Born: 13 June 1892, Johannesburg, South Africa
Died: 21 July 1967, New York, NY, USA
Buried: 27 July 1967, Ferncliffe Cemetary, Hartsdale, Westchester Co., NY, USA

Father: Edgar Philip RATHBONE (1856-1924), mining engineer
Mother: Anne Barbara GEORGE (1866-1917)
Grandparents: Philip Henry RATHBONE (1828-1895) & Jane Stringer STEWARD (1833-1905)
 

Marriages:

(i)

13 October 1914 at Battersea St Luke, London, England        (divorce 1926)
to Ethel Marion FOREMAN (2 June 1887 - 8 Sept 1976), stage actress, director & teacher
born London, England, daughter of Edward FOREMAN & Amelia GALBRAITH

 (ii)

18 April 1926 at Dutch Reformed Church, New York City, USA
to Ouida BERGERE (14 Dec 1885- 22 Nov 1974), scriptwriter
born Madrid, Spain, daughter of Stephen BRANCH & Ida WILLIAMS
 

Children:

Basil Rodion RATHBONE (21 July 1915-c1994), by marriage (i)
married Caroline Blanche FISHER (3 May 1914-2 May 1985), actress
on 27 May 1938, Hollywood, California, USA.


Barbara Cynthia RATHBONE (1939-1969)

 
Grandchildren:

Heloise RATHBONE (1942- )
Richard Rodion RATHBONE (1949- )
Dounia RATHBONE (1950- )

Philip St John Basil RATHBONE was educated at Repton School, England, and served in World War I with the London Scottish & Liverpool Scottish regiments. He was awarded the Military Cross on 1918. He began his theatre career with his cousin, Sir Frank Benson, in his No. 2 company in 1911, and made his debut with the New Shakespeare Company at Stratford upon Avon as Orsino in "Twelfth Night" in 1912.  His first London appearance was in "The Sin of David" at the Savoy Theatre in 1914.   As a film actor in Hollywood, he appeared in 86 films, including:  Loyalties (1934), David Copperfield (1934), Anna Karenina (1935), Captain Blood (1935) - with Errol Flynn, The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938), The Mask of Zorro (1940), The Hound of the Baskervilles (1940), The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (1940), and The Last Hurrah (1958) - with Spencer Tracey.
 

"Originally one of the screen's ablest of swordsmen and most wretched of villains, he later "broke the mold" in stylizing and defining for all time the screen character of Conan Doyle's immortal detective, Sherlock Holmes".    The Internet Movie Database.

Biographies:

1. "In and Out of Character" - autobiography, Doubleday, 1962
2. "Basil Rathbone: His Life and His Films" by Michael B. Druxman, Published by A.S. Barnes & Co., 1975