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Comment by Linda Umstead on June 14, 2010 at 11:58pm

I just purchased the complete boxed set of Jeremy Brett as Sherlock Holmes and for you who don't own it I would just like to share some thoughts on Holmes by the actor. He developed an entire lifetime of Holmes from which to draw his performances. Here is how he described the Great Detective as a boy:
'He was a spidery person, with no color in his face, no friends—scared of friendship—but brilliant at certain subjects. Brilliant at fencing and boxing, but always the person who walked away from personal encounters. He was devasatatingly unattractive—white as a sheet, spotty probably, with all of the complications of puberty and no one to guide him through it. Probably loved singing in the choir.
'He went to Oxford. Oxford is darker, Cambridge is too full of light. Probably saw a girl, a woman, whom he fancied, bt she didn't 'see' him. That one rejection did it. The one time he placed himself in a vulnerable situation and to see her turn away and choose somebody else snapped that door like a steel trap, never to be opened again. What should he do, now? Return home to his family and take up some dreary duties associated with the estate? he wanted to escape that. Mycroft, [7 years] ahead of him, had escaped—he'd waddled outof university and managed to get a junior post in the government. Mycroft had also joined a club only a Holmes would join—one in in which no one spoke. Sherlock forced himself to find his own way—his own job—and therefore he became himself.
'I crawled into every corner of my imaginationto find out what had made him. I have this whole history of him as a child, which I used to fill this chasm—to find out what he's made of. He's very private. To help me discover what he's like inside, I had this whole story of his life. He was tied very tight as a child in the cot—as they used to do in those days, to keep them quiet. Children were seen but not heard, especially in the Holmes household, which I've always placed in my mind in Cornwall. Very remote. A bleak house. Never knew his father at all until he was 21. Saw him but never spoke to him. His father was a fat ex-army toad, I think.He had an elder brother who was fat and a little bit ahead of him. They didn't have much in common either. They were kissed by their mother on her way down to dinner, but that's all. Isolation from a very early age. Typical Victorian upbringing. Ithink he had more in common with his mother—she was the brains—but of course, women were not allowed tosay much in those days, and this rubbed off on Sherlock.'

Comment by Maureen Mitchell on June 13, 2010 at 6:58pm

If he does get a posthumous BAFTA ward, how can we find out?

Comment by Linda Umstead on June 8, 2010 at 3:32pm

I agree Maureen, he was the best by far. I hope you've signed the petition to get him a posthumous BAFTA award. He deserved it for, as you say, fighting for the true Doyle character to come forth in the Granada series.

Comment by Maureen Mitchell on June 7, 2010 at 2:14pm

Hello, I am a new member. Frankly this is the first and only blog I belong to. Not even on facebook. Technically slow, I suppose.

I adore the combination of the fictional Sherlock Holmes and the real Jeremy Brett. The immence attraction suffered by some of us for this man stems from I believe one word. Truth. Sherloch Holmes seeks it. He, in fact, dedicates his whole life to the pursuit of it. He is the best of men. Makes you want to believe.
Jeremy Brett brings such wonderful quality to this character and for once it is better than anything I could imagine. His performances are unequalled. He fought for the true Holmes according to Doyle to come out in the series and won.

The combination is singularily unique and I doubt will ever be repeated in any character on the screen.

I miss this man and I did not even know him or ever meet him.

I am usually not this soppy. There is so much to Holmes and the opportunities to explore endless. I remain, very sincerely yours, Maureen.

Comment by Linda Umstead on June 3, 2010 at 1:10pm

Arushi, this is my autographed pic of Jeremy. It's postcard size. When I read of how agonizing it was for him to complete the series for Granada I was so glad I had written a fan letter to him. He was a bit like Holmes in that he had bipolar issues and evidently he also had serious misgivings about the project and had to be continually reminded of how good he was in the role.

Comment by Linda Umstead on June 3, 2010 at 12:56pm

Thanks also to whoever mentioned The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes, I just rewatched it and absolutely loved it, particularly the scenes at 221B. The production was terrific and the script hilarious. Great acting all around too.

Comment by Linda Umstead on June 3, 2010 at 12:54pm

I've just started rewatching season 1 of the Jeremy Brett Holmes Granada shows, and am stunned anew at his perfection in the role and the quality of the series. He really embodied the character absolutely. I have read of his health problems during the filming and can scarcely believe it when I see the results. What an actor.

Comment by Arushi on June 3, 2010 at 3:07am

@Linda Yes! what an observation! will wait for the return of 'our' Holmes then! :')

Comment by Linda Umstead on June 2, 2010 at 12:38pm

I can't help but note the ironic similarity between our grief for the loss of Jeremy Brett and that expressed by the countless Sherlock Holmes fans who grieved for their hero when he ostensibly 'died' at Reichenbach Falls, many believing him to have been a real person.

Comment by Linda Umstead on May 5, 2010 at 6:08pm

Yes, the greatest of all, I cherish my autographed photo of him. I have them all on VHS. Haven't watched them in years but absolutely adored them when they debuted. Absolutely fantastic.

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