|
Fun Facts and Quick Stats
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Basil's height: | 6 ft. 1½ in. (187 cm) |
| Eye color: | blue |
| Birthday: | June 13, 1892 (Zodiac sign: Gemini) |
| Place of birth: | Johannesburg, South Africa |
| Fun Fact: Ian Hunter, Basil's co-star in "Tower of London," was also born in South Africa on June 13th! | |
| Citizenship: | British (Although he lived in the USA for much of his adult life, Basil never became a U.S. citizen.) |
| Military service: | Liverpool Scottish, Second Battalion, lieutenant, awarded the Military Cross September 1918 |
| Favorite food: | Roast beef and Yorkshire pudding, a hearty, traditional English dinner. Click here to get Basil Rathbone's recipe for Yorkshire Pudding. |
| Favorite song: | Annie Laurie |
| Favorite dog: | Moritz (German Shepherd) |
| Favorite Shakespeare role: | Romeo |
| Best friend: | John Miltern (until his death in 1937) In the 1940s Rathbone was very close friends with Nigel Bruce. |
| Sports he enjoyed playing: | golf, tennis |
| Sports he enjoyed watching: | boxing, baseball |
| Passions: | music, poetry, reading books |
| Sexuality: | heterosexual |
| Marriages: | Marion Foreman, 1914-1926 (divorce) Ouida Bergere, 1926-1967 (his death) |
| Children: | one son by first marriage (Rodion) one adopted daughter (Cynthia) with second wife |
| Professional Awards: | Tony Award, 1947, for his performance in The Heiress Oscar nomination, 1935, for his performance in Romeo and Juliet Oscar nomination, 1938, for his performance in If I Were King Fun Fact: Basil lost the Oscar both times to Walter Brennan! |
| Death: | July 21, 1967, heart attack, age 75, buried at Ferncliff cemetery |
|
Fun Fact: Though an excellent swordsman, Rathbone won only one swordfight on the silver screen. (As Tybalt in Romeo and Juliet Rathbone defeated Mercutio, but he was later skewered by Romeo.) |
| Basil Rathbone met a violent death in film 22 times! He was run through by a sword in five films: | |
|
|
| In five films he was fatally shot: | |
|
|
The causes of death in the other films are varied:
| The Adventures of Marco Polo: | pushed into lion pit (presumably killed by lions) |
| The Black Sleep: | fell down stairs while being chased by mutants |
| The Court Jester: | catapulted into the sea |
| Frenchman's Creek: | stabbed with knife and crushed by suit of armor |
| The Ghost in the Invisible Bikini: | killed by explosion |
| Love from a Stranger: | poisoned |
| The Mad Doctor: | jumped off building |
| The Magic Sword: | attacked by panther (Sybil the Sorceress) |
| A Tale of Two Cities: | stabbed with knife |
| Tales of Terror: | suffocated under the putrid, decaying corpse of Valdemar |
| We're No Angels: | bit by poisonous snake |
More Fun Facts to come later!
