Bizarre Facts About Sherlock Holmes

Video Transcript

"Now for Basil Rathbone, perhaps best know for his roles as Sherlock Holmes. Where was Basil Rathbone born? England, no. He was born in Johannesburg, South Africa in 1892. When he is 4 years of age, in 1896, his mother wanted the family to move to England. The father had booked passage aboard a ship. Then his mother had a precognitive dream that that ship would sink off the coast of France and urged her husband to cancel to cancel the reservations. Fortunately, he did so because the ship sank off the Bay of Bisque exactly as she had dreamed. Now let's fast forward to World War I and Basil Rathbone and his brother, John, were both fighting. One night Rathbone had a precognitive dream that his brother would be killed. Nothing happened though. Two weeks later, he was out in the trenches and he suddenly had a terrible premonition again. When he got back to the encampment, word was awaiting him that indeed his brother John had been killed about one hundred miles away. Throughout his life, Basil Rathbone always had a strong belief in the paranormal. Of course, this excellent actor best known for his roles as Sherlock Holmes, how many films did he appear as Holmes in? Well, the answer is either 14 or 15. Fourteen starring as Holmes, then he and Dr. Watson is Nigel Bruce appeared in a cameo in the fifteenth named Crazy House. What was Dr. Watson's first name? Well, it was only revealed in one of those fifteen shows, specifically the House of Fear. Where at the very end Basil Rathbone referred to his good friend as Dr. John Watson."