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.

Career

Wontner's acting career began on the stage where he played such roles as Tybalt in Romeo and Juliet, Bassanio in The Merchant of Venice, Bunny Manders in Raffles, the Amateur Cracksman and Cardinal Richelieu in The Three Musketeers (1930, West End). In 1926, Wontner appeared in The Captive alongside Basil Rathbone; both went on to play Sherlock Holmes on film.

Sherlock Holmes

Wontner landed the role of Sherlock Holmes thanks to his performance of Holmes imitation Sexton Blake in a 1930 stage production. He played the famed sleuth in five films from 1931 to 1937. Of the five films in which Wontner portrayed Sherlock Holmes, The Missing Rembrandt is no longer available. It is officially a lost film. 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. Wontner was considered to have a strong resemblance to Sidney Paget's drawings of Holmes featured in The Strand Magazine. After seeing The Sleeping Cardinal, Vincent Starrett said "Surely no better Sherlock Holmes than Arthur Wontner is likely to be seen and heard in pictures, in our time."

Personal life

Wontner's son became the well-known hotelier and Lord Mayor of London Sir Hugh Wontner.

Selected filmography