Stage and screen 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. He made his first appearance in a major film with
War and Peace (1956), which starred
Audrey Hepburn. Also in 1956, he appeared on
Broadway as the Duke of Aumerle in
Richard II. In 1959, Brett had a singing role as the romantic lead of Archie Forsyth in the West End musical
Marigold. Also in 1959, he played the part of Hamlet; however, on reflection, in a
BBC2 television documentary
Playing the Dane, Brett later said that "I don't think I was very good as Hamlet. I think I was too young. I was too young intellectually. I was too young philosophically. I was
Byronic. I was very handsome. I had qualities, but I'd much rather see other people's [version]. I wasn't convinced by me". The respected theatre critic
Harold Hobson wrote of Brett's portrayal that "the incestuous bed was the centre of his performance". He 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. From the early 1960s, Brett was often on British television. He starred in several serials, including as
d'Artagnan in an adaptation of
The Three Musketeers (1966). His highest profile film appearance was as Freddy Eynsford-Hill in
My Fair Lady (1964), again with Audrey Hepburn. Although Brett sang well, as he later demonstrated when he played Danilo in a BBC Television broadcast of
The Merry Widow (Christmas Day 1968), his singing in
My Fair Lady was dubbed by
Bill Shirley. Around this time, Brett was considered to replace
Sean Connery as
James Bond (007), but turned the part down, feeling that playing 007 would harm his career.
George Lazenby was subsequently cast instead. Some of his appearances were in classical comedic roles, such as Captain Absolute in a television version of
The Rivals (1970) and Bassanio in
William Shakespeare's
The Merchant of Venice (1970) in a National Theatre Company production directed by
Jonathan Miller, which also featured
Laurence Olivier (as
Shylock) and
Joan Plowright (as Portia). This was adapted for television in 1973 with the same three leads. Brett joked that, as an actor, he was rarely allowed into the 20th century and
never into the present day. He did, though, appear in a few contemporary guest roles, in a couple of the
ITC series such as
The Baron (1967) and
The Champions (1969), wherein he was cast as swarthy, smooth
villains. Brett also appeared in
The Incredible Hulk ("Of Guilt, Models and Murder", 1977) and starred as Maxim in the 1979 adaptation of
Daphne du Maurier's
Rebecca opposite
Joanna David. 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. The film, not to be confused with the 1996 ITV adaptation starring
Alex Kingston, was released nearly a year after Brett's death. In February 1982, Brett was approached by Granada Television to play Holmes. The idea was to make a totally authentic and faithful adaptation of the character's best cases. Eventually Brett accepted the role; he wanted to be the best Sherlock Holmes the world had ever seen. He 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. One of Brett's dearest possessions on the set was his 77-page "Baker Street File" on everything from Holmes' mannerisms to his eating and drinking habits. Brett once explained that "some actors are becomers—they try to become their characters. When it works, the actor is like a sponge, squeezing himself dry to remove his own personality, then absorbing the character's like a liquid". Brett was focused on bringing more passion to the role of Holmes. He introduced Holmes's rather eccentric hand gestures and short violent laughter. He would hurl himself on the ground just to look for a footprint, "he would leap over the furniture or jump onto the parapet of a bridge with no regard for his personal safety". Holmes's obsessive and depressive personality fascinated and frightened Brett. In many ways Holmes's personality resembled the actor's own, with outbursts of passionate energy followed by periods of lethargy. It became difficult for him to let go of Holmes after work. He 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. Brett began to refer to Holmes as "You Know Who" or simply "HIM". Terry Manners' 2001 book on Brett in the role provides some of Brett's thoughts: While the other actors disappeared to the canteen for lunch, Brett would sit alone on the set reading the script, looking at every nuance, reading Holmes in the weekends and on his holidays. Brett stated, "Some actors fear if they play Sherlock Holmes for a very long run the character will steal their soul, leave no corner for the original inhabitant", but also that, "Holmes has become the dark side of the moon for me. He is moody and solitary and underneath I am really sociable and gregarious. It has all got too dangerous". A theatrical adaptation,
The Secret of Sherlock Holmes, by Brett's friend, playwright Jeremy Paul, ran at
Wyndham's Theatre in London's West End with Brett and Edward Hardwicke during 1988 and 1989; the production subsequently toured. ==Awards==