Douglas Wilmer

Douglas Norman Wilmer (8 January 1920 – 31 March 2016) was an English actor, best known for playing Sherlock Holmes in the eponymous 1965 TV series.

Early life Wilmer was born 8 January 1920 in Brentford, Middlesex, to Harry Bradlaugh Wilmer (1880–1946) and (Ethel) Kate ( Taverner [or Tavener] (1880–1944). His father was an accountant for Jardine Matheson, and Wilmer spent his childhood in Shanghai where his father worked.

After completing school, Wilmer applied for a scholarship at Royal Academy of Dramatic Art and was accepted. In 1946, he married Elizabeth Melville, a fellow RADA student, their marriage was annulled after 25 years. He lived in Woodbridge, Suffolk

Wilmer's autobiography Stage Whispers (Porter Press, ) was published in 2010. Roger Moore posted a tribute on social media the same day that Wilmer had died; the actors had worked together in the James Bond feature film Octopussy (1983) and on the television show The Saint (a 1963 episode). which considered Wilmer "the definitive Holmes". Dial 999 (TV series), ('Ghost Squad', episode) (1959) as Burton An Honourable Murder (1960) as R. Cassius El Cid (1961) as Moutamin Marco Polo (1962) Cleopatra (1963) as Decimus Jason and the Argonauts (1963) as Pelias The Fall of the Roman Empire (1964) as Pescennius Niger Woman of Straw (1964) as Dr. Murray (scenes deleted) A Shot in the Dark (1964) as Henri LaFarge The Golden Head (1964) as Detective Inspector Stevenson One Way Pendulum (1964) as Judge / Maintenance Man Khartoum (1966) as Khalifa Abdullah The Brides of Fu Manchu (1966) as Nayland Smith The Vengeance of Fu Manchu (1967) as Nayland Smith Hammerhead (1968) as Pietro Vendriani A Nice Girl Like Me (1969) as Postnatal Clinic Doctor The Reckoning (1969) as Moyle Patton (1970) as Major General Freddie de Guingand Cromwell (1970) as Sir Thomas Fairfax The Vampire Lovers (1970) as Baron Joachim Von Hartog Journey to Murder (1971) as Harry Vaneste (Do Me a Favor and Kill Me) Unman, Wittering and Zigo (1971) as Headmaster Antony and Cleopatra (1972) as Agrippa The Golden Voyage of Sinbad (1973) as Vizier The Adventure of Sherlock Holmes' Smarter Brother (1975) as Sherlock Holmes The Incredible Sarah (1976) as Montigny Revenge of the Pink Panther (1978) as Police Commissioner Rough Cut (1980) as Maxwell Levy Octopussy (1983) as Jim Fanning Sword of the Valiant (1984) as The Black Knight