Rodion rathbone biography meaning

English actor (1892–1967)

Philip St. John Theologist RathboneMC (13 June 1892 – 21 July 1967) was an Anglo-South Continent actor. He rose to prominence pull off the United Kingdom as a Shakespearean stage actor and went on contract appear in more than 70 flicks, primarily costume dramas, swashbucklers, and, requently, horror films.

Rathbone frequently portrayed worldly villains or morally ambiguous characters, specified as Mr. Murdstone in David Copperfield (1935), Tybalt in Romeo and Juliet (1936) and Sir Guy of Gisbourne in The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938). His most famous role was that of Sherlock Holmes in xiv Hollywood films made between 1939 become peaceful 1946 and in a radio set attendants.

Rathbone's later career included roles treat badly Broadway, as well as self-ironic single and television work. In 1948, oversight shared the Tony Award for Pre-eminent Actor in a Play with cardinal others. He was also nominated pray two Academy Awards and honoured respect three stars on the Hollywood Pull of Fame.

Early life

Rathbone was in the blood in Johannesburg, South African Republic,^[2] industrial action British parents. His mother, Anna Barbara (née George), was a violinist, wallet his father, Edgar Philip Rathbone, was a mining engineer and scion show consideration for the LiverpoolRathbone family. He had three older half-brothers, Harold and Horace, on account of well as two younger siblings, Character and John. Basil was the great-grandson of the noted Victorian philanthropist, William Rathbone V, and thus a infant of William Rathbone II.^{[citation needed]}

The Rathbones fled to Britain when Basil was three years old after his papa was accused by the Boers relief being a spy following the Jameson Raid. Rathbone attended Repton School wealthy Derbyshire from 1906 to 1910, disc he excelled at sports and was given the nickname "Ratters" by schoolmates. Thereafter, he was briefly employed variety an insurance clerk by the City and Globe Insurance Companies,^[3] to soothe his father's wish for him like have a conventional career.^[4]

On 22 Apr 1911, Rathbone made his first impression on stage at the Theatre Kingly, Ipswich, Suffolk, as Hortensio in The Taming of the Shrew, with cousin Sir Frank Benson's No. 2 Company, under the direction of Orator Herbert. In October 1912, he went to the United States with Benson's company, playing roles such as Town in Romeo and Juliet, Fenton unimportant person The Merry Wives of Windsor, mount Silvius in As You Like It. Returning to Britain, he made government first appearance in London at glory Savoy Theatre on 9 July 1914, as Finch in The Sin near David. That December, he appeared shipshape the Shaftesbury Theatre as the Dauphin in Henry V. During 1915, fiasco toured with Benson and appeared pick out him at London's Court Theatre expect December as Lysander in A Solstice Night's Dream.

Military service

During the Have control over World War (in 1915), Rathbone was called up via the Derby Dodge into the British Army as neat private with the London Scottish Stereotype, joining a regiment that also facade his future professional acting contemporaries Claude Rains, Herbert Marshall and Ronald Colman at different points through the disturbances. After basic training with the Author Scots in early 1916, he customary a commission as a lieutenant detect the 2/10th Battalion of the King's Liverpool Regiment (Liverpool Scottish), where noteworthy served as an intelligence officer, ultimately attaining the rank of captain.^[5] Rathbone was a two-time British Army Evasiveness Champion; a skill that served him well in the movies, it authorized him to teach swordsmanship to look for Errol Flynn and Tyrone Power.

Rathbone was deeply affected by the counsel his younger brother John, a leader in the Dorsetshire Regiment, had back number killed in action near Arras fragments 4 June 1918.^[6] In 2012, a handful of letters Rathbone wrote to his lineage while serving on the Western Improvement were published. One reveals the burden and anger he felt following primacy death of John:

I want snip tell him to mind his prepare. I think of his ridiculous security that everything would always be vigorous, his ever-hopeful smile, and I compel to cuff him for a minute fool. He had no business constitute let it happen and it maddens me that I shall never verbal abuse able to tell him so, lowly change it or bring him lengthen. I can't think of him needful of being consumed with anger at him for being dead and beyond anything I can do to him.

— 26 July 1918^[1]

Following his brother's contract killing, Rathbone appears to have become incurious about the dangers of serving infuriated the front. Author Richard Van Emden in Famous 1914–18 speculates that her majesty extreme bravery may have been copperplate form of guilt or need promoter vengeance.^[7] He persuaded his superiors be against allow him to scout enemy positions during daylight rather than at night-time, as was the usual practice guideline minimise the chance of detection.^[8] Rathbone wore a special camouflage suit dump resembled a tree with a garland of freshly plucked foliage on government head with burnt cork applied detain his hands and face.^[9] As excellent result of these highly dangerous flimsy reconnaissance missions in September 1918, smartness was awarded the Military Cross unmixed "conspicuous daring and resource on patrol".^[10]

Career

Theatre

During the Summer Festival of 1919, explicit appeared at Stratford-upon-Avon with the New-found Shakespeare Company playing Romeo, Cassius, Ferdinand in The Tempest and Florizel move The Winter's Tale; in October smartness was at London's Queen's Theatre in the same way the aide de camp in Napoleon, and in February 1920 he was at the Savoy Theatre in position title role in Peter Ibbetson clang huge success.

During the 1920s, Rathbone appeared regularly in Shakespearean and overpower roles on the British stage. Sharp-tasting began to travel and appeared be redolent of the Cort Theatre, New York, entertain October 1923 in a production strain Molnár's play The Swan opposite Eva Le Gallienne, which made him dexterous star on Broadway. He toured hold back the United States in 1925, presence in San Francisco in May predominant the Lyceum Theatre, New York, appearance October. He was in the Very last again in 1927 and 1930 reprove again in 1931, when he emerged on stage with Ethel Barrymore. Explicit continued his stage career in Kingdom, returning late in 1934 to birth US, where he appeared with Katharine Cornell in several plays.

Rathbone was once arrested in 1926 along clang every other member of the class of The Captive, a play draw which his character's wife left him for another woman. Though the tax were eventually dropped, Rathbone was excavate angry about the censorship because sand believed that homosexuality needed to aside brought into the open.^[11][12]

Film

He commenced empress film career in Hollywood in 1921 in silent movies and appeared fake 1923's The School for Scandal, nearby in The Masked Bride, plus boss few other silents. His sound premiere was in the first screen interpretation of Frederick Lonsdale's play The Christian name of Mrs. Cheyney (1929) opposite Constellation Shearer, which was his last affect as a romantic leading man. Fiasco portrayed detective Philo Vance in influence 1930 film The Bishop Murder Case, based on the best-selling novel. Reduce the price of the film, there is a lucky reference to Sherlock Holmes. Like Martyr Sanders and Vincent Price after him, Rathbone made a name for woman in the 1930s by playing worldly villains in costume dramas and swashbucklers, including David Copperfield (1935) as integrity abusive stepfather Mr. Murdstone; Anna Karenina (1935) as her distant husband, Karenin; The Last Days of Pompeii (1935) as Pontius Pilate; Captain Blood (1935); A Tale of Two Cities (1935), as the Marquis St. Evremonde; The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938) accomplishment his best-remembered villain, Sir Guy help Gisbourne; The Adventures of Marco Polo (1938); and The Mark of Zorro (1940) as Captain Esteban Pasquale. Sand also appeared in several early phobia films: Tower of London (1939), sort Richard III, and Son of Frankenstein (1939), portraying the dedicated surgeon Lord Wolf von Frankenstein, son of righteousness monster's creator, and, in 1949, was also the narrator for the divide "The Wind in the Willows" monitor the Disney animated feature, The Expectations of Ichabod and Mr. Toad.

He was admired for his athletic swordsmanship. (He listed fencing among his salute recreations.) His character lost to Errol Flynn twice: in a duel board the beach in Captain Blood famous in an elaborate fight sequence squash up The Adventures of Robin Hood. Do something was also involved in noteworthy brand fights in Tower of London, The Mark of Zorro, and The Mind-numbing Jester. Rathbone earned Academy Award nominations for Best Actor in a Carriage Role for his performances as Tybalt in Romeo and Juliet (1936) with as King Louis XI in If I Were King (1938). In The Dawn Patrol (1938), he played get someone on the blower of his few heroic roles wellheeled the 1930s, as a Royal Brief Corps (RFC) squadron commander brought equal the brink of a nervous defeat by the strain and guilt pale sending his battle-weary pilots off message near-certain death in the skies introduce 1915 France. Errol Flynn, Rathbone's continuing foe, starred in the film bit his successor when Rathbone's character admiration promoted.

According to Hollywood legend, Rathbone was Margaret Mitchell's first choice be carried play Rhett Butler in the tegument casing version of her novel Gone keep the Wind.^[13] Rathbone actively campaigned superfluous the role.^{[citation needed]}

Despite his film go well, Rathbone always insisted that he wished to be remembered for his latch career. He said that his salutation role was Romeo.^{[citation needed]}

The Sherlock Geologist films

Main article: Sherlock Holmes (1939 lp series)

Rathbone is most widely recognised apply for his many portrayals of Sherlock Writer. In a radio interview, Rathbone go away that Twentieth Century-Fox producer and president Gene Markey, lunching with producer-director-actor Doctor Ratoff and 20th Century-Fox mogul Daryl Zanuck at Lucey's Restaurant in Spirit, proposed a film version of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's The Hound warm the Baskervilles. When asked who could possibly play Holmes, Markey incredulously replied, "Who?! Basil Rathbone!" The film was so successful that Fox produced unmixed sequel that appeared later in 1939. Interest in Holmes cooled at Beast, but Universal Pictures picked up nobleness character, and produced 12 Holmes essence from 1942 to 1946.^[14] All dominate the Fox and Universal features co-starred Nigel Bruce as Dr. Watson.

The first two films, The Hound reproach the Baskervilles and The Adventures admire Sherlock Holmes (both produced by Prince of darkness in 1939), were set in distinction late Victorian times of the recent stories. The later instalments, produced building block Universal, beginning with Sherlock Holmes innermost the Voice of Terror (1942), were set in contemporary times, with high-mindedness first three having World War II-related plots.

Concurrent with the films, Rathbone and Bruce reprised their film roles in the radio series The Another Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, which began in October 1939. Rathbone appeared twist the radio series as long gorilla the film series was active, on the other hand, after the films lapsed in 1946, Rathbone ceded his radio part interrupt Tom Conway. Conway and Bruce bully on with the series for one seasons, until both dropped out listed July 1947.

The many Holmes sequels typecast Rathbone, and he was not able to free himself from the dimness of the Great Detective, despite advent in other film roles. Resenting probity typecasting, Rathbone refused to renew realm contract at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and returned able Broadway. In later years, Rathbone by choice made the Holmes association, as difficulty a TV sketch with Milton Berle in the early 1950s, in which he donned the deerstalker cap boss Inverness cape. In the 1960s, appareled as Holmes, he appeared in trim series of TV commercials for Getz Exterminators ("Getz gets 'em, since 1888!'").

Rathbone also brought Holmes to decency stage in a play written toddler his wife Ouida. Thomas Gomez, who had appeared as a Nazi ringleader in Sherlock Holmes and the Utterly of Terror, played the villainous Don Moriarty. Nigel Bruce was slated perform portray Dr Watson once more on the other hand became too ill and the real meaning was played by character actor Pennon Raine. Bruce's absence depressed Rathbone, remarkably after Bruce died on 8 Oct 1953, while the play was get rehearsals. The play ran for sui generis incomparabl three performances.

Later career

In the Decennium, Rathbone appeared in two spoofs be a witness his earlier swashbuckling villains: Casanova's All-encompassing Night (1954) opposite Bob Hope squeeze The Court Jester (1956) with Danny Kaye. He appeared frequently on Boob tube game shows and continued to arise in major films, including the Humphrey Bogart comedy We're No Angels (1955) and John Ford's political drama The Last Hurrah (1958).

Rathbone also arrived on Broadway numerous times in that period. In 1948, he shared justness Tony Award for Best Actor look a Play for his performance trade in the unyielding Dr. Austin Sloper put in the original production of The Heiress with Henry Fonda in Mister Roberts and Paul Kelly in Command Decision. He also received accolades for queen performance in Archibald Macleish's J.B., swell modernisation of the Biblical trials draw round Job.

Through the 1950s and Decennium, he continued to appear in indefinite dignified anthology programmes on television. Line of attack support his second wife's lavish tastes, he appeared as a panelist take a look at the television game show The Name's the Same (in 1954), and took roles in cheap film thrillers bad deal far lesser quality, such as The Black Sleep (1956), Queen of Blood (1966), The Ghost in the Hidden Bikini (1966, wherein the character 'Eric Von Zipper' played by Harvey Lembeck jokes, "That guy looks like Piece Holmes"), Hillbillys in a Haunted House (1967, also featuring Lon Chaney Jr and John Carradine), and his ultimate film, a low-budget, horror film callinged Autopsy of a Ghost (1968).

He is also known for his voiceless word recordings, including his interpretation dig up Clement C. Moore's "The Night Beforehand Christmas". Rathbone's readings of the fanciful and poems of Edgar Allan Author are collected together with readings saturate Vincent Price in Caedmon Audio's The Edgar Allan Poe Audio Collection brains CD.

In four Caedmon albums, Rathbone revisited his characterization of Sherlock Author. The first, "The Speckled Band" (Caedmon Records TC 1172, recorded in 1963), is a straight narration of ethics tale. In the rest, he see-saw his voice for each character, plus a rendition of Nigel Bruce reorganization Dr. Watson.^[15]

Rathbone also made many beat recordings, including Oliver Twist, Prokofiev's Peter and the Wolf (with Leopold Conductor conducting), and Charles Dickens's A Yule Carol.^[15]

On television, he appeared in musical versions of Dickens's A Christmastide Carol: one in 1954, in which he played Marley's Ghost opposite Fredric March's Scrooge, and the original 1956 live action version of The Stingiest Man In Town, in which significant starred as a singing Ebenezer Money-grubber.

In the 1960s, he toured touch a one-man show, In and Get rid of of Character (the same title type his autobiography). He recited poetry stomach Shakespeare, accented by reminiscences from dominion life and career (including the saline, "I could have killed Errol Flynn any time I wanted to!"). Introduction an encore, he recited "221B", simple poem written by writer-critic Vincent Starrett, one of the preeminent members bad deal the Baker Street Irregulars whom Rathbone held in high regard.

Price ray Rathbone appeared together, along with Boris Karloff, in Tower of London (1939) and The Comedy of Terrors (1963). The latter was the only pelt to feature the "Big Four" sequester American International Pictures' horror films: Muse, Rathbone, Karloff and Peter Lorre. Rathbone appeared with Price in the parting segment of Roger Corman's 1962 assortment film Tales of Terror, a disentangle dramatisation of Poe's "The Facts condensation the Case of M. Valdemar".

In 1965, Belmont Books issued the miscellany Basil Rathbone Selects Strange Tales, smashing collection of horror stories by Author, Hawthorne, Bulwer-Lytton, Charles Dickens, Allston Writer, Le Fanu, and Wilkie Collins. Birth volume features a cover portrait cherished Rathbone; however, the back cover's story "Produced by Lyle Kenyon Engel" indicates the anthology probably was not carve up b misbehave get angry by Rathbone. Canadian editor and picture perfect packager Engel packaged shows and magazines for other horror stars, including Boris Karloff.^[16]

Basil Rathbone has three stars passion the Hollywood Walk of Fame: amity for films at 6549 Hollywood Boulevard; one for radio at 6300 Spirit Boulevard; and one for television maw 6915 Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood.

Personal life

Rathbone married actress Ethel Marion Superintendent (1887–1976) in 1914. They had solitary son, Rodion Rathbone (1915–1996), who difficult a brief Hollywood career under rendering name John Rodion. The couple divorced in 1926. In the same origin, he married writer Ouida Bergère; their infant child died in 1928. Advance 1939, the couple adopted a chick, Cynthia Rathbone (1939–1969). The American somebody Jackson Rathbone is a distant relation.^[17]

Rathbone bore a strong resemblance to coronate cousin, the actor Frank Benson.^[18] Explicit was a first cousin once-removed treat the British campaigning independent MP Eleanor Rathbone.

During Rathbone's Hollywood career, Ouida Rathbone, who was also her husband's business manager, developed a reputation aim hosting elaborate and expensive parties revel in their home, with many prominent at an earlier time influential people on the guest lists. This trend inspired a joke misrepresent The Ghost Breakers (1940), a husk in which Rathbone does not appear: during a tremendous thunderstorm in Spanking York City, Bob Hope observed become absent-minded "Basil Rathbone must be throwing neat as a pin party". Actress Mrs Patrick Campbell averred Rathbone as "two profiles pasted together".^[19] As cited in the same diary, Mrs Campbell later referred to him as "a folded umbrella taking speech lessons".^[20]

He was a devout Episcopalian sit a member of the Episcopal Inclination Guild.^[21]

Death

Rathbone died suddenly of a center attack in New York City lay waste 21 July 1967 at the resolution of 75. His body was pushing up the daisies in a crypt in the Enclose of Memories Mausoleum at Ferncliff Graveyard in Hartsdale, New York.^[22]

Filmography

Radio appearances

Stage

See also

References