Arthur Wontner
Known For
Acting
Born
1875-01-21 in London, England, UK
Died
1960-07-10
Biography
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Arthur Wontner (21 January 1875 – 10 July 1960) was a British actor best known for playing Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's master detective Sherlock Holmes in five films from 1931 to 1937. These films are: The Sleeping Cardinal (1931) (US title: Sherlock Holmes' Fatal Hour) based on Doyle's two stories, "The Adventure of the Empty House" and "The Final Problem" The Missing Rembrandt (1932) (still considered lost) based on "The Adventure of Charles Augustus Milverton" The Sign of Four: Sherlock Holmes' Greatest Case (1932) The Triumph of Sherlock Holmes (1935) based on The Valley of Fear Silver Blaze (1937) (US title:Murder at the Baskervilles, release 1941) based on "Silver Blaze" Reportedly, Wontner landed the role of Sherlock Holmes thanks to his performance of Holmes imitation Sexton Blake in a 1930 stage production. Of all Wontner's films as Sherlock Holmes, The Missing Rembrandt is no longer available. It is officially a lost film. It is possible to obtain all of the others. Silver Blaze was renamed Murder at the Baskervilles on its US release in order to make the most of the publicity which had been generated by Basil Rathbone's version of The Hound of the Baskervilles. In many respects Wontner's film can be seen as a sequel as it is set twenty years after the events of the more famous story. Wontner's son became the well-known hotelier and Lord Mayor of London Sir Hugh Wontner. Description above from the Wikipedia article Arthur Wontner,licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.
Most Known For
The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp
as Embassy Counsellor
Sea Devils
as Baron de Baudrec
The Elusive Pimpernel
as Lord Grenville
Storm in a Teacup
as Fiscal
Silver Blaze
as Sherlock Holmes
The Many Faces of Sherlock Holmes
as Sherlock Holmes (archive footage)
The Sign of Four: Sherlock Holmes' Greatest Case
as Sherlock Holmes
Condemned to Death
as Sir Charles Wallington
Genevieve
as Old Gentleman
Blanche Fury
as Lord Rudford
The Sleeping Cardinal
as Sherlock Holmes
Kate Plus Ten
as Colonel Westhanger
Thunder in the City
as Sir Peter
The Triumph of Sherlock Holmes
as Sherlock Holmes
The Terror
as Colonel Redmayne
Brandy for the Parson
as Major Glockleigh
The Live Wire
as Montell
The Missing Rembrandt
as Sherlock Holmes
Ten Little Indians
as General Mackenzie
Pygmalion
as Colonel Pickering