Basil Rathbone
Acting • Born 1892-06-13 – Died 1967-07-21
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
131 credits
Son of Frankenstein
Movie • 1939
Baron Wolf von Frankenstein
The Spider Woman
Movie • 1943
Sherlock Holmes
The Movie Orgy
Movie • 1968
Self (archival footage)
The Adventures of Robin Hood
Movie • 1938
Sir Guy of Gisbourne
Terror by Night
Movie • 1946
Sherlock Holmes
Dressed to Kill
Movie • 1946
Sherlock Holmes
We're No Angels
Movie • 1955
Andre Trochard
The Court Jester
Movie • 1955
Sir Ravenhurst
The Mark of Zorro
Movie • 1940
Captain Esteban Pasquale
Above Suspicion
Movie • 1943
Sig von Aschenhausen
The Hound of the Baskervilles
Movie • 1939
Sherlock Holmes
Sherlock Holmes and the Voice of Terror
Movie • 1942
Sherlock Holmes
Autopsy of a Ghost
Movie • 1968
Canuto Pérez
The Magic Sword
Movie • 1962
Lodac
The House of Fear
Movie • 1945
Sherlock Holmes
The Pearl of Death
Movie • 1944
Sherlock Holmes
The Scarlet Claw
Movie • 1944
Sherlock Holmes
The Great Mouse Detective
Movie • 1986
Sherlock Holmes (voice)
Queen of Blood
Movie • 1966
Dr. Farraday
Rio
Movie • 1939
Paul Reynard
The Woman in Green
Movie • 1945
Sherlock Holmes
The Horror Show
Movie • 1979
(archive footage)
The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad
Movie • 1949
Narrator (segment "The Wind in the Willows")
Tower of London
Movie • 1939
Richard - Duke of Gloucester
The Black Sleep
Movie • 1956
Sir Joel Cadman
The Black Cat
Movie • 1941
Montague Hartley
Love from a Stranger
Movie • 1937
Gerald Lovell
Crazy House
Movie • 1943
Sherlock Holmes
The Mad Doctor
Movie • 1940
Dr. George Sebastian / Dr. Langamann
Tales of Terror
Movie • 1962
Carmichael ("The Case of M. Valdemar")
Heartbeat
Movie • 1946
Professor Aristide
The Comedy of Terrors
Movie • 1964
John F. Black
Crossroads
Movie • 1942
Henri Sarrou
Tovarich
Movie • 1937
Commissar Dimitri Gorotchenko
Bathing Beauty
Movie • 1944
George Adams
Sherlock Holmes in Washington
Movie • 1943
Sherlock Holmes
The Bishop Murder Case
Movie • 1929
Philo Vance
Romeo and Juliet
Movie • 1936
Tybalt
David Copperfield
Movie • 1935
Mr. Edward Murdstone
Captain Blood
Movie • 1935
Levasseur
The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes
Movie • 1939
Sherlock Holmes
Fingers at the Window
Movie • 1942
Cesar Ferrari / Dr. H. Santelle
The Dawn Patrol
Movie • 1938
Maj. Brand
A Tale of Two Cities
Movie • 1935
Marquis St. Evremonde
The Masked Bride
Movie • 1925
Antoine
Sherlock Holmes and the Secret Weapon
Movie • 1942
Sherlock Holmes
The Loves of Mary, Queen of Scots
Movie • 1924
Undetermined Subordinate Role
One Precious Year
Movie • 1933
Derek Nagel
Trouping with Ellen
Movie • 1924
Tony Winterslip
Hans Brinker or the Silver Skates
Movie • 1958
Dr. Boekman
Pursuit to Algiers
Movie • 1945
Sherlock Holmes
Sherlock Holmes Faces Death
Movie • 1943
Sherlock Holmes
Anna Karenina
Movie • 1935
Alexei Alexandrovitch Karenin
Voyage to the Prehistoric Planet
Movie • 1965
Prof. Hartman, Lunar 7
The Last Hurrah
Movie • 1958
Norman Cass Sr.
The Lark
Movie • 1957
Chief Inquisitor
Confession
Movie • 1937
Michael Michailow
Casanova's Big Night
Movie • 1954
Lucio / Narrator
The Ghost in the Invisible Bikini
Movie • 1966
Reginald Ripper
Paris Calling
Movie • 1941
Andre Benoit
Hillbillys in a Haunted House
Movie • 1967
Gregor
The Wind in the Willows
Movie • 1949
Narrator (voice)
The Adventures of Errol Flynn
Movie • 2005
Self / Various Roles (archive sound) (archive footage)
If I Were King
Movie • 1938
Louis XI
Rhythm on the River
Movie • 1940
Oliver Courtney
The Garden of Allah
Movie • 1936
Count Ferdinand Anteoni
Frenchman's Creek
Movie • 1944
Lord Rockingham
Frankenstein: A Cinematic Scrapbook
Movie • 1991
Baron Wolf von Frankenstein (archive footage)
The Adventures of Marco Polo
Movie • 1938
Ahmed
Sin Takes a Holiday
Movie • 1930
Reginald 'Reggie' Durant
A Notorious Affair
Movie • 1930
Paul Gherardi
The Last Days of Pompeii
Movie • 1935
Pontius Pilate
Pontius Pilate
Movie • 1962
Caiaphas
Kind Lady
Movie • 1935
Henry Abbott
The Sun Never Sets
Movie • 1939
Clive Randolph
Make a Wish
Movie • 1937
Johnny Selden
Loyalties
Movie • 1933
Ferdinand de Levis
The Lady of Scandal
Movie • 1930
Edward
The Flirting Widow
Movie • 1930
Col. Smith
The Last of Mrs. Cheyney
Movie • 1929
Lord Arthur Dilling
A Feather in Her Hat
Movie • 1935
Captain Randolph Courtney
Private Number
Movie • 1936
Thomas Wroxton
A Lady Surrenders
Movie • 1930
Carl Vandry
The Horror of It All
Movie • 1983
Carmichael (archive footage)
This Mad World
Movie • 1930
Paul Parisot
The General's Boots
Movie • 1954
General Lee
A Christmas Carol
Movie • 1954
Marley's Ghost
Victoria Regina
Movie • 1961
Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli (Lord Beaconsfield)
After the Ball
Movie • 1932
Jack Harrowby
Soldier in Love
Movie • 1967
Duke of York
The Great Deception
Movie • 1926
Rizzio
A Woman Commands
Movie • 1932
Capt. Alex Pastitsch
International Lady
Movie • 1941
Reggie Oliver
The Black Cat
Movie • 1960
The Fruitful Vine
Movie • 1921
Don Cesare Carelli
Breakdowns of 1938
Movie • 1938
Basil (archive footage) (uncredited)
The Many Faces of Sherlock Holmes
Movie • 1985
Sherlock Holmes (archive footage)
Hedda Hopper’s Hollywood No. 6
Movie • 1942
Himself
The School for Scandal
Movie • 1923
Joseph Surface
A Christmas Carol
Movie • 1959
Scrooge
Innocent
Movie • 1921
Amadis de Jocelyn
Two Before Zero
Movie • 1962
Aladdin
Movie • 1958
Emperor
The Stingiest Man in Town
Movie • 1956
Ebenezer Scrooge
In the Footsteps of Sherlock Holmes
Movie • 1996
Madhouse
Movie • 1974
Basil (archive footage)
Affair in Sumatra
Movie • 1956
Paul Charters
Mystic Prophecies and Nostradamus
Movie • 1961
Narrator
Burke's Law
TV • 1963
Milo James
The Merv Griffin Show
TV • 1962
Self
Studio One
TV • 1948
Hazelton Crome
Hallmark Hall of Fame
TV • 1951
Inquisitor
Lux Video Theatre
TV • 1950
Frampton
Schlitz Playhouse of Stars
TV • 1951
Self - Host / General Lee
Your Show of Shows
TV • 1950
Suspense
TV • 1949
Dr. Jekyll / Mr. Hyde
Summer Fun
TV • 1966
Lights Out
TV • 1949
The Jack Benny Program
TV • 1950
Basil Rathbone
Dr. Kildare
TV • 1961
Frederick Foray
Tales from Dickens
TV • 1959
Scrooge
Schlitz Playhouse of Stars
TV • 1951
The Jewel Thief
Lux Video Theatre
TV • 1950
Sir Paul Maxim
Lux Video Theatre
TV • 1950
Ambrose Wallington
Hallmark Hall of Fame
TV • 1951
Dr. Boekman
Hallmark Hall of Fame
TV • 1951
Lord Beaconsfield
Hallmark Hall of Fame
TV • 1951
The Duke of York
DuPont Show of the Month
TV • 1957
Emperor
Suspense
TV • 1949
Sherlock Holmes
What's My Line?
TV • 1950
Self
Screen Director's Playhouse
TV • 1955
Paul Charters