1. Peter Jeremy William Huggins, known professionally as Jeremy Brett, was an English actor.
40 Facts About Jeremy Brett
2.
Jeremy Brett is best known for his portrayal of Sherlock Holmes from 1984 to 1994 in 41 episodes of a Granada TV series.
3.
Jeremy Brett played the smitten Freddy Eynsford-Hill in the 1964 Warner Bros.
4.
Jeremy Brett's career spanned stage, television and film, to Shakespeare and musical theatre.
5.
Jeremy Brett was born Peter Jeremy William Huggins at Berkswell Grange in Berkswell, then in Warwickshire.
6.
Jeremy Brett's birthdate was actually 3 November 1933, but it has been stated as December 1933 or 1935, according to many sources.
7.
Jeremy Brett was the son of Lieutenant Colonel Henry William Huggins, DSO, MC, DL, an Army officer, and Elizabeth Edith Cadbury, of the confectionery dynasty.
8.
Jeremy Brett had three older brothers: John Henry, Michael William and Patrick William.
9.
Jeremy Brett underwent corrective surgery as a teenager and followed it with years of practising.
10.
In 1959, while Jeremy Brett was playing Hamlet, his mother was killed in a car crash in the Welsh mountains.
11.
Jeremy Brett made his professional acting debut in rep at the Library Theatre in Manchester in 1954, and his London stage debut with the Old Vic company in Troilus and Cressida in 1956.
12.
Jeremy Brett made his first appearance in a major film with War and Peace, which starred Audrey Hepburn.
13.
In 1959, Jeremy Brett had a singing role as the romantic lead of Archie Forsyth in the West End musical Marigold.
14.
Jeremy Brett played many classical roles on stage, including about a dozen Shakespearean parts at the Old Vic, in New York and four while Brett was a member of the National Theatre Company from 1967 to 1970.
15.
Jeremy Brett starred in several serials, including as d'Artagnan in an adaptation of The Three Musketeers.
16.
Around this time, Jeremy Brett was considered to replace Sean Connery as James Bond, but turned the part down, feeling that playing 007 would harm his career.
17.
Jeremy Brett joked that, as an actor, he was rarely allowed into the 20th century and never into the present day.
18.
Jeremy Brett did, though, appear in a few contemporary guest roles, in a couple of the ITC series such as The Baron and The Champions, wherein he was cast as swarthy, smooth villains.
19.
Jeremy Brett appeared in The Incredible Hulk and starred as Maxim in the 1979 adaptation of Daphne du Maurier's Rebecca opposite Joanna David.
20.
Jeremy Brett's final, posthumous film appearance was an uncredited bit part as the artist's father in Moll Flanders, a 1996 Hollywood feature film starring Robin Wright Penn in the title role.
21.
Jeremy Brett had previously played Doctor Watson on stage opposite Charlton Heston as Holmes in the 1980 Los Angeles production of The Crucifer of Blood, making him one of only a small number of actors to play both Holmes and Watson professionally.
22.
Jeremy Brett was approached in February 1982 by Granada Television to play Holmes.
23.
Jeremy Brett conducted extensive research on the great detective and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle himself, and was very attentive to discrepancies between the scripts he had been given and Conan Doyle's original stories.
24.
Jeremy Brett was focused on bringing more passion to the role of Holmes.
25.
Jeremy Brett introduced Holmes's rather eccentric hand gestures and short violent laughter.
26.
Jeremy Brett had always been told that the only way for an actor to stay sane was for him to leave his part behind at the end of the day, but Brett started dreaming about Holmes, and the dreams turned into nightmares.
27.
Jeremy Brett began to refer to Holmes as "You Know Who" or simply "HIM".
28.
Jeremy Brett is moody and solitary and underneath I am really sociable and gregarious.
29.
Jeremy Brett's performance is regarded by many critics to have been their favourite rendition of Sherlock Holmes.
30.
Jeremy Brett received the Legion d'honneur in 1994 for his role of Sherlock Holmes at a celebration marking ten years since the series aired.
31.
Jeremy Brett received it in Manchester where the series was filmed.
32.
On 24 May 1958, Jeremy Brett married the actress Anna Massey.
33.
In 1976, Jeremy Brett married Joan Sullivan Wilson, who died of cancer in July 1985.
34.
Jeremy Brett was in a romantic relationship with the actor Gary Bond, who died exactly one month after Jeremy Brett.
35.
Jeremy Brett suspected that he would never be cured, and would have to live with his malady, look for the signs of his disorder, and then deal with it.
36.
Jeremy Brett wanted to return to work, and to play Holmes again.
37.
One of the side effects of the lithium tablets was fluid retention; Jeremy Brett was putting on weight and retaining water.
38.
Jeremy Brett's heart was twice the normal size; he had difficulties breathing and needed an oxygen mask on the set.
39.
At one point, during the final series, Jeremy Brett collapsed on set.
40.
Jeremy Brett died from heart failure on 12 September 1995 at his home in Clapham, at age 61.