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Ronald Howard
7 April 1918, Norwood, England
19 December 1996, Bridport, Dorset, England
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Beginning with "The Return of Sherlock Holmes" (1986), EdwardHardwicke took over the role of Dr. Watson in the various Jeremy Brett "Sherlock Holmes" TV series following the departure of David Burke, who played the Watson role in "The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes" (1984).
"I cannot agree with those who rank modesty among the virtues. To the logician all things should be seen exactly as they are, and to underestimate one's self is as much a departure from truth as to exaggerate one's own powers. "
Sherlock Holmes
Ronald Howard
The British actor Ronald Howard was born in Norwood, London, England, in 1918. He and his younger sister Leslie Ruth Howard were raised by their mother Ruth Evelyn Martin and their father, the renowned actor Leslie Howard. After college, Howard became a newspaper reporter for a while but decided to follow in his father's footsteps and become an actor.
He got his first taste of acting when he appeared with his father in an uncredited bit part in 'Pimpernel' Smith (1941). In the early 1940s, Howard gained acting experience in regional theater, later on the London stage, and eventually in films, with his official debut in While the Sun Shines (1947). His chief claim to fame is in television with his portrayal of Sherlock Holmes in the series "Sherlock Holmes" (1954), in which Howard Marion-Crawford played Dr. Watson. Boyishly handsome with a pleasant demeanor, Howard continued in film and television until the mid-1970s; however, he never caught on with audiences as well as his father had, prompting him to put aside his acting career to run an art gallery. In the 1980s, he wrote a biography of his father.
He studied at Cambridge University, wrote for the 'Sunday Chronicle' and after serving in the Roya.
ln the Navy in WW2 he started his acting career. His early roles included small parts in his father's films Romeo and Juliet (1936) and Pimpernel Smith (1941) - He was the first child of the actor Leslie Howard and wife Ruth.
In the early 1940s, Howard gained acting experience in regional theater, the London stage and eventually films, his official debut was in the 1947 movie, While the Sun Shines.
Ronald Howard starred in the first American Sherlockian TV series. He played Holmes, and H. Marion Crawford played Watson. The show was produced by Sheldon-Reynolds. The show aired in the fall of 1954. It had 39 episodes, each running thirty minutes each.
He was known to be one of the best Holmeses, being very similar to Basil Rathbone. With much in common with Sherlock, he had the looks, the charm, and even the behaviour Holmes did. He also wore the Deerstalker Hat and the Trench Coat in nearly every episode which made him a unique Sherlock.
He left acting in the mid 1970's to run an art gallery in West Dorset, England and returned to writing. He wrote about the Dorset countryside, the war and wrote a book in 1981 about his father: 'In search of my Father: Portrait of Leslie Howard' .
"During our 10 year association, I was privileged to get to know Jeremy very well. We became great friends. We both believed that the friendship between Holmes and Watson must be rooted in humour. In reality, Jeremy made sure there was always laughter when we were working. In spite of the enormous strain his illness placed on him he never lost his sense of joy. He had a wonderful laugh. It was infectious. The enormous list of actors and technicians who worked on the series will tell you that they never had a happier job. That was Jeremy. This, of course, was the background to a great actor giving a great performance. I shall miss him." - speaking of working with Jeremy Brett on the Sherlock Holmes series.
The biggest compliment I had paid to me was, on several occasions, I was called "David". People said, "David, can you move that way?" and I thought, "Well, there aren't too many ripples here if they think I'm David Burke." I really don't know how I differed from David, I mean we *were* different. Subsequently I've read, people said I seem to be an older, graver Watson. That always worried me a bit because I thought - what I *did* feel very strongly about playing Watson with Holmes is that two people who work together in those circumstances have to have a lot of humor, there has to be a lot of laughter. I consciously remember thinking every time there was an opportunity to bring out that sense of humor between the two people, the fact that you could smile about certain things that Holmes would say, or laugh at things that he would say, seemed to me very important. It seems to me people who work together in a rather difficult job tend to laugh a lot.
But I remember saying to Jeremy . . . "I feel I'm disappearing inside my costume." I just felt everything was too overwhelming and there wasn't an awful lot for Watson to do and I do remember David (Burke) saying that he found it very difficult to have to react a lot without having a lot of text. Jeremy subsequently found that he got a bit fed up, and I think understandably, with having to learn *huge* amounts of text and tried to get the writers to dispense a bit of it to Watson. So I picked up some of the kind of bits that Jeremy didn't really want to do.
Well, I think he's the audience. I think he is the, sort of, receptor of the idea. I think Watson really is every-man and one has to remind oneself that he's working with, or associating with, a genius.
"The whole series was a hugely happy occasion. Two wonderful producers, Michael Cox and June Wyndham-Davies, who were wonderfully knowledgeable about the stories. Lovely casts of people, these people were thrilled to be in it, they were *thrilled* to be in it. I made lifelong friends of a number of people I see frequently. And, as I say, dominated by Jeremy; hugely generous, wonderfully eccentric. But it was a very, very happy time and he's deeply and sadly missed. I mean, I miss him . . . he was an extraordinary man and a *great* loss and sadly, I feel, not honored enough for what he did; he didn't get any gongs for that performance. And it will be remembered, I'm sure, because I think he was an extraordinary Holmes." (2003)
Close friendships need humour and tolerance. Watson needs a sense of humour to survive Holmes' worst excesses.
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