Trivia

He was famous for his portrayal of Sherlock Holmes in the television series The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (1984) and The Return of Sherlock Holmes (1986). When he learned that his Sherlock Holmes was very popular with children (who saw him as a superhero), he was troubled by the fact that Holmes is a cocaine user. In response, he sought and obtained permission from Arthur Conan Doyle's daughter to have Holmes overcome and abandon his addiction, signified with Holmes burying his syringe in the episode "The Devil's Foot".

Brett was left-handed. The character of Sherlock Holmes was right-handed. A hand double was employed whenever a close-up view was shown of Holmes writing something.

Brett belonged to the Woodmen of Arden, an archery club established in 1758. His father and brothers were also members.

His father forbade him from using the family name on stage because he thought acting was a "dubious" profession. So Jeremy took his stage name from the label of his first suit, "Brett & Co."

His death at the age of 61 was the result of cardiomyopathy (heart failure). Brett's heart valves were permanently scarred by rheumatic fever, which he suffered as a teenager. Medication later prescribed for his bipolar disorder, and his longtime smoking habit, also weakened his heart. His co-star Edward Hardwicke recalled that Brett would often buy three packets of cigarettes in the morning, and smoke them all during the course of the day.

In the scene in War and Peace (1956) in which the Rostovs invite Prince Andrei to go hunting with them, Brett is the only actor never on a mechanical horse. In all his shots he is clearly on a live horse. Audrey Hepburn, Henry Fonda, Mel Ferrer, Barry Jones and May Britt are all clearly on mechanical horses in their close shots.

He played Audrey Hepburn's brother on War and Peace (1956) and her suitor in My Fair Lady (1964).

He was born with a speech impediment that was corrected later by surgery as a teenager.

He was seen as both Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson. He played Sherlock Holmes in the popular television series, and he played Dr. Watson in the December 1980 Los Angeles production of "The Crucifer of Blood," a stage play based on "The Sign of Four" starring Charlton Heston as "The Great Detective".

Although he is now regarded by many as the definitive Sherlock Holmes, when his casting was announced in 1984 there were complaints that he was too old for the part.

He was briefly considered for the role of James Bond in On Her Majesty's Secret Service (1969), and later auditioned for Live and Let Die (1973).

Suffered at least one nervous breakdown while playing Sherlock Holmes.

His hobbies included archery, horseback riding and piano.

He owned a Jack Russell terrier mix named "Mr. Binks".

He wanted to be a jockey before becoming an actor because he loved horses, but he claimed he became too big for it.

He appeared with his former wife, Anna Massey, in the BBC television production of Rebecca (1979), where he played Maxim de Winter and she played his housekeeper, Mrs. Danvers.

After training as an actor at the Central School of Speech and Drama in London, Jeremy Brett made his professional stage debut in Manchester, England, in the repertory company of the Library Theatre in 1954. There he became lifelong friends with actor Robert Stephens. They would go on to share rooms and roles, serve as each other's best man, and died within two months of one another.

He suffered from bipolar disorder.

He was educated at Eton College.

Before agreeing to play the Baker Street sleuth in 1984, Jeremy Brett had been strongly advised by fellow Holmes actor, Robert Stephens, to decline the part.

Had a condition called Brachydactyly type-D, which caused him to have very short thumbs.

He was chosen to play Nicholas Rostov in War and Peace (1956) in part because it was felt he resembled his on-screen sibling, Audrey Hepburn.

He performed with Tom Baker as a member of the National Theatre in the early 1970s. Both actors would go on to play Sherlock Holmes on British television in the 1980s. Baker would play the part in The Hound of the Baskervilles (1982) for the BBC and Brett played the character on rival channel ITV from 1984 onwards.

All his singing in My Fair Lady (1964) was dubbed by Bill Shirley, as Brett admitted in 1994.

He was the uncle of the popular English actor, Martin Clunes, known for roles in series such as Men Behaving Badly (1992) and Doc Martin (2004). Brett's sister was Clunes' mother.

His stage roles include: Patroclus and then Troilus in "Troilus and Cressida" (1956), Hamlet in "Hamlet" (1961), Bassanio in "The Merchant of Venice" (1970), Dracula in "Dracula" (1978-9), Dr. John Watson in "The Crucifer of Blood" (1980-1), Prospero in "The Tempest" (1982), and Sherlock Holmes in "The Secret of Sherlock Holmes" (1988-9).

His favorite music was Giuseppe Verdi's Requiem, "In Paradisum" from Faure's Requiem, "Habanera" from Georges Bizet's Carmen, Richard Strauss' Vier Letzte Lieder and "Tuba Mirum" from Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's Requiem.

He was the ex-son-in-law of Raymond Massey and Adrianne Allen. He was the ex-brother-in-law of Daniel Massey.

A memorial service was held for him at St. Martin-in-the-Fields, London on 29 November 1995.

He was the son of Henry William Huggins (military Colonel. DSO, MC, DL) and Elizabeth Edith Cadbury (Butler) Huggins.

His son with wife Anna Massey: David Huggins, born August 14, 1959.

His mother died in a car accident in 1959.

He has three elder brothers: John, Michael and Patrick.

After leaving Eton he spent a long time convincing his family that he was serious about acting.

His father, Lt. Colonel Henry William "Bill" Huggins, was born in 1890.

He has three roles in common with Michael York: (1) Brett played d'Artagnan in The Three Musketeers (1966) while York played him in The Three Musketeers (1973), The Four Musketeers (1974), The Return of the Musketeers (1989) and La Femme Musketeer (2004), (2) Brett played Sherlock Holmes in The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (1984), The Return of Sherlock Holmes (1986), The Sign of Four (1987), The Hound of the Baskervilles (1988), The Case-Book of Sherlock Holmes (1991) and The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes (1994) while York played in Tom and Jerry Meet Sherlock Holmes (2010) and (3) Brett played King Arthur in Morte d'Arthur (1984) while York played him in A Knight in Camelot (1998).

He was the father of author David Huggins (The Big Kiss, Luxury Amnesia); he was the stepfather of Caleb W. Sullivan and Rebekah Wilson Giarusso.

Jeremy has lived in America since 1979 under the W of the Hollywood sign.

Some obituaries reported he was in Nicholas and Alexandra (1971), but they may have confused this film with War and Peace (1956).

His father died in 1965.

His parents married in 1923.

His wife, Joan died in July 1985 after a 2 year fight with cancer.

His grandson, Dan Huggins, born in 2002 to David Huggins and his wife, Madeleine Christie (married 2001).

He was the youngest son of a colonel.

He completed his 3rd tv series of Sherlock Holmes in May 1986.

Born on exactly the same date as Aneta Corsaut of "the Blob" fame. Both also passed away within two months of each other.

He played twice for the screen a man named Nightingale: Mr. Nightingale in episode 4 of Supernatural (1977) and William Nightingale in Florence Nightingale (1985).