William Gillette as Sherlock Holmes - Part 1

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jholstei asked:


William Gillette played Sherlock Holmes for more than 35 years at the beginning of the twentienth century to great acclaim, but no video of his performance remains. This is the sole remaining audio clip of Gillette playing Holmes matched up to photographs from his production. Part 1 of 2.

This entry was posted on Sunday, September 28th, 2008 at 9:45 am and is filed under Entertainment. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.

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12 Responses to “William Gillette as Sherlock Holmes - Part 1”

  1. cha5 Says:
    September 29th, 2008 at 12:28 am

    Although agewise I always find it interesting that most of the actors who’ve portrayed Holmes are too old for the part if you go by strict Sherlockian studies of his age.

    Began sharing lodgings with Watson at age 26
    (1881)
    Retired at age 48
    (1903)

  2. superlyger Says:
    September 29th, 2008 at 8:18 am

    Arthur Wontner seems to have resembled the character, physically, better than any other film actor- if not stage actor. However his characterization was a bit too light hearted for the usually gloomy character.

  3. frewer2003 Says:
    October 1st, 2008 at 9:12 am

    quel beau rasoir

  4. brainofomarion Says:
    October 2nd, 2008 at 10:19 am

    Thank you so much for sharing!

  5. AlannTH Says:
    October 4th, 2008 at 3:54 pm

    Superb Post. this coupled with the release of the Basil Rathbone Dr Watson war time radio shows posted on here is wonderfull.

  6. jenddo Says:
    October 6th, 2008 at 3:26 pm

    Very nicely done! I also am a distant cousin of William Gillette and grew up about a mile from the castle. So this was doubly great to see such a tribute!

  7. harmsangelgirl Says:
    October 8th, 2008 at 12:18 am

    What a wonderful video. Being a distant cousin to William Gillette, this was a delight to come across. I grew up a few minutes away from Gillette’s Castle in East Haddam, CT.

  8. Oliviabthebus Says:
    October 8th, 2008 at 2:57 pm

    ENJOYED THEM VERY MUCH.
    IS THERE SOUND on any of the clips?
    If so, so, how do I get the audio?

  9. Hubabakanda Says:
    October 11th, 2008 at 9:04 pm

    And who played the paper boy on one of his tours? Yes, none other than a young Charles Chaplin.

  10. mercurylegion Says:
    October 12th, 2008 at 7:06 am

    I loved the william gillette presentation but my computer seems to garble a bit. Do you sell DVD copies? Also, where did you get that wonderful voice recording? Please contact me!

  11. middlesex43 Says:
    October 16th, 2008 at 11:18 am

    The Gillette castle on the Connecticut River has been refurbished recently and can be visited in Haddam Ct by the public.

  12. PenangLawyer Says:
    October 19th, 2008 at 1:08 am

    A lovely tribute to the first great Sherlock. I love the dissolve from poster illustration to photograph!

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