Ronald Howard

From The Arthur Conan Doyle Encyclopedia
Revision as of 15:17, 2 November 2018 by TCDE-Team (talk | contribs)
(diff) ← Older revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff)
Ronald Howard as Sherlock Holmes in episode The Case of the Cunningham Heritage (1954)

Ronald Howard (7 april 1918 - 19 december 1996) was a British actor, son of famous actor Leslie Howard. He is best known for playing at 36 years-old, the role of the detective in the TV series Sherlock Holmes, 39 episodes of thirty minutes produced by Sheldon Reynolds and Nicole Milinaire, casted in the studios of Épinay-sur-Seine in France and aired in 1954 and 1955, with Howard Marion-Crawford as Dr. Watson and Archie Duncan as inspector Lestrade.

Sharing the Sheldon Reynolds' vision of the detective, Ronald Howard explained in a 1954 interview, that his interpretation of the detective was "totally different from my predecessors. Of course, it's to the audience to decide what interpretation he prefers". He added: "I do not want to be disrespectful of my predecessors, who were excellent players; I just want to explain that Holmes, in my interpretation, and elsewhere in the text that I read, is very different from what has been shown so far. In my mind, Holmes is absolutely not superhuman and infallible, it is instead a sincere young man, human, wanting to do his best to become the best in his profession."

The series, which received the approval of the BSI, was a success both from the critics and the public, but not launched the career of Ronald Howard. He appeared in several movies, mostly in B movies, but never in first roles. In the 70s, with the lack of success, he ended his career and settled in Dorset where he held an art gallery. He died December 19, 1996, at the age of 78.


TV