Born Peter Jeremy William Huggins, November 3, 1933 (some sources say 1935),in Berkswell Grange, England; died of heart failure, September 12, 1995, in London, England. Actor and director. Jeremy Brett is perhaps best remembered by television audiences for his appearances in the role of Sherlock Holmes inthe PBS series Mystery! "More than any other actor since Basil Rathbone," writes Mel Gussow in a New York Times obituary, "Mr. Brett was regarded as the quintessential Holmes: breathtakingly analytical, given to outrageous disguises and the blackest moods and relentless in his enthusiasm for solving the most intricate crimes." Brett was the son of an army colonel who requested thathis son change his name when he took up a career in the theater. An experienced Shakespearean actor, Brett made his London stage debut as Patroclus in Troilus and Cressida in 1956. In the same year he appeared on Broadway as the Duke of Aumerle in Richard II. American film audiences saw him as the lovestruck Freddy Eynsford-Hill opposite Audrey Hepburn's Eliza Doolittle in the 1964film My Fair Lady. Brett's first association with Holmes was in the role of Watson in the stage play The Crucifer of Blood in 1981. He began playing Holmes on television in 1985 with The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes Series I, andwas still filming episodes of the Holmes canon at the time of his death. TheCasebook of Sherlock Holmes (1991) was one of his last appearances.
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