The light in the studio isnt the best (have to wait for daylight tomorrow), but I am FINISHED and have drawn the hell out of William Gillette, the first actor to tackle Sherlock Holmes in the arena of public entertainment in 1899, in full technicolor. There is no color photograph of William Gillette in existence and I cant find a professional oil portrait of him anywhere, only black and white photographs and various newspaper cartoons. If you dont know much about William Gillette, heres a few interesting points. William Gillette was born in 1853 in Connecticut, among the liberal gentry; their close neighbors included Samuel Clemens. Gillettes father was a retired US senator who was among the first political activists for abolition and womens suffrage nearly 100 years before women in the US had the vote. When Sir Arthur Conan Doyle wrote a play for the stage, he sent it to an agency in New York to see if a company would pick it up. Gillette, already a successful playwright at that time, read it out of interest and then became obsessed with Doyles creation, reading the entire Canon at the time up to 1893 when Doyle supposedly killed him off in the struggle with Moriarty. He sent a telegram to Doyle which culminated in May I marry Holmes? to which Doyle, exasperated but jokingly replied, You may marry him, murder him, or do whatever you like with him. Gillette immediately took a steamer to England to meet with Doyle, and Sir Arthur was so shocked at Gillettes resemblance to his character, that William Gillette became Doyles own visualization of Holmes. Gillette went on to write the play Sherlock Holmes with its first performance in 1899, and performed it on stage over 1300 times, culminating in the lost full length 1916 silent film, which has just been found in an archive in France and is currently undergoing restoration. Doyle, renewed with inspiration due to Gillettes sparkling interpretation of his character, went on to pick up the Baker Street pen and continued to write The Return of Sherlock Holmes and The Case-Book of Sherlock Holmes, as well as Hound of the Baskervilles, with a renewed appreciation for his creation. Gillette of all Holmes actors seemed to take on the role more personally than anyone following in his footsteps in Hollywood, on TV, or on the stage. He was incredibly eccentric and solitary, and extremely technically gifted. With the money he made from his successes, he built a castle in Connecticut where he retired in 1919 at the age of 66. Gillette Castle is now owned by the State of Connecticut and is open for viewing.
Posted on: Sat, 27 Dec 2014 23:13:15 +0000
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