Biographies: Basil Rathbone - Actor

Biographies

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A British actor, born in Johannesburg, South Africa, as Philip St. John Basil Rathbone. He was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor in 1939 and 1937 and he received 3 stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1960 for his work in film, television, and radio. He married twice and had two children. Among his most important works are The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938), The Scarlet Claw (1944), Sherlock Holmes Faces Death (1943), and Sherlock Holmes and the Voice of Terror (1942). Basil was famous in the United Kingdom as a Shakespearean actor, performing all the main characters in Shakespeare’s plays. He appeared in more than 70 films, primarily in character dramas and sometimes horror films. Basil Rathbone was born to an English father, who worked as a mining engineer, and a mother, who was born in South Africa to British parents and worked as a violinist. When his father was accused of being a British spy, he and his family fled to England when Basil was 3 years old. Rathbone attended Repton School and was interested in sports, especially fencing. He was interested in theatre, but after graduation, his father forced him to work in an insurance company for a year. However, he contacted his cousin, who ran the Shakespeare Theatre Company in Stratford to work in his troupe. He then appeared in minor roles in silent films in 1911, but his career stopped in 1915 due to World War I. He served in the Royal Army in the Intelligence Corps and received the Military Cross for his bravery. He also won the Army Fencing Championship twice. After military service, he returned to the theater group in Stratford, then moved to a theatre in London, and after a year, he stood on the stage of Broadway in New York, then he participated in his first silent film in Britain, Innocent (1921), and he alternated work between London and New York theaters while presenting some English silent films. In 1929, he abandoned his love for theater and focused his activity on cinema. His roles developed from romantic to gentle murderer of women to villain, and Hollywood used him in distinguished roles such as in Captain Blood (1935), David Copperfield (1935), and A Tale of Two Cities (1935). In 1939, he began a series of Hollywood films that made him a famous actor when he played the role of detective Sherlock Holmes in 14 films. During the following two decades, he starred in theater, cinema, radio, and television programs and toured widely throughout the country. He was also famous for his roles in horror films produced by Universal Pictures. He died in New York City, New York, USA, on July 21, 1967, from a heart attack.

9 January 2024
Toqa Hesham