BASIL RATHBONE BIOGRAPHY & FILMOGRAPHY:

Basil Rathbone was born on June 13th, 1892 in Johannesburg, South Africa with the birth name Philip St. John Basil Rathbone.  When he was only three years old his family was forced to leave the country due to his father being accused of being a spy for Britain.  His family and two brothers relocated to England where they were raised by his mother, Beatrice a violinist and his father, Edgar Philip who worked as a mining Engineer. 
 
He attended school at Repton school and had a great interest in sports as well as theater.  When he completed his education he had the intention of pursuing a career as an actor, however his father was not in approval of this career choice and tried to redirect his sons ambition towards a career in business.  Rathbone decided to listen to his fathers advice and worked as a clerk for an insurance company for about a year and then decided this was not the direction he wanted to take his professional life.

Rathbone made contact with a cousin of his who was an actor who managed a Shakespearean troupe in Stratford-Upon-Avon.  He was hired as an actor to work in the troupe and was cast in small parts on a number of productions.
 
When World War I occurred in 1915, Rathbone took a break from acting to serve in the military.  In 1919 he was discharged and returned right back to his stage career.  He then relocated to London and made his first appearance on Broadway along with his first film appearance on "Innocent" (both in 1921).  

Throughout the rest of the 20's, Rathbone would work on stage in London as well as New York and would also dedicate his time to a number of film appearances.  He soon also got involved into the other side of the industry as a writer in the Broadway play called, "Judas" (1929).
 
In the 1930's he relocated to Hollywood in pursuit of a film career only leaving his first love of stage performing behind him.  He appeared in a number of films such as, "Captain Blood" (1935), "The Personal History, Adventures, Experience & Observation of David Copperfield the Younger" (1935), "A Tale of Two Cities" (1935) and "The Last Days of Pompeii" (1935) to name just a few of many.   His most well known role and most popular known character he portrayed was the role of, Sherlock Holmes.  In total he played this character in twelve different films such as, "The Hound of the Baskervilles" (1939) and "The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes" (1939).
 
Although, he was highly successful in this role and it brought a large amount of attention on him and his acting ability, he felt type cast in the character and was unable to find other film work.  In 1946 he decided to relocate back to New York City and return to his original love of working as a stage actor.
 
He won a Tony Award in 1946 for his role in the Broadway play, "The Heiress".  Sadly, after this role even his stage career was beginning to slow down.  Nevertheless, Rathbone continued to work as an actor in some more films and television appearances.  Some of his later film work were roles in such features as, "The Court Jester" (1955) and "The Comedy of Terrors" (1963).
 
For the most part his professional life kept him quite busy and he had no real drama with his personal life.  He married only twice, first to Marion Foreman on October 13th, 1914 through 1926 and they had one child together.  His second marriage was to Quida Bergere in 1926 through 1967 when he passed away and they had one daughter whom they adopted together. 
 
Basil Rathbone passed away on July 21st, 1967 in New York City, New York after suffering a heart attack.  Basil Rathbone is interred at Ferncliff Cemetery in Hartsdale New York.  Rathbone was awarded a total of three stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for his contribution to Motion Pictures, Television and Radio. 

Filmography

1968 Autopsia de un fantasma 
1967 Hillbillys in a Haunted House 
1957-1967 Hallmark Hall of Fame 
1966 Summer Fun
1966 The Ghost in the Invisible Bikini 
1966 Queen of Blood 
1965 Dr. Kildare
1965 Voyage to the Prehistoric Planet 
1965 Burke's Law
1964 Suspense
1963 The Comedy of Terrors 
1962 Two Before Zero 
1962 Tales of Terror
1962 The Magic Sword 
1962 Pontius Pilate 
1961 The Black Cat 
1961 Mystic Prophecies and Nostradamus 
1960 The Christophers
1956-1960 The Red Skelton Hour
1958 The Last Hurrah 
1958 The DuPont Show of the Month 
1958 Fredric March Presents Tales from Dickens 
1956-1957 Kraft Theatre
1957 The United States Steel Hour
1956 The Alcoa Hour 
1956 The Black Sleep 
1956 Screen Directors Playhouse
1955 The Court Jester 
1955 Star Tonight
1955 Science Fiction Theatre
1955 We're No Angels 
1955 The Eddie Cantor Comedy Theater
1955 Encounter  
1954 Shower of Stars
1954 Schlitz Playhouse 
1954 Studio One in Hollywood
1954 Love Story
1954 Casanova's Big Night
1954 The Philip Morris Playhouse
1953 The Motorola Television Hour
1953 Season's Greetings
1953 Danger 
1951-1953 Suspense
1953 Broadway Television Theatre 
1951-1953 Lux Video Theatre
1951 Lights Out
1951 The Colgate Comedy Hour
1950 Nash Airflyte Theatre
1949-1950 The Chevrolet Tele-Theatre
1949 The Ford Theatre Hour 
1949 The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad 
1949 The Wind in the Willows 
1946 Dressed to Kill 
1946 Heartbeat 
1946 Terror by Night 
1945 Pursuit to Algiers 
1945 The Woman in Green 
1945 The House of Fear 
1944 Frenchman's Creek 
1944 The Pearl of Death 
1944 Bathing Beauty
1944 The Scarlet Claw 
1944 The Spider Woman 
1943 Crazy House 
1943 Sherlock Holmes Faces Death 
1943 Above Suspicion 
1943 Sherlock Holmes in Washington 
1943 Sherlock Holmes and the Secret Weapon 
1942 Sherlock Holmes and the Voice of Terror 
1942 Crossroads 
1942 Fingers at the Window
1941 Paris Calling 
1941 International Lady
1941 The Black Cat 
1941 The Mad Doctor
1940 The Mark of Zorro 
1940 Rhythm on the River 
1939 Tower of London 
1939 Rio 
1939 The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes 
1939 The Sun Never Sets 
1939 The Hound of the Baskervilles 
1939 Son of Frankenstein
1938 The Dawn Patrol 
1938 If I Were King 
1938 The Adventures of Robin Hood 
1938 The Adventures of Marco Polo 
1937 Tovarich 
1937 Make a Wish 
1937 Confession
1937 A Night of Terror 
1936 The Garden of Allah 
1936 Romeo and Juliet
1936 Private Number
1935 Captain Blood
1935 A Tale of Two Cities 
1935 Kind Lady 
1935 A Feather in Her Hat 
1935 The Last Days of Pompeii 
1935 Anna Karenina 
1935 The Personal History, Adventures, Experience, & Observation of David Copperfield the Younger 
1933 Loyalties 
1933 One Precious Year
1932 After the Ball 
1932 A Woman Commands
1930 Sin Takes a Holiday 
1930 A Lady Surrenders 
1930 The Lady of Scandal 
1930 The Flirting Widow 
1930 A Notorious Affair 
1930 This Mad World 
1930 The Bishop Murder Case 
1929 The Last of Mrs. Cheyney 
1926 The Great Deception 
1925 The Masked Bride 
1924 Trouping with Ellen 
1923 The Loves of Mary, Queen of Scots
1923 The School for Scandal 
1921 The Fruitful Vine 
1921 Innocent