"Never regret anything you have done with a sincere affection; nothing is lost that is born of the heart."
Philip St. John Basil Rathbone MC (13 June 1892 – 21 July 1967) was a South African-born English actor best known for his portrayal of Sherlock Holmes in fourteen Hollywood films and in a radio series.
When he wasn't playing Holmes, he was often playing sneering villains. A real-life Master Swordsman, he got cast in a lot of swashbucklers (where he almost always lost those sword fights to the likes of Errol Flynn).
Roles with TV Tropes pages:
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Film roles
- Sin Takes a Holiday (1930) as Reginald 'Reggie' Durant
- David Copperfield (1935) as Mr. Murdstone
- Anna Karenina (1935) as Karenin
- A Tale of Two Cities (1935) as Marquis St. Evremonde
- Captain Blood (1935) as Levasseur
- Romeo and Juliet (1936) as Tybalt
- Tovarich (1937) as Commissar Dimitri Gorotchenko
- The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938) as Sir Guy of Gisbourne
- The Dawn Patrol (1938) as Maj. Brand
- Son of Frankenstein (1939) as Baron Wolf von Frankenstein
- The Hound of the Baskervilles (1939) as Sherlock Holmes
- The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (1939) as Sherlock Holmes
- Tower of London (1939) as Richard, Duke of Gloucester
- The Mark of Zorro (1940) as Capt. Esteban Pasquale
- The Baker Street Dozen as Sherlock Holmes
- Sherlock Holmes and the Voice of Terror (1942)
- Sherlock Holmes and the Secret Weapon (1943)
- Sherlock Holmes in Washington (1943)
- Sherlock Holmes Faces Death (1943)
- The Spider Woman (1944)
- The Scarlet Claw (1944)
- The Pearl of Death (1944)
- Sherlock Holmes and the House of Fear (1945)
- The Woman in Green (1945)
- Pursuit to Algiers (1945)
- Terror by Night (1946)
- Dressed to Kill (1946)
- We're No Angels (1955) as Andre Trochard
- The Court Jester (1956) as Sir Ravenhurst
- The Magic Sword (1962) as Lodac
- Tales of Terror (1962) as Carmichael
- The Comedy of Terrors (1963) as John F. Black, Esq.
- Voyage to the Prehistoric Planet (1965) as Prof. Hartman, Lunar 7
- Queen of Blood (1966) as Dr. Farraday
- Hillbillys in a Haunted House (1967) as Gregor
Voice acting roles
- The New Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (1939–46) as Sherlock Holmes
- Peter and the Wolf (1941) as Narrator – sound recording with Leopold Stokowski and the All-American Orchestra
- The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad (1949) as Narrator of "The Wind in the Willows" segment
- The Great Mouse Detective (1986) as Sherlock Holmes – Sort of; a sample from the 1966 reading of "The Adventure of the Red-Headed League" by Rathbone was used for the voice of Sherlock Holmes.
Tropes associated with this actor:
- Awesome, Dear Boy: He was a longtime fan of Sherlock Holmes, so when he was offered the role of the Great Detective, he naturally jumped at the chance.
- The Cast Showoff: Rathbone was judged the premiere fencer in Hollywood, as demonstrated in his many swashbuckling roles.
- Large Ham: By his own admission, this was why he enjoyed performing in radio shows.
- Master Swordsman: He was a skilled and enthusiastic fencer in real life, which meant that he was often called upon to either play these or make other, less martially-talented actors look like they were these.
- No Stunt Double: As The Cast Showoff (above), Rathbone largely performed his own stunts in fight scenes.
- Sinister Schnoz / Villainous Cheekbones: Rathbone has played a lot of villains.
