
Capt. Alex Pastitsch
Victoria Regina
Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli (Lord Beaconsfield)
After the Ball
Jack Harrowby
Soldier in Love
Duke of York
Hedda Hopper’s Hollywood No. 6
Himself
The Bishop Murder Case
Philo Vance
A Christmas Carol
Marley's Ghost
In the Footsteps of Sherlock Holmes
The Loves of Mary, Queen of Scots
Undetermined Subordinate Role
Trouping with Ellen
Tony Winterslip
Mystic Prophecies and Nostradamus
Narrator
Affair in Sumatra
Paul Charters
A Lady Surrenders
Carl Vandry
The General's Boots
General Lee
A Christmas Carol
Scrooge
The Fruitful Vine
Don Cesare Carelli
The School for Scandal
Joseph Surface
One Precious Year
Derek Nagel
