Trivia

Was a firm believer in ESP. When he was four his parents booked passage on a ship taking them from South Africa to Britain. His mother had a dream that the ship would sink in the Bay of Biscay and convinced her husband that they take a later boat. The ship on which they were originally to have sailed sank with the loss of all aboard.

Is generally considered the greatest swordsman in Hollywood history, superior even to on-screen foes Errol Flynn and Tyrone Power. However, because he was so frequently cast as the villain, he won only two on-screen duels in his career--as Tybalt in Romeo and Juliet (1936), for which he earned an Oscar nomination, and as Capt. Esteban Pascuale against the friar (Eugene Pallette), who was so outclassed by "the Capitan" he was harmlessly disarmed in a matter of seconds, in The Mark of Zorro (1940). His last, filmed when the actor was 63, was with Danny Kaye in The Court Jester (1955). It is considered by some the best sword fight ever filmed.

Was so frequently typecast as a villain that he literally jumped at the first few opportunities he ever got to play Sherlock Holmes because "for once, I got to beat the bad guy instead of play him". Indeed, he played the legendary heroic detective more than any other character in his career. However, by 1946 he had become so sick of the role that he quit his Sherlock Holmes film series and temporarily returned to the Broadway stage. Over the course of his career he had played the super sleuth in 14 films and over 200 radio plays.

Fought in the British Army during World War I and was awarded the Military Cross for bravery under fire.

British Army Fencing Champion.

Distant cousin of Maj. Henry Rathbone, who was part of President Abraham Lincoln's theater party the night he was assassinated. Maj. Rathbone himself was stabbed by John Wilkes Booth as the latter was escaping, but the wound was not fatal. Rathbone later married Clara Harris, who was also in the Lincoln party, but he killed her in an insane rage on December 23, 1883 and spent the rest of his life in an insane asylum. He had suffered from what would now be characterized as a form of PTSD ever since the assassination.

Was devastated by the sudden passing of his close associate, Nigel Bruce. Till his dying day, Basil Rathbone never fully recovered from his loss.

He was awarded three Stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame: for Motion Pictures at 6549 Hollywood Blvd., for Radio at 6300 Hollywood Blvd. and for Television at 6915 Hollywood Blvd.

The Sherlock Holmes-esque Basil of Baker Street in The Great Mouse Detective (1986) is named after Rathbone, who was perhaps best known for the many times he played Sherlock Holmes.

When the UK declared war on Germany in 1939, he wrote to the British War Office to enlist. However he received a letter which explained to him that he was too old.

Was the favorite choice of Gone with the Wind (1939) author Margaret Mitchell to play the role of Rhett Butler.

The Rathbones were a Hollywood exception in that they remained a happily married couple for more than four decades. During their heyday in Hollywood they were known to host the most lavish epicurean parties. For many years they (and their six dogs) lived in a house in the Los Feliz Hills overlooking Hollywood, which had once been owned by prizefighter Jack Dempsey and his wife, Estelle Taylor.

Practiced fencing 4 days a week.

He and Tyrone Power were two of Hollywood's most accomplished fencing masters but for safety reasons preferred duelling with their fencing instructors for scenes which didn't include close ups of both stars.

His interpretation of Sherlock Holmes is widely considered one of the best, out of all the actors who have played the role.

To this day, Basil Rathbone is viewed by many as the definitive Sherlock Holmes.

Nominated for a Best Supporting Actor Oscar twice and lost both times to the same actor, Walter Brennan. The pair of them were the first actors to be nominated for Best Supporting Actor twice.

He has appeared in three films that have been selected for the National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically or aesthetically" significant: The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938), The Mark of Zorro (1940) and The Court Jester (1955).

He was due to appear in 'Blood Beast Terror' (1968) with Peter Cushing but died before filming started.

He campaigned in vain for the role of Lord Henry Wotton in the film adaptation of Oscar Wilde's novel The Picture of Dorian Gray (1945). He believed that his typecasting as Sherlock Holmes cost him the role and was a contributing factor in his leaving the Universal series.

Had one son with Ethel Marion Foreman: John Rodion.

His final appearance as Sherlock Holmes was in a play written by his wife Ouida Bergère, appropriately titled "Sherlock Holmes". The production opened on Broadway on October 30, 1953, and lasted only three performances.

Was in five films that were nominated for Best Picture Oscars: David Copperfield (1935), A Tale of Two Cities (1935), Captain Blood (1935), Romeo and Juliet (1936) and The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938).

His good friend Jack Miltern, who also loved Rathbone's wife Ouida, lived together with them in a cottage, until Miltern was killed in a hit-and-run accident.

The actor played every major character from Shakespeare during his long stage career.

Never renounced his British citizenship and was a lifelong member of the Conservative party.

Before training as an actor, Basil Rathbone worked as a clerk for an insurance company. This vocation lasted a year.

Interred at Ferncliff Cemetery in Hartsdale, NY.

Although he has been immortalized as a screen villain, before he played Murdstone in 1935 he had never played a villain and was known, both on film and stage, exclusively as a matinée idol and romantic leading man.

His autobiography "In and Out of Character," was written in 1956 but not published until 1961.

Although earlier in his career he had quit playing Sherlock Holmes out of disgust at what he thought was typecasting, later in life he began appearing as Holmes on television and in several movies, and even wrote (along with his wife) a play about Holmes, in which he played the character on stage. That this represented a change of heart seems unlikely, though, as until his death he expressed hostility to his identification as Sherlock. It probably can be explained by Rathbone's chronic lack of money and a need to exploit his previous fame.

He died on the day of his only son's 52nd birthday.

Was related by marriage to the famous Huxley family. His wife's niece, Ouida Branch, whom they brought up from an early age, married David Bruce Huxley, the brother of famed writers Aldous Huxley and Julian Huxley and Nobel Prize-winning scientist Andrew Huxley.

He openly expressed his dislike for always being identified as Holmes, during his latter years.

Won Broadway's 1948 Tony Award as Best Actor (Dramatic) for his performance as Dr. Sloper in the original Broadway production of "The Heiress". The award was shared with Henry Fonda for "Mister Roberts" and Paul Kelly for "Command Decision".

Played Holmes on radio in over 200 episodes. Most of the stories were set in contemporary times, just like with the "Universal" films.

Had one daughter with Ouida Bergère: Cynthia Rathbone (1939-69).

Contrary to popular belief, Basil Rathbone played the Baker Street sleuth in a total of 14 movies and not 16.

Reacted with annoyance when asked to sign an autograph in the name of Sherlock Holmes.

As the actor was leaving for France during the first world war, his parents were on hand to wave him off at the railway station.

He fell out with his son in around 1940, and they only saw each other once again.

Is one of 13 actors who have received an Academy Award nomination for his portrayal of a real-life king. The others in chronological order are Charles Laughton for The Private Life of Henry VIII (1933), Robert Morley for Marie Antoinette (1938), Laurence Olivier for Henry V (1944) and Richard III (1955), José Ferrer for Joan of Arc (1948), Yul Brynner for The King and I (1956), John Gielgud for Becket (1964), Peter O'Toole for Becket (1964) and The Lion in Winter (1968), Robert Shaw for A Man for All Seasons (1966), Richard Burton for Anne of the Thousand Days (1969), Kenneth Branagh for Henry V (1989), Nigel Hawthorne for The Madness of King George (1994), and Colin Firth for The King's Speech (2010).

Had appeared with John Carradine in seven films: The Garden of Allah (1936), The Hound of the Baskervilles (1939), Casanova's Big Night (1954), The Court Jester (1955), The Black Sleep (1956), The Last Hurrah (1958) and Hillbillys in a Haunted House (1967).

He was so often cast as a baddie that he only won one screen fight and that was as Tybalt in Romeo and Juliet in 1936.

Mentioned in The Ghost Breakers (1945).

He has two roles in common with Tom Baker: (1) Rathbone played Sir Guy of Gisbourne in The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938) while Baker played him in The Zany Adventures of Robin Hood (1984) and (2) Rathbone played Sherlock Holmes in 14 films from The Hound of the Baskervilles (1939) to Dressed to Kill (1946) and Baker played him in The Hound of the Baskervilles (1982).

During the sword fight with Danny Kaye, in "Court Jester", Giacomo calls Ravenhurst a rat catcher. This is a nod to Rathbone and Shakespeare. Rathbone played Tybalt to Barrymore's Mercutio in Romeo and Juliet (1936). Rathbone was nominated as Best Supporting Actor, but lost to Walter Brennan for "Come and Get It".

Rathbone was a lieutenant in the Liverpool Scottish Regiment, along with Claude Rains, Herbert Marshall, and Ronald Coleman. Rathbone's Military Cross was for bravery in combat. He was in the trenches during WWI.

Errol Flynn's nickname for Rathbone was "Dear Old Bazz".

Had portrayed the title character on Blue (1939-42) and Mutual (1943-46) Radio's "The New Adventures of Sherlock Holmes".