Eille Norwood

He was born 11 October 1861 in York as Anthony Edward Brett and attended St John's College, Cambridge (B.A. 1883). Norwood took his stage name from a woman he once loved named Eileen and Norwood in southeast London, where he lived.The Eagle, Vol. 25-6, June 1904, p. 344

His first professional stage appearance was in 1884 with F. R. Benson's Shakespearean company. In 1886-7 he worked for Edward Compton's company. He was active on the stage until 1892, when he became ill and did not recover until about 1899. After acting in a revival of his play The Noble Art, retitled The Talk of the Town, in 1901, he resumed regular stage work. For some years he was employed by Charles Wyndham, appearing for him in My Lady of Rosedale (1904), Captain Drew on Leave (1906), and The Liars (1907). Among many other roles, he toured in 1909 as Raffles in a stage version of the amateur detective. He made his film debut in 1911."Eille Norwood", Who's Who in the Theatre, Volume 3, ed. John Parker, Boston: Small, Maynard, and Co., 1912, p. 372 He directed the successful production of The Man Who Stayed at Home, which ran in London from December 1914 to July 1916.

File:Sherlock Holmes - Eille Norwood - 1921 - The Man With The Twisted Lip.JPG pictured with Hubert Willis as Dr. Watson]]

From 1921 to 1923 Norwood played Holmes in 45 two-reel short films in three series: The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (1921), The Further Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (1922) and The Last Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (1923), and in two feature films, The Hound of the Baskervilles and The Sign of Four{{Cite web |title=Restoration of Silent Sherlock: Three Classic Cases to premiere at the 68th BFI London Film Festival |url=https://www.bfi.org.uk/london-film-festival/news/restoration-silent-sherlock-three-classic-cases-premiere-68th-bfi-london-film-festival |website=British Film Institute |date=August 28, 2024 |access-date=March 9, 2025}} directed by Maurice Elvey and George Ridgwell. The Golden Pince-Nez was restored by the BFI National Archive in 2024 and screened for the first time since 1922.{{Cite news |last=Alberge |first=Dalya |date=2024-08-28 |title=Silent Sherlock Holmes film to be screened for first time since 1922 release |url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/article/2024/aug/28/silent-sherlock-holmes-film-to-be-screened-for-first-time-since-1922-release |access-date=2024-08-28 |work=The Guardian |language=en-GB |issn=0261-3077}} Hubert Willis played Watson in nearly all these films. For the final Holmes film, however, Hubert Willis was replaced by Arthur Cullin. Until Jonny Lee Miller's run in the tv series Elementary (2012 - 2019), Norwood had played Holmes more times than any other actor in film or TV.

Norwood was earlier a stage actor associated with the Brough-Boucicault company, and he wrote several plays which were produced commercially:

• Chalk and Cheese (one act)
• Hook and Eye
• The Talk of the Town (previous title The Noble Art), about a fusty old solicitor who is hypnotised into competing in a boxing tournament. The play was first performed at the Theatre Royal in York in 1892,The Era Almanack and Annual, ed. Edward Ledger, 1893, p. 62 and then in 1893 at Terry's in London with Arthur Williams as Andrew Fullalove, and fifteen years later in Australia, with Hugh J. Ward in the lead part.{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article14853966 |title="The Talk of the Town". |newspaper=The Sydney Morning Herald |date=28 January 1907 |access-date=31 December 2015 |page=5 |publisher=National Library of Australia}}
• The Grey Room (with Max Pemberton) - produced in York in 1911"Max Pemberton", Twentieth Century Crime & Mystery Writers, ed. John Reilly, London: Macmillan, 1980, p. 1157

Following his appearance in the films, Norwood appeared on the London stage as Sherlock Holmes in The Return of Sherlock Holmes in October 1923. The play was successful enough that it was toured in Europe without Norwood after its London run.{{Cite web |date=2014-05-12 |title=The Public Life of Sherlock Holmes: Eille Norwood: the Silent Detective – Black Gate |url=https://www.blackgate.com/2014/05/12/the-public-life-of-sherlock-holmes-eille-norwood-the-silent-detective/ |access-date=2023-06-23 |language=en-US}} Norwood continued to appear on the London stage until at least 1934.The London Stage 1930-1939: A Calendar of Productions, Performers, and Personnel, J. P. Wearing, Rowman & Littlefield, 2014, p. 401

In 1905 Norwood married fellow English stage and silent film actress Ruth Mackay (1878-1949). His step-daughter actress Jane Grahame (1899-1981) married actor/writer Ernest Dudley, creator of another well-known English detective character, Doctor Morelle.{{Cite web |date=2006-02-04 |title=Ernest Dudley |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/ernest-dudley-465491.html |access-date=2023-06-23 |website=The Independent |language=en}} In his later years he lived at Corner Cottage, Waverley Lane in Farnham in Surrey.[https://www.ancestry.co.uk/interactive/1904/32858_609838_2441-00382/17860777 England & Wales, National Probate Calendar (Index of Wills and Administrations), 1858-1995 for Ruth Brett 1949- Ancestry.com {{subscription required}}]

Norwood died in London on Christmas Eve 1948 at age 87. He is buried in Green Lane Cemetery in Farnham in Surrey.[https://www.farnham.gov.uk/services/cemeteries/wargraves?print=pdf Notable burials- Farnham Town Council website]

• Sir Arthur Conan Doyle himself admired Norwood's portrayal, saying: "His wonderful impersonation of Holmes has amazed me."[https://www.bbc.co.uk/bradford/content/articles/2007/02/27/sherlock_holmes_huddersfield_feature.shtml Where I live: Bradford and West Yorkshire]

• The BFI's Executive Director of Knowledge, Learning and Collections, Arike Oke, said: “Eille Norwood embodies the original tales’ Victorian sleuth, encountering Britain’s Empire at its globe-trotting height while exploring 1920s London: that fertile ground of mystery and duplicity."

• Sherlock Holmes (Stoll film series)
• List of people who have played Sherlock Holmes

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• Barnes, Alan. Sherlock Holmes on Screen. Richmond, Surrey: Reynolds and Hearn Ltd., 2002.

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• {{Internet Archive author |sname=Eille Norwood |sopt=t}}
• {{IMDb name | id=0636385 | name=Eille Norwood }}

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Category:1861 births

Category:1948 deaths

Category:Alumni of St John's College, Cambridge

Category:English male stage actors

Category:English male film actors

Category:English male silent film actors

Category:Male actors from York

Category:20th-century English male actors