27 Facts About Irene Adler

Irene Adler is a fictional character in the Sherlock Holmes stories written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.

Irene Adler had a career in opera as a contralto or soprano, performing at La Scala in Milan, Italy, and a term as prima donna in the Imperial Opera of Warsaw, Poland.

However, he fears her conservative family would call off the wedding if any evidence of his former liaison with Irene Adler were ever revealed to them.

Unlike Holmes' other female adversaries, Irene Adler is not explicitly a criminal nor does she need Holmes' help; she only acts to protect herself.

Analysis of "A Scandal in Bohemia" has focused on how Irene Adler diverges from Victorian social standards for women.

Irene Adler is unmarried at the beginning of the story, in opposition to "the importance that the middle classes placed on the family unit" at the time.

Irene Adler further defies gender norms by cross-dressing, donning male clothes with great comfort as demonstrated by her reference to them as her "walking-clothes".

Several authors have argued that Irene Adler's nonconformity is what leads to her victory over Holmes, as he makes deductions based on societal norms that she does not adhere to.

The young adult series Sherlock, Lupin and Me, by Alessandro Gatti under the pen name Irene Adler, is a four book series about the adventures a young Adler has with a young Sherlock Holmes and Arsene Lupin.

Irene Adler appears as an opera singer in the 1993 pastiche The Canary Trainer, where she encounters Holmes during his three-year 'death' while he is working as a violinist in the Paris Opera House, and asks him to help her protect her friend and unofficial protege, Christine Daae, from the 'Opera Ghost'.

Irene Adler is portrayed by Rachel McAdams in the 2009 film Sherlock Holmes.

Irene Adler was portrayed by Inga Swenson in the Broadway musical, Baker Street which starred Fritz Weaver as Sherlock Holmes.

Irene Adler was played by Olga Edwardes in the episode "A Scandal in Bohemia" in the 1951 TV series Sherlock Holmes.

In "A Scandal in Belgravia", the first episode of the 2012 second series of the BBC Sherlock, Irene Adler was portrayed by Lara Pulver opposite Benedict Cumberbatch as Holmes.

Irene Adler is initially sought to recover incriminating photos she possesses of a liaison between her and a female member of the Royal Family, along with various other incriminating documents kept in a password-protected phone.

In "M", Sherlock confronts M, revealed to be Sebastian Moran, and is told that Irene Adler was not killed by Moran, but by his employer: Moriarty.

In "Risk Management", it is explained that Irene Adler was an American art restorer living in London.

Holmes discovers Irene Adler is alive, having been kept as Moriarty's prisoner in a dilapidated house.

Irene Adler is featured in Soviet director Igor Maslennikov's made-for-TV 5-part film series The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes and Dr Watson.

Irene Adler appears in the fourth part, The Treasures of Agra, based upon The Sign of the Four and A Scandal in Bohemia, in which Holmes and Watson, while waiting for the new information on his current case, remember their encounter with Adler.

Irene Adler explains that she was married for several years, only for her husband to die of illness two years before the film's events.

In 2007's BBC Television production Sherlock Holmes and the Baker Street Irregulars, Irene Adler is the main villain of the piece and one of Sherlock Holmes' archenemies instead of a potential love interest.

Irene Adler is later shown to be a metahuman with possible telekinetic powers; upon seeing this, Sherloque vows to protect her from metahuman-serial killer Cicada.

Irene Adler's power is mostly equated with her clothing or the absence of it.

One of the most controversial takes on Irene Adler is an episode of the BBC series Sherlock titled "A Scandal in Belgravia".

Irene Adler's power becomes temporary as she is revealed to be a confederate in Jim Moriarty's schemes.

The standard American pronunciation of the name, "Eye-reen", would be appropriate since Irene Adler is said to be from New Jersey.