The Man who became Sherlock Holmes: The Tortured Mind of Jeremy Brett

Review: The Man Who Became Sherlock Holmes: The Tortured Mind of Jeremy Brett by Terry Manners has a great title. Shame about the sub-title and the contents. We must judge by what we know, and we know that there have never been 'more than 50,000 members of the Sherlock Holmes Society' in Britain alone, so we have a right to be wary of Mr Manners' other 'facts'.

His acknowledgements really acknowledge nobody: So many people have helped me to write this book. But to those who, for reasons best known to themselves, did not contribute to remembering Jeremy, I say thank you. You made me even more determined to tell his true story. A special thanks, however, to Linda Pritchard.

Much of this account of JB's life and career is cobbled together from various published accounts, notably in The Sherlock Holmes Gazette and Robert Stephens' autobiography. And seeing how he has trivialised the reminiscences he's lifted from published sources, I sympathise with those who preferred not to confide in him. There'll eventually be an authoritative biography, but this one is barely adequate.

For Jeremy Brett as Sherlock Holmes, David Stuart Davies's Bending the Willow is the book to read.

Reviewed by: Roger Johnson, [District Messenger 169, 1997]