A Plethora of Sherlocks Trivia Quiz

Answer: John Neville

John Neville began his career following his Second World War service in the Royal Navy, when he studied at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art. By the 1950s, he had become a prominent member of the Old Vic company, and had achieved stardom on the West End stage, being described as the natural successor to Sir John Gielgud. It was during this period that he made his screen debut as Lord Alfred Douglas in the 1960 film "Oscar Wilde".

In 1965, in what was just his fifth film appearance, Neville was cast as Sherlock Holmes, opposite Donald Houston as Dr Watson, in "A Study in Terror". This was the first film to bring the character into the real-life story of the Whitechapel Murders of 1888 by the serial killer who came to be known as 'Jack the Ripper'. Although the film was Neville's only screen appearance as Sherlock Holmes, in 1975 he portrayed the character in a Royal Shakespeare Company revival of the 1899 stage play "Sherlock Holmes" on Broadway.

Answer: Ian McKellen

Ian McKellen's professional career came about following his days at Cambridge University where, in addition to reading English Literature, he was a member of the Marlowe Society. Making his professional debut in 1961 in rep, he became a member of the National Theatre Company under Laurence Olivier in 1965, before making his film debut in 1969. Over the next thirty years, he achieved international fame and reputation on both stage and screen, most notably with his roles in the "X-Men" and "Lord of the Rings" films during the 1990s and 2000s.

In 2015, McKellen took on the role of Sherlock Holmes in the film "Mr Holmes", directed by Bill Condon. Based on the 2005 novel "A Slight Trick of the Mind", it features the character as an old man attempting to recall the details of his last case. In addition to the actual character played by McKellen, there is a fictional film within the film, featuring an actor portraying Holmes - this actor is played by Nicholas Rowe, who was the lead in the 1985 film "Young Sherlock Holmes".

Answer: Christopher Plummer

Christopher Plummer's career began not by attending drama school, but instead as an apprentice at Montreal Repertory Theatre while he was still at high school. Having made his professional debut in 1948, by 1953 he had made his debut on Broadway and begun to win plaudits. From 1956 he became a regular at the Stratford Shakespeare Festival, while he made his screen debut in 1958. Perhaps his most famous role came in 1965 when he played Captain von Trapp in "The Sound of Music", but through the 1960s and 70s he appeared in numerous films in a variety of roles.

In 1979, Plummer was cast as Sherlock Holmes in "Murder by Decree", the second theatrical release to put the character up against the serial killer known as 'Jack the Ripper' after 1965's "A Study in Terror". This was the actor's second appearance in the role, having appeared two years previously in "Silver Blaze", an episode of a Canadian anthology series entitled "Classics Dark and Dangerous".

Answer: Douglas Wilmer

Douglas Wilmer's start as an actor came when he was spotted in a school play by Dame Sybil Thorndike, who praised his performance to his headmaster. Having left school, he was accepted to the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, although his studies were interrupted by his army service in the Second World War. He eventually made his stage debut in rep in 1945, going on to build a significant career in the West End, often in classical and Shakespearean roles. He also became a major character actor on screen from the 1950s onwards.

Wilmer's association with Sherlock Holmes began when he played the role in a BBC series between 1964 and 1965. Ten years later, he played the character again, this time in a supporting role in Gene Wilder's comedy film "The Adventure of Sherlock Holmes' Smarter Brother", in which Sherlock decides to lie low, and delegates the case to his younger brother. Wilmer continued to be associated with the character for many years afterwards, and was considered to have made the definitive portrayal by the Sherlock Holmes Society of London.

Answer: Basil Rathbone

Basil Rathbone was born in South Africa, but moved to Britain at the age of three. After his time at Repton School, he was briefly employed as an insurance clerk to appease his father's wish for him to have a conventional career, before making his professional acting debut in 1911 in a production of "The Taming of the Shrew" as part of the theatrical company of his cousin Sir Frank Benson. He continued touring with Benson until he was called up for military service in 1915. His career on stage continued after the First World War in both London and New York, while he made his screen debut in 1921. During the 1930s he made a name playing suave villains, before being offered the role for which he is perhaps most known, that of Sherlock Holmes.

In 1939, Rathbone was cast as Holmes in a new film version of "The Hound of the Baskervilles" opposite Nigel Bruce as Watson. The film was such a huge success that the production company, 20th Century Fox, immediately greenlit a sequel. The second film, "The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes", was not based on any of the stories by Conan Doyle; instead it took inspiration from the 1899 stage play "Sherlock Holmes". Although Fox had plans for further films, these ended due to disagreements with the Conan Doyle estate. Instead, Rathbone returned to the character in a series of 12 'B' movies for Universal, bringing Holmes into a contemporary setting, between 1942 and 1946.

Answer: Peter Cushing

Peter Cushing's career on screen began with a small role in the 1939 film version of "The Man in the Iron Mask", with another early role being opposite Laurel and Hardy in "A Chump at Oxford". However, it was his long association with Hammer Films, for whom he made twenty-two films, that he is perhaps best known. It began when he was cast as Victor Frankenstein in 1957's "The Curse of Frankenstein", which he followed up in 1958 by playing Abraham van Helsing in "Dracula".

Cushing was a big fan of the Sherlock Holmes stories, and was anxious to play the character on screen. As a result, he jumped at the chance when he was offered the lead role in Hammer's production of "The Hound of the Baskervilles", which was released in 1959, and was intended as the first in a series of Sherlock Holmes films, although Hammer did not return to the character. Cushing's performance polarised critics, but a decade later he returned to the role in a BBC television series.

Answer: Robert Stephens

Robert Stephens began his professional career in 1951 in rep with theatre companies in Lancashire, with his break coming when the director Tony Richardson saw a performance at the Royalty Theatre in Morecambe. This led to Stephens being offered a place with the English Stage Company at the Royal Court Theatre in London. His first credited film role came in 1960's "A Circle of Deception", while the following year he appeared in four different films, all while maintaining his reputation on stage.

In 1970, Stephens was cast by Billy Wilder as Sherlock Holmes in the director's original screenplay, "The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes". Wilder, a fan of Conan Doyle's stories, had long harboured a desire to do his own version of Holmes, coming up with an idea that saw a distinction between the "real" Sherlock Holmes and the "character" created by Dr Watson. Stephens subsequently returned to the character in 1975, when he took over from actor John Neville (who had appeared as Holmes in the film " A Study in Terror") in the Broadway revival of the 1899 play "Sherlock Holmes".

Answer: Clive Brook

Clive Brook was born in London in 1887, and worked as both a journalist and an insurance clerk before turning to acting after his service in the First World War. His film debut came in 1919, and he subsequently became one of the top British film actors during the first half of the 1920s, before he moved to the United States. Upon his move to the US, he signed a contract with Paramount Pictures, becoming one of their major stars in the latter stages of the silent era, before he successfully made the transition to sound.

In 1929, Brook portrayed Sherlock Holmes for the first time in "The Return of Sherlock Holmes", the first sound film to feature the character. Although the film bears the title of Arthur Conan Doyle's second collection of short stories, it was an original story that was written by Conan Doyle himself. Brook made a second appearance as the character in the 1932 film "Sherlock Holmes", an adaptation of the stage play by William Gillette.

Answer: Nicol Williamson

Although Nicol Williamson was born in Hamilton in Scotland, at the age of 18 months his family moved to Birmingham. At the age of 16 he enrolled at the Birmingham School of Speech & Drama. He eventually made his professional debut following the end of his National Service in 1960. Two years later, he made his London debut at the Royal Court Theatre, rapidly achieving significant success. His screen debut came in 1963 when he appeared in an ITV production of "War and Peace", while his first film roles came in 1968 - his roles in both "The Bofors Gun" and "Inadmissible Evidence" saw him nominated for BAFTA awards.

In 1976, Williamson was cast as Sherlock Holmes in "The Seven Per-Cent Solution", an adaptation of the novel of the same name, which was written by the film's director, Nicholas Meyer. The film sees Watson (played by Robert Duvall) trick Holmes into going to Vienna to receive treatment from Sigmund Freud for his apparent cocaine induced delusions. Williamson's performance as Holmes has subsequently been regarded as a template for 21st century portrayals of the character by such actors as Benedict Cumberbatch and Robert Downey Jr.

Answer: Nicholas Rowe

Nicholas Rowe's professional career began with Sherlock Holmes. While still a schoolboy at Eton College, he auditioned for the lead role in Barry Levinson's film "Young Sherlock Holmes", which sees the characters of Holmes and Watson meeting for the first time, not at Bart's Medical School as in the first Conan Doyle novel, but as schoolboys at an English boarding school. Although Rowe's film debut came in 1984 in "Another Country", he was cast in the lead in "Young Sherlock Holmes", which was released in 1985.

Following the release of "Young Sherlock Holmes", Rowe continued his career as a character actor appearing in numerous films and television shows. Among these was an appearance in the 2015 film "Mr Holmes", which starred Ian McKellen as Sherlock Holmes. Rowe is credited as 'Matinee Holmes', appearing as Sherlock Holmes in a film within the film that McKellen's character goes to see at the cinema.