William Gillette

William Gillette
Born
William Hooker Gillette

(1853-07-24)July 24, 1853
Hartford, Connecticut, U.S.
DiedApril 29, 1937(1937-04-29) (aged 83)
Hartford, Connecticut, U.S.
Occupation(s)Actor, playwright, inventor, stage manager, director
Signature

William Hooker Gillette (July 24, 1853 – April 29, 1937) was an American actor-manager, playwright, and stage manager in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. He is best remembered for portraying Sherlock Holmes on stage and in a 1916 silent film.

Gillette's most significant contributions to the theater were in devising realistic stage settings and special sound and lighting effects, and as an actor in putting forth what he called the "Illusion of the First Time." His portrayal of Holmes helped create the modern image of the detective. His use of the deerstalker cap (which first appeared in some Strand illustrations by Sidney Paget) and the curved pipe became enduring symbols of the character.[1] He assumed the role on stage more than 1,300 times over thirty years, starred in the silent motion picture based on his Holmes play, and voiced the character twice on radio.[2]

His first Civil War drama Held by the Enemy (1886) was a major step toward modern theater, in that it abandoned many of the crude devices of 19th-century melodrama and introduced realism into the sets, costumes, props, and sound effects. It was produced at a time when the British had a very low opinion of American art in any form, and it was the first wholly American play with a wholly American theme to be a critical and commercial success on British stages.[3] In November 1915 he was elected a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.[4]

  1. ^ Boström, Mattias (2018). From Holmes to Sherlock. Mysterious Press. p. 107. ISBN 978-0-8021-2789-1.
  2. ^ Riley, Dick; Pam McAllister (2005). The Bedside Companion to Sherlock Holmes. Barnes & Noble Books. p. 59–60. ISBN 978-0-7607-7156-3.; Zecher website, ibid.
  3. ^ Hartford Courant, "Mr. Gillette's Play In London", April 4, 1887, p. 1; The Times, "Princess's Theatre", April 4, 1887, p. 5; Price, E. D., FGS, Editor, Hazell;s Annual Cyclopedia (Hazell, Watson, and Viney, 1888), pg. 191; Deshler, Welch, Editor, The Theatre, Vol. III, No. 6, April 25, 1887, Whole No. 58, in The Theatre (Theatre Publishing Company, 1888), p. 107; New York Times, "Old World News by Cable", May 15, 1887, pg. 1; New York Morning Journal, "'Held by the Enemy', the Story of Its Phenomenal Success", September 11, 1887, p. 9; Zecher, Henry, William Gillette, America's Sherlock Holmes, pp. 161–163.
  4. ^ "A Gillette Timeline". Friends of Gillette Castle State Park.