Douglas Wilmer

Biography

Douglas Wilmer (Brentford, 1920 – Ipswich, 2016) was an English actor who worked in theatre, film and television, best known for playing Sherlock Holmes in the BBC series of the mid-1960s. He built his reputation on the London stage, mostly in classical and Shakespearean parts, and later appeared in a long run of films, usually in supporting roles.

Born in Brentford and partly raised in Shanghai, he trained at RADA before serving in the Royal Artillery during the Second World War. He was later invalided out after contracting tuberculosis. His stage debut came in 1945, and his first major film role was in Laurence Olivier's Richard III (1955).

Throughout the late 1950s and 1960s he appeared in epics such as El Cid (1961), Cleopatra (1963) and The Fall of the Roman Empire (1964), along with adventure films and British horror. His Holmes, which began in 1964, was followed by a return to the role in The Adventure of Sherlock Holmes' Smarter Brother (1975). In 2012 he made a brief appearance in Sherlock.

He also wrote an autobiography, Stage Whispers, published in 2010. He died in 2016 after a short illness with pneumonia.

Key films

• El Cid (1961), directed by Anthony Mann, as Moutamin
• The Fall of the Roman Empire (1964), directed by Anthony Mann, as Pescennius Niger
• Patton (1970), directed by Franklin J. Schaffner, as Maj. Gen. Freddie de Guingand
• Octopussy (1983), as Jim Fanning, opposite Roger Moore as Bond
• Richard III (1955), directed by Laurence Olivier, in a supporting role