douglas wilmer sherlock holmes

Sherlock Homes, 1964-1965

Douglas Wilmer as Sherlock Holmes.

Douglas Wilmer originated Sherlock Holmes on the small screen, but it was Basil Rathbone who created the classic characters' on-screen look, deerstalker included. Douglas Wilmer has died at the age of 96 following a battle with pneumonia.

Photo of Douglas Wilmer as Sherlock Holmes for fans of Sherlock Holmes.

Wilmer was born in Brentford, Middlesex, and received his education at King's School, Canterbury, and Stonyhurst College.

Douglas Wilmer, who has died at the age of 96, was a wily, sardonic actor best known for playing Sherlock Holmes on television. Rathbone played Sherlock Holmes in fourteen different films between 1939 and 1946.

The star - who famously portrayed Sherlock Holmes in the 1960s BBC series - passed away at Ipswich Hospital on Thursday. Stage Whispers is the deliciously honest memoirs of Douglas Wilmer, one of Britain’s leading post-war character actors and a treasured Honorary Member of the Sherlock Holmes Society of London. This 1964 still is from the BBC television series Sherlock Holmes.

His book was launched at the Society’s Spring meeting in 2009.

Douglas Wilmer - a Sherlock Holmes who captivated Sixties TV audiences Save Douglas Wilmer appeared in Sherlock Holmes for the BBC in the Sixties Credit: PA Ben Lawrence; 2 April 2016 • … Douglas Wilmer (8 January 1920 – 31 March 2016) was an English actor, best known for playing Sherlock Holmes in the 1965 TV series Sherlock Holmes.