"I went to my commanding officer and I said that I thought we'd get a great deal more information from the enemy if we didn't fool around in the dark so much . . . and I asked him whether I could go out in daylight. I think he thought we were a little crazy. . . . I said we'd go out camouflaged -- made up as trees -- with branches sticking out of our heads and arms . . . . We brought back an awful lot of information, and a few prisoners, too."

Basil Rathbone by Tom Richmond

On June 13, 1892, Philip St. John Basil Rathbone was born in Johannesburg, South Africa. He entered the world at a time when Sherlock Holmes was making a name for himself in the, specifically in "The Adventure of the Copper Beeches." Little did he or his parents realize that he would go on to become one of the most famous portrayers of Sherlock Holmes on the screen.He attended Repton from 1906 to 1910, and by the time he left school, he was convinced he wanted to make a life for himself in the theatre. After spending some time in local theatrical productions, he entered war service in 1916, where he continued to hone his acting skills, albeit as more of a stationary object. According to BasilRathbone.net , Rathbone told Edward R. Murrow in a 1957 interview:Rathbone eventually moved from England to the United States, settling in New York in 1923 and then moving on to Hollywood in 1935. His Hollywood years brought him fame inand, where he became known as an able swordsman and a fine villain. And it was in 1938 when he joined forces with Nigel Bruce for a collaboration that lasted from 1939 to 1946 as the most enduring Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson to grace the screen.It is that collaboration that we'll be covering in Episode 122 of I Hear of Sherlock Everywhere . You can listen to the promo for the episode here