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Basil Rathbone ,photo by Vandamm studio

Top 10 Interesting Facts about Basil Rathbone

Basils Rathbone was  an English actor. He was born in 1892, Johannesburg, South Africa. His mother Anna Barbara was violinist, and his father Edgar Philip Rathbone was mining engineering and scion of the Liverpool Rathbone family. He had two older half -brothers, Herold and Horace as well as to younger siblings, Beatrice and John.

Basil was the greatest grandson of the noted Victorian philanthropist William
Rathbone V. Thus a descendant of William Rathbone 11. Rathbone fled to Britain When he was three years old after he was accused by the Boers of being a spy following the Jameson Raid.

Rathbone attended Repton School in Derbyshire from 1906 to 1910. This where he excelled at sport. He  was given the nickname ratter by schoolmates. Thereafter he was briefly employed as an insurance clerk by the Liverpool and globe insurance companies. This was to appease his father’s wish for him to have conventional career

1. Theatre Royal was the first Basil made an appearance on stage 

Basil Rathbone , photo from

 Rathbone made his first appearance on stage in 1911 at the Theatre royal, Ipswich, Suffolk  and in the Taming of the Shrew. Basil went to United States with Benson’s company in 1912 .  He was playing roles like Â鶹APP in Romeo and Juliet, Fenton in the Merry Wives of Winsor and as Silvius in As you like it.

He also made his appearance in London at Savoy Theatre as Finch in The Sin of David in 1914

2.Basil Rathbone served in the military service

In 1915 Basil was called up vie the Derby scheme into British Army. This was during the first world war. After basic training with the London scots in 1916, Basil received a commission as lieutenant.

He was lieutenant in the 2/10th battalion of the king’s Liverpool regiment. This is where he served as an intelligence officer. Basil  also attained the rank of captain.

Following the death of his brother he became unconcerned about the dangers of serving at the front. Basil Rathbone persuaded his superiors to  allow him to scout enemy position during the daylight.

Basil wore a special camouflage suit that looked like a tree with a wrath. It had a freshly plucked foliage on his head with burnt cork applied to his hands and face. Due to highly dangerous daylight survey mission. He was awarded the Military cross in 1918. This was for conspicuous daring and resource on patrol.

3.Basil Rathbone has been widely recognized in The Sherlock Holmes Films

Basil Rathbone as Sherlock Holmes, photo from

He gained  a lot of popularity with his roles as Sherlock Holmes in multiple films. The Hound of Baskervilles was the his first part. The film was about the adaptation of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s.

After it was successful. It followed with The Adventure of Sherlock Holmes. This film was produced by fox. Afterwards he played a role in twelve films by Universal pictures. Some of his work s include of Sherlock Holmes and the voice of Terror, Above Crazy and the Spider Woman and other

4. Basil got a winning Tony Award for the Best Actor  

After he returned to Broadway . He got a winning Tony Award for the best actor for his role as Dr. Austin Sloper in the Heiress. Rathbone has also appeared in low budget films. These films include the The Name’s The Same, Queen of Blood and Ghost in Invincible Bikini. 

His last film was the horrors’ film Autopsy of a Ghost in 1968. Basil Rathbone has three stars at Holly wood Walk of Fame.

5.Basil Rathbone has appeared in two musical versions of Dickens’s A Christmas carol

He made many recordings of everything from dramatized version of Oliver Twist, to a recording of Prokofiev’s peter and the wolf. Also including the dramatized version of Charles Dickens A Christmas carol.

Bail has appeared on television in two musical version of Dicken’s A Christmas carol in 1954. One he played Marley’s Ghost opposite Fredric  March’s scrooge. The Original was in 1956 in live action of the The Stingiest Man in Town. He was starred as as singing Ebenezer scrooge.

6. He also appeared in the radio  series

Basil Rathbone as Sherlock Holmes, photo from

Rathbone and Bruce rehearsed   their film roles in a radio series, The New Adventures of Sherlock Holmes. It had  began in October 1939. Rathbone appeared in the radio series as long as the film series was active, but after the films lapsed in 1946, Rathbone ceded his radio part to Tom Conway. Conway and Bruce carried on with the series for two seasons, until both dropped out in July 1947.

7.  Rathbone had a finer art of swordsmanship

While Basil was serving in Military. His fencing champ skill was twice British Army. The skill would serve him well in movies. It also allowed him to teach actors like Errol Flynn and Tyrone power

Rathbone was admired for his athletics cinema swordsmanship . He fought and lost Errol Flynn in a duel on the beach in Captain blood. Basil was also involved in sword fights in Tower of London, The Mark of Zorro and the Court Jester.

8. Basil Rathbone appeared in film of Romeo and Juliet

Romeo and Juliet scene in 1936, photo from

Even after the success of his film. He stated the his favorite was role was that of Romeo. Basil  has won twice on screen in Romeo and Juliet. He had earned an Academy Award nominations for the Best Actor in supporting role for the performances as Tybalt in Romeo and Juliet.

9. Basil has ever been arrested

In 1926 Rathbone was arrested together with other members of cast of The captive. His character in the play was that his wife had left him for another woman. Even though the charger were dropped he got angry the censorship. Since he believed that the homosexuality should be have brought to open.

10. Basil Rathbone met violet death in Films 22 times

Basil Rathbone ,photo by Vandamm studio

In the five films he was run through by a sword. And these films include ; The Adventure of Robin Hood, Captain Blood, The Mark of Zorro, Romeo and Juliet and  Tower of London

 Also these  5 films Rathbone was fatally shot. They include; Above Suspicion, Confession, Fingers at the Windows, Rio, This Mad World. In the film of This Mad World he was executed by a firing squad.

 While other causes of death in the other films were  like bein poisoned, jumping off building, stabbed by a knife and catapulted into the sea.