National Sherlock Holmes Day

There is a day for that?

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (22 May 1859 – 7 July 1930)

On the anniversary of the birth of Conan Doyle, creator of the famous detective, National Sherlock Holmes Day is marked across the world. Who knew? Well, now you do!

Doyle struggled to find a publisher for his first Holmes novel – A Study in Scarlet – which he wrote when he was 27. Eventually it was published by Ward Lock & Co in November 1886, earned Doyle £25 (about £3.25k in today's money) and gave the publisher all rights to the story.

Holmes' famous phrase "Elementary, my dear Watson" is no doubt one of his most quoted and recognisable. However, the phrase "Elementary, my dear Watson" is apparently never uttered in any of the sixty stories written by Conan Doyle.  If anyone feels like reading them all to check that fact, do feel free – and let me know if you agree! Ed

Holmes ultimately appeared in 56 short stories written by Conan Doyle, along with four novels; A Study in Scarlet, The Sign of the Four, The Hound of the Baskervilles and The Valley of Fear. He has of course appeared in numerous radio, TV and film adaptations and In 2012, Guinness World Records listed him as the most portrayed literary human character in film and television history, with more than 75 actors playing the part in over 250 productions.

These include;

• on the radio -Orson Wells (radio adaptation 1938), Basil Rathbone (for nearly seven years),Sir John Gielgud on the BBC Light Programme's serial, The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, Robert Powell, Simon Callow, Roy Hudd
• on stage – Basil Rathbone (again), Leonard Nimoy, Tom Baker, Jeremy Brett, Ron Moody (the Musical!)
• on TV (film) – Stuart Grainger, John Cleese, Roger Moore, Ian Richardson, Edward Woodward, Rupert Everett, Jonathan Pryce
• on TV (series) – Basil Rathbone pops up again, Boris Karloff, Jeremy Irons, David Mitchell (sketch), Benedict Cumberbatch plus an assortment of American/Japanese and Italian productions
• cinema film – silent films too numerous to mention (how did that work?), Peter Cushing, Christopher Lee, Peter Cook, Robert Downey Jr and Johnny Depp to name but a fraction of the many.

Source wikipedia

There seems to be no mention of yours truly who bagged the part in a recent AmDram production of Sherlock Holmes and the Hound of the Basketcases – I wonder why?