undying elegance: sherlock holmes aka jeremy brett
01/07/2017
From Russian count nicolai kostov to Danish prince hamlet, from a love sick young socialite freddy eynsford-hill who chases after a penniless flower girl to a carefree embassy attache who refuses to marry the richest woman in his country because of her money, from the most famous French musketeer D'Artagnan to the most infamous Italian playboy casanova, from lord byron to robert browning, from king arthur to king macbeth......
For 30 years, jeremy brett played heroes and villains, aristocrats and priests, poets and writers and musicians, soldiers and students, on stage, in tvs and films, but it was until 1983, after he accepted the role of the eccentric private detective sherlock holmes created by arthur conan doyle on small screen that he finally acquired the fame he long deserved.
For 30 years, jeremy brett played heroes and villains, aristocrats and priests, poets and writers and musicians, soldiers and students, on stage, in tvs and films, but it was until 1983, after he accepted the role of the eccentric private detective sherlock holmes created by arthur conan doyle on small screen that he finally acquired the fame he long deserved.
When he was very young, jeremy brett could be described more as beautiful than handsome, he looked like a young boy with delicate face and intense sensitivity, like lord byron, chopin, and fictional character dorian grey, the ideal young beauty portrayed by oscar wilde, all three of them jeremy brett had incarnated early in his career. But fortunately, over the years, other than his baron tone voice, he matured naturally into a real man, and a fine actor, seeming so effortlessly traveling from middle ages to 20th century then 19th century, from one European country to another, turning into someone of different origins and professions or no professions, but it seems he was at his best playing someone artistic or aristocratic, with his looks, figure and that natural born distinguished air about him, plus a slight mannerism he cultivated between the roles.
When he finally was approached by Granada to play sherlock holmes, he was already past an actor's prime time, his career was sliding, and to some he was not even handsome anymore, but by being sherlock holmes, he gave the audiences something much more powerful: he became unforgettable. No one who watched even just a few minutes of him portraying the detective could never forget him. He became a hero for women, and a style icon for men. His mere presence made women feel secure and his wardrobe of grey and black with occasional khaki looked so pure, perfect and modern that if any man of today would wear one of his grey single breast suit with small lapel or his khaki dressing gown with shawl collar would look much more stylish and elegant than most of others.
As an actor of theater origin, jeremy brett excelled in evoking the essence of his character through his expressions as well as his gestures. For example, in tv films like the merry widow or an ideal husband, one could get a good hint of his character just by looking at the way he moved or looked at himself or others: the seeming meaningless glance, the almost side way movement, the only so slight smile with just one corner of his lips up, etc.
But all these subtleties were fine tuned to perfection in his sherlock holmes, from a slightest frown, the intentionaly slow turn of his head, a most deliberate and sphinx smile to the way how he handled a pipe and a crane. And he did not just move, his movements were like rehearsed choreography: at times like an agile animal, at times a graceful dancer. But behind these at times too flamboyant gestures and movements, was a great actor's uttermost dedication to his art.
But all these subtleties were fine tuned to perfection in his sherlock holmes, from a slightest frown, the intentionaly slow turn of his head, a most deliberate and sphinx smile to the way how he handled a pipe and a crane. And he did not just move, his movements were like rehearsed choreography: at times like an agile animal, at times a graceful dancer. But behind these at times too flamboyant gestures and movements, was a great actor's uttermost dedication to his art.
It was a mystery why it took someone like him so many years to get worthy recognition, but perhaps we can comfort ourselves by saying that those three decades of acting and waiting were all preparation for his final and finest role, the role he was destined to play: sherlock holmes.
But life really was cruel to him: it first took his mother away from him in a car crash when he barely started his career as an actor, then took his second wife due to cancer when his career was just revived because of sherlock holmes, and when he was finally able to bask in the long overdue success and fame, he was diagnosed with the brutal bipolar disorder. It was as if life were handing him a death notice while rewarding him with a victory laurel.
Someone call him a tortured mind or troubled soul, I think it is perhaps because such people do not understand him. He is a man so full of life force and vivacity. His bisexuality to some may seem a sign of eccentricity or even illness, to me it manifests his enormous capacity both aesthetically and sentimentally: he could see beauty in man and woman, and was able to love both. And instead of a troubled soul, he is soul of bravery and courage, not only because he chose the way he wanted to live, with man or woman or with himself, disregarding how others may think of him, but also because he faced with his mental disease with such grace and wisdom: "darlings, the show must go on!"And it did, for almost 10 years, until death could not wait anymore.
But life really was cruel to him: it first took his mother away from him in a car crash when he barely started his career as an actor, then took his second wife due to cancer when his career was just revived because of sherlock holmes, and when he was finally able to bask in the long overdue success and fame, he was diagnosed with the brutal bipolar disorder. It was as if life were handing him a death notice while rewarding him with a victory laurel.
Someone call him a tortured mind or troubled soul, I think it is perhaps because such people do not understand him. He is a man so full of life force and vivacity. His bisexuality to some may seem a sign of eccentricity or even illness, to me it manifests his enormous capacity both aesthetically and sentimentally: he could see beauty in man and woman, and was able to love both. And instead of a troubled soul, he is soul of bravery and courage, not only because he chose the way he wanted to live, with man or woman or with himself, disregarding how others may think of him, but also because he faced with his mental disease with such grace and wisdom: "darlings, the show must go on!"And it did, for almost 10 years, until death could not wait anymore.
To dame jean conan doyle, basil rathbone's holmes may be the one closest to his father's idea and imagination, but to most of us, when we think of sherlock holmes, we may not think of basil orthbone, or peter cushing, or benedict cumberbatch, and definately not robert downey jr. When we think of sherlock holmes, we think of jeremy brett: he is sherlock holmes.
When he wrote a study in scarlet in 1887, sir arthur conan doyle might never imagine the private detective he created would not only one day become the most famous detective in the world and in the crime fiction history, but also someone
much more than a fictional figure, he became immortal. The author could not kill him just because he was tired of him, and when he did, the national moaning of the English public forced him, although reluctantly, to bring him back, who would never die again. He kept living in baker street 221B where he is still living today, in the minds and hearts of millions, regardless of age, gender and nationality.
So perhaps it is logical to say, if sherlock holmes is still alive, then jeremy brett is also still alive, being remembered and admired, every single day.
When he wrote a study in scarlet in 1887, sir arthur conan doyle might never imagine the private detective he created would not only one day become the most famous detective in the world and in the crime fiction history, but also someone
much more than a fictional figure, he became immortal. The author could not kill him just because he was tired of him, and when he did, the national moaning of the English public forced him, although reluctantly, to bring him back, who would never die again. He kept living in baker street 221B where he is still living today, in the minds and hearts of millions, regardless of age, gender and nationality.
So perhaps it is logical to say, if sherlock holmes is still alive, then jeremy brett is also still alive, being remembered and admired, every single day.
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