Jeremy Brett, the actor who died because of Sherlock Holmes

When we think of the great detective created by Arthur Conan Doyle, we can imagine him with the face of one of the actors who has embodied him, whether on the small or on the big screen. We can think that he has the features of Benedict Cumberbatch, Robert Downey Jr., Basil Rathbone or Christopher Lee, among others, but there is no doubt that if there was someone who knew how to make Sherlock Holmes his, it was Jeremy Brett. He was in charge of putting himself in the shoes of the character in a celebrated Granada Television series that enjoyed long and deserved fame between 1984 and 1994.

Curiously, Brett’s first contact with the world of Shelock Holmes came as his well-known assistant and chronicler, Dr. John H. Watson, something he did in the 1981 theatrical production “The Blood Crucifix”, where the leading role was for Charlton Heston. In this way, Brett has been the only one who has been both Holmes and Watson, at least to date.

At the time of production on the series, Conan Doyle’s copyright was about to expire in the UK. That made an insightful producer named Michael Cox think that perhaps it was time to adapt the detective’s stories, a kind of complete play with a special focus on short stories. As no astronomical amount had to be paid to get the rights, everything was invested in making the television version the best that had been seen to date. In this way, for example, in the Granada Television studios in Manchester Baker Street was recreated in great detail, the street where Conan Doyle located his hero’s office and home. On the other hand, John Hawkesworth was in charge of signing a good part of the series scripts, preserving the aroma of the British writer, but without losing an iota of the intrigue that marked each of the stories. All that was needed was to find the perfect actor to be Sherlock Holmes and that could not be other than Jeremy Brett.

Brett brought behind him a reputation for the versatility of his performances. He had spent a good part of his career in the theater, paying special attention to the Shakespearean repertoire to the point of working on a dozen works by the great English playwright. The cinema had knocked on his door and he had managed to be one of the protagonists of the musical classic “My fair lady” with Audrey Hepburn. He was even considered to succeed Sean Connery as James Bond, but Brett had declined, considering that the role could be a setback in his career. On television he had been D’Artagnan in a British series around “The Three Musketeers”, among other characters.

He had all the makings of Sherlock Holmes, and Brett took the job seriously. She lost weight, grew her hair a little longer, studied every detail about the character in Doyle’s novels. That made him learn to play the violin, start smoking a pipe and work his right hand more even though he was left-handed. Likewise, the actor was accompanied to all the filming with a thick volume in which the entirety of Sherlock Holmes’s adventures were collected. For Brett that was the “most difficult and demanding role of my career, much more than Hamlet or Macbeth.” Brett was Holmes in 41 episodes of the Granada series, starring David Burke as Watson, later being replaced by Edward Hardwicke.

The series was a tremendous success around the world. Both critics and audiences agreed that Jeremy Brett had far surpassed Basil Rathbone, until that moment considered the best Holmes of all time. Brett had gone much further and had come to understand a neurotic, excessive, and even strange character. Not surprisingly, Brett himself felt identified in some ways with the hero. However, not everyone shared the enthusiasm. The daughter of the creator of the detective, Dame Jean Doyle, said she did not like anything about that production, starting with the actor who starred in it.

Despite everything, the series continued and Brett, who suffered from dyslexia, was able to learn the series scripts with some difficulty. He was even Sherlock Holmes on the London stage alongside Edward Hadwicke as Watson, the same team as on television.

However, as the applause continued, the series saw its budget drop. The lack of means did not prevent Brett from becoming more and more absorbed by the one he played. It was getting harder and harder to get rid of the character. He ended up suffering from manic depression, a Sherlock Holmes illness. Despite the health problems, Brett returned to face the cameras to continue filming, although each filming was a new torture for his increasingly weak health. Even after filming ended, Brett kept working on the character trying to get to know him more many times with the help of an oxygen mask with which he could breathe better.

In 1995, Jeremy Brett acknowledged that he had bipolar disorder. Sherlock Holmes had swept him away. He died on September 11 of that year.

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