ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1995, Roanoke Times
DATE: Saturday, December 2, 1995 TAG: 9512070001
SECTION: SPECTATOR PAGE: S-6 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: LOS ANGELES
SOURCE: LYNN ELBER ASSOCIATED PRESS
When Jeremy Brett was first offered the role of Sherlock Holmes for British television in the early 1980s, he dismissed it as ``an old chestnut.''
But he changed his mind and revitalized a classic. Through Brett's alchemy, Holmes was reborn with a mesmerizing, reptilian mien of danger and twitchy vulnerability.
His portrayal of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's brilliant sleuth came to America in 1985 as part of PBS' ``Mystery!'' series. ``The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes'' bows out this season with the last episodes shot before Brett's death Sept. 12.
``The Cardboard Box'' airs Thursday (at 9 p.m. on WBRA-Channel 15) on ``Mystery!'' with four more episodes to show weekly from Jan. 4-25. (The debut story, ironically titled ``The Dying Detective,'' aired Nov. 30.)
Critics declared Brett ``the best Holmes ever,'' a tribute that now stands as an epitaph.
For Brett, the eyes had it. They were a heavy-lidded window into Holmes' mental dismemberment of the thorniest problems. And what a righteous glower - enough to melt any murderer's poise.
Edward Hardwicke, who played Dr. Watson opposite Brett's elegant Holmes for much of the 41-episode series, says his colleague and friend deserved more than critical plaudits.
``I don't feel he ever got the recognition he deserved for that performance,'' Hardwicke says. ``I think it's a remarkable achievement to play Holmes and, to some extent, erase the memory of some great performances in that part.''
But no Emmy, or its British equivalent, came to Brett. ``Tragic,'' says Hardwicke, as loyal as Watson.
Heart failure claimed the life of the 59-year-old actor. He finished filming the Holmes episodes in February 1994, gamely struggling through physical frailty.
Emotional frailty dogged Brett as well: He suffered a nervous breakdown and depression after his wife, Joan Wilson, who produced ``Mystery!'' and ``Masterpiece Theatre,'' died of cancer in 1985.
The despair that shaded his Holmes emerged from within, Hardwicke believes.
``Inevitably, if you're going to do a role as long as that, you have to draw on some part of yourself,'' Hardwicke said, speaking by phone from London. ``I think there was a dark side to Jeremy, and the dark side was what made that character, his performance, very exciting.
``I think he discovered a whole area of his acting that hadn't been tapped before he did Holmes.
``One of the tragic things with Jeremy is that discovery came too late for him to take off in different directions, which I think he would have done easily.''
Brett was thrilled by the series' success, particularly in America, and proved protective of Holmes and the Doyle canon.
``He used to get furious if anyone said `Elementary, my dear Watson,''' recalled Hardwicke. It's a phrase which, contrary to popular myth, does not appear in Doyle's stories.
Brett was equally watchful when it came to props and wardrobe on the series produced by England's Granada Television.
``He was very concerned that the clothes were absolutely, exactly as Doyle described,'' said Hardwicke. ``There was also a deeply complicated thing about [tobacco] pipes.''
And yet, he says, Brett had a ``love-hate thing'' with Holmes.
``He was a bit of a romantic at heart. I don't think he liked putting all that black grease on his hair and wearing those dull clothes. Jeremy, in his own way, was a very flamboyant person.''
He was also, it turned out, the right Holmes for our time.
``The curious thing about Holmes is that he's a bit like Hamlet: Every generation invents him anew,'' Hardwicke said. ``Jeremy instinctively and intuitively brought something of our period to the screen.''
Despite the weighty role and personal demons, Brett was a charmer on the set.
He had an infectious laugh and impish instincts. At one point he armed himself with a camera, snapped candid photographs of the cast and crew and then posted them around the set.
LENGTH: Medium: 84 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: Tom Chadbon (from left), Jeremy Brett and Edwardby CNBHardwicke are pictured in a scene from ``The Cardboard Box,'' airing
Thursday night at 9 on WBRA-Channel