Editing Jeremy Brett (section)

===Sherlock Holmes===
[[File:Jeremy Brett.jpg|thumb|right|upright|Brett as [[Sherlock Holmes]]]]
Although Brett appeared in many different roles during his 40-year career, he is best remembered for his performance as [[Sherlock Holmes]] in ''[[The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (TV series)|The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes]]'', a series of [[Granada Television]] films made between 1984 and 1994. These were adapted by [[John Hawkesworth (producer)|John Hawkesworth]] and other writers from the original stories by Sir [[Arthur Conan Doyle]]. Even though he reportedly feared being typecast, Brett appeared in all 41 episodes of the Granada series, plus two television films alongside [[David Burke (British actor)|David Burke]] and, latterly, [[Edward Hardwicke]] as [[Doctor Watson]]. Jeremy Brett and Edward Hardwicke appeared on stage in 1988 and 1989 in ''The Secret of Sherlock Holmes'' directed by [[Patrick Garland]].

After taking on the demanding role ("Holmes is the hardest part I have ever played—harder than Hamlet or Macbeth"{{sfnp|Manners|2001|p=212}}) Brett made few other acting appearances, and he is now widely considered to be the definitive Holmes of his era, just as [[Basil Rathbone]] was at the beginning of the 1940s and [[William Gillette]] during the first third of the 20th century. Brett had previously played Doctor Watson on stage opposite [[Charlton Heston]] as Holmes in the 1980 Los Angeles production of ''[[The Crucifer of Blood]]'', making him one of only a small number of actors to play both Holmes and Watson professionally.<ref name="eyles">{{cite book |last=Eyles |first=Allen |title=Sherlock Holmes: A Centenary Celebration |year=1986 |publisher=[[Harper (publisher)|Harper & Row]] |page=[https://archive.org/details/sherlockholmesce0000eyle/page/86 86] |isbn=0-06-015620-1 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/sherlockholmesce0000eyle/page/86 }}</ref>{{refn|group=fn|Eyles mentions three other actors who played both Holmes and Watson: [[Reginald Owen]] (who played Watson in a 1932 film and Holmes in a 1933 film),{{sfnp|Barnes|2002|p=39}} [[Howard Marion-Crawford]] (who played Holmes in a radio production and Watson in a television series), and [[Carleton Hobbs]] (who portrayed both roles on the radio).<ref name="eyles" /> Other actors who played both roles include [[Patrick Macnee]],{{sfnp|Barnes|2002|p=60}} [[Edward Woodward]],<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www2.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2b7b55f596 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171228061138/http://www.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2b7b55f596 |url-status=dead |archive-date=28 December 2017 |title=Hands of a Murderer (1990) |publisher=British Film Institute |access-date=2 January 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.lib.umn.edu/scrbm/ush/volume-4-section-XK4 |title=USH Volume 4, Section X K -- Actors, Performances, and Recordings: Plays (continued) |website=University of Minnesota Libraries |access-date=31 December 2020 |archive-date=12 September 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200912143601/https://www.lib.umn.edu/scrbm/ush/volume-4-section-XK4 |url-status=dead }}</ref> Kenneth Rivington,<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KiSPDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA175 |title=Chaplin's Music Hall: The Chaplins and their Circle in the Limelight |page=175 |last=Anthony |first=Barry |publisher=I. B. Tauris & Co. |year=2012|isbn=9781786733856 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.lib.umn.edu/scrbm/ush/volume-3-section-XK |title=USH Volume 3, Section X K -- Actors, Performances, and Recordings: Plays |website=University of Minnesota Libraries |access-date=2 January 2021 |archive-date=22 July 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130722194701/https://www.lib.umn.edu/scrbm/ush/volume-3-section-XK |url-status=dead }}</ref> H. Lawrence Leyton,<ref>{{cite book |last=Pointer |first=Michael |year=1976 |pages=30–31 |title=The Sherlock Holmes File |url=https://archive.org/details/sherlockholmesfi00poin/page/30/ |publisher=Clarkson N. Potter, Inc. |isbn=0-517-52560-7}}</ref> and John Bell.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.behindthevoiceactors.com/video-games/Sherlock-Holmes-The-Mystery-of-the-Mummy/ |website=Behind The Voice Actors |title=Sherlock Holmes: The Mystery of the Mummy |access-date=2 January 2021}}</ref>}}

Brett was approached in February 1982 by Granada Television to play Holmes. The idea was to make a totally authentic and faithful adaptation of the character's best cases. Eventually Brett accepted the role; he wanted to be the best Sherlock Holmes the world had ever seen.{{sfnp|Manners|2001|p=?}} He conducted extensive research on the great detective and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle himself, and was very attentive to discrepancies between the scripts he had been given and Conan Doyle's original stories.{{sfnp|Manners|2001|p=122}} One of Brett's dearest possessions on the set was his 77-page "Baker Street File" on everything from Holmes' mannerisms to his eating and drinking habits. Brett once explained that "some actors are becomers—they try to become their characters. When it works, the actor is like a sponge, squeezing himself dry to remove his own personality, then absorbing the character's like a liquid".{{sfnp|Manners|2001|p=217}} Brett was focused on bringing more passion to the role of Holmes. He introduced Holmes's rather eccentric hand gestures and short violent laughter. He would hurl himself on the ground just to look for a footprint, "he would leap over the furniture or jump onto the parapet of a bridge with no regard for his personal safety."{{sfnp|Cox|1999|p=22}}

Holmes's obsessive and depressive personality fascinated and frightened Brett. In many ways Holmes's personality resembled the actor's own, with outbursts of passionate energy followed by periods of lethargy. It became difficult for him to let go of Holmes after work. He had always been told that the only way for an actor to stay sane was for him to leave his part behind at the end of the day, but Brett started dreaming about Holmes, and the dreams turned into nightmares.{{sfnp|Manners|2001|p=121}} Brett began to refer to Holmes as "You Know Who" or simply "HIM". Terry Manners' 2001 book{{sfnp|Manners|2001}} on Brett in the role provides some of Brett's thoughts: {{blockquote|"Watson describes You Know Who as a mind without a heart, which is hard to play. Hard to become. So what I have done is invent an inner life." Brett invented an imaginary life of Holmes to fill the hollowness of Holmes's "missing heart", his empty emotional life. He imagined: "... what You Know Who's nanny looked like. She was covered in starch. I don't think he saw his mother until he was about eight years old ..." etc.{{sfnp|Manners|2001|p=134}}}} While the other actors disappeared to the canteen for lunch, Brett would sit alone on the set reading the script, looking at every nuance,{{sfnp|Manners|2001|p=133}} reading Holmes in the weekends and on his holidays. Brett stated, "Some actors fear if they play Sherlock Holmes for a very long run the character will steal their soul, leave no corner for the original inhabitant,"{{sfnp|Manners|2001|p=216}} but also that, "Holmes has become the dark side of the moon for me. He is moody and solitary and underneath I am really sociable and gregarious. It has all got too dangerous".{{sfnp|Manners|2001|p=212}}

A theatrical adaptation, ''The Secret of Sherlock Holmes'', by Brett's friend, playwright Jeremy Paul, ran at [[Wyndham's Theatre]] in London's West End with Brett and Edward Hardwicke during 1988 and 1989; the production subsequently toured.<ref name="BAFTA4JB"/>

Brett's performance is regarded by many critics to have been their favourite rendition of Sherlock Holmes.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Welton |first=Benjamin |date=6 February 2014 |title=Nevermind the Sherlock: Rediscovering the Great Gentleman |url=https://theimaginativeconservative.org/2014/02/nevermind-sherlock-rediscovering-great-gentleman.html |access-date=11 July 2024 |website=[[The Imaginative Conservative]] |language=en-US |quote=So, if you would like a more appropriate representation of the "Great Detective," then the best place to start would be the Conan Doyle short stories and novels themselves. For your viewing pleasure, you'd be best served to discover the Granada Television series, which ran from 1984 until 1994 and starred Jeremy Brett—the single best Sherlock Holmes ever to grace any screen, big or small.}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Richards |first1=Andy |date=18 September 2016 |title=Did Sherlock Holmes kill Midland actor Jeremy Brett, the man who played him? |url=http://www.birminghammail.co.uk/news/nostalgia/sherlock-holmes-kill-midland-actor-11894976 |access-date=23 May 2017 |work=[[Birmingham Mail]] |publisher=Reach PLC}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Tillerson |first=Bethany |date=3 June 2022 |title='Sherlock Holmes': 8 Things That Make The 1984 TV Show The Best Adaptation |url=https://collider.com/sherlock-holmes-eighties-tv-show-best-adaptation/ |access-date=11 July 2024 |website=[[Collider (website)|Collider]] |language=en}}</ref>