Occupation Actor Years active 1916-1955 | Name Arthur Wontner Role Actor | |
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Born January 21, 1875 London, England, UK Died July 10, 1960, London, United Kingdom Spouse Florence Eileen Lainchbury (m. 1947–1960), Rosecleer Alice Amelia Blanche Kingwell (m. 1903–1943) Children Hugh Wontner, Hilary Wontner, Helen Mary Wontner Grandchildren Nicholas St. John Hilary Wontner, Rupert Stephen Arthur Wontner Movies The Sleeping Cardinal, The Triumph of Sherlock, Silver Blaze, The Sign of Four, Genevieve Similar People Hugh Wontner, Basil Rathbone, Graham Cutts, Thomas Bentley, Henry Cornelius | ||
Sexton Blake - Arthur Wontner - Murder On The Portsmouth Road - 78 rpm
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. These films are:
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Reportedly, Wontner landed the role of Sherlock Holmes thanks to his performance of Holmes imitation Sexton Blake in a 1930 stage production.
Of all Wontner's films as Sherlock Holmes, The Missing Rembrandt is no longer available. It is officially a lost film. It is possible to obtain all of the others.
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. In many respects Wontner's film can be seen as a sequel as it is set twenty years after the events of the more famous story.
Wontner's son became the well-known hotelier and Lord Mayor of London Sir Hugh Wontner.