Your pick for the best actor to portray Holmes in any performance medium to include radio, television, film or stage adaption.
Out of personal prejudice and to keep things from getting too unwieldy, I left out animated versions (prefer to omit Alvin and the Chipmunks, for example), video games and selected abominations like Will Ferrell.
Undoubtedly the poll choices omit somebody’s favorite, so feel free to write in your candidate.
I voted Jeremy Brett.
But I also love Robt. Downey, Jr.
And of course Basil Rathbone was the first I ever saw on old B&W movies with my Granny.
You have another threadon the same subject. Maybe ask the mods to close it?
Wow, I’ve got some Finding Mr. Holmes to do.
I had no idea of some of these. Ah, some are radio and on stage…but Matt Frewer, the Max Headroom of Baker St?
Downey was just terrible as Holmes; not even remotely what Holmes was supposed to be like. Holmes is supposed to be all cerebral, not this action figure with buff muscles.
Moderator Action
Moving thread from IMHO to Cafe Society.
Tough choice. I grew up watching Basil Rathbone, so that was the gold standard for me for many years. Jeremy Brett really nailed the part though, so in the end, I had to pick him over Basil.
You left out my favorite, Ronald Howard, son of Leslie Howard, who had a Sherlock Holmes TV series in 1954-55. I liked his version of Holmes because he wasn’t an asshole, as so many of them have been. Although still portrayed as brilliant and intuitive, his Holmes had a gentleness and kindness that were refreshing. This approach may not have been canon, but I don’t see why Holmes had to sneer like Rathbone, or be a neurotic nut like Brett, or be a high-functioning sociopath.
You can see these 39 episodes on Youtube. The scripts weren’t very good, the other actors were not so hot, and they were only 1/2-hour programs so the stories were pretty simple. Still, I liked his portrayal of the character. For a change, I didn’t want to run him through the heart with the nearest untipped foil.
Jonny Lee Miller
Yah, this is my choice too. The best ‘modern’ Sherlock Holmes. I can’t believe he wasn’t included.
I also like Christopher Plummer in “Murder by Decree”, also not included.
Jeremy Brett, no question.
I’ve seen lots of Sherlock Holmes, including Robert Downey, Jr., Ian McKellen, Basil Rathbone, Charlton Heston (!), Peter Cushing, Roger Moore, Michael Caine, John Wood (on stage), the original classic William Gillette (in a silent film of his stage play Sherlock Holmes – he’s the guy who originated the Sherlock Holmes “calabash” pipe), a thoroughly miscast Reginald Owen, Christopher Plummer, John Neville, Nicol Wiliamson, that abomination with Will Ferrell, and a huge number I’ve forgotten the names of. Nobody comes close to depicting The Great Detective as described by Doyle as Brett does. IMHO, of course.
No mention of Nicholas Rowe?
Of course I mentioned him – he’s part of “the huge number I’ve forgotten the names of”
Another vote for Jonny Lee Miller. Coupled with one of the best Watson’s as well.
My wife and I are semi-binging “Elementary” right now, so another vote for Jonny Lee Miller.
The original Arthur Conan Doyle-written Sherlock Holmes was certainly cerebral, but so was Downey’s Holmes. He is depicted as winning fights by plotting out all of his moves and his opponent’s moves ahead of time, and otherwise out-thinking his opponents and using his wits at least as much as his muscles to over-come obstacles.
But Doyle’s Holmes was absolutely not “all” cerebral. By the standards of the era, he was an action figure.
In “The Speckled Band,” an antagonist tries to intimidate Holmes by bending a fireplace poker with his bare hands. Holmes responds by casually straightening it back out, a much more difficult feat of strength, that he accomplishes with much less effort.
Doyle’s Holmes is also a master of “baritsu”, which is a reference to the real life “bartitsu” fighting style. This was a supposedly “scientific” fighting style, and mentioning Holmes’ mastery of it was the Victorian equivalent of establishing him as a both an action hero and a techno-thriller hero.
Anyway, on the OP’s topic, I’m pretty torn between a sentimental attachment to Basil Rathbone, Jeremey Brett’s masterfully faithful depiction, Benedict Cumberbatch’s modernized portrayal of Holmes-as-sociopath, and Downey’s just plain fun Holmes.
Hugh Laurie. Yes, he counts.
I’ve only seen two of them, I only recognized four of those names. Out of that limited selection I went with Cumberbatch because I enjoyed his series better than the Downey movies, but they were both good.
rathbone, of course … it’s all elementary, my dear watson.
Jonny Lee Miller. Why isn’t he included? Elementary’s hardly obscure; it’s been on for seven seasons.