The
Basil Rathbone
Biography Project
| What is the Biography Project? |
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The Biography Project is an ongoing compilation of material
and information related to Basil Rathbone for the use of a biographer. The
Project is spearheaded by a committee of three dedicated Rathbone fans.
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| Why are you doing this? |
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A biography needs to be written, and there are bits and pieces of information (both published
and unpublished) all over the place that need to be organized. A
biographer will naturally read In and Out of Character by Basil
Rathbone, and Michael Druxman's book Basil Rathbone: His Life and
His Films. But think of all the actors with whom Basil worked. If
each of them has written an autobiography which includes a brief
mention of Basil, that's a lot of research that the biographer must
do. We want to make that job a little easier. |
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| How can I help? |
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Send us information or copies of material that you have. |
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| What kind of material are you looking
for? |
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Anything and everything that is Rathbone-related: Information. A fan wrote on
The Baz (A Basil
Rathbone blog): "An essential read for anyone interested in Rathbone's war
record would be the book Bravest of Hearts: The Biography of a
Battalion, which is all about the Liverpool Scottish during the Great
War. I gather he gets quite a bit of coverage. Unfortunately, the book is
out of print and hard to find." This is an example of information that
will go in the database. The Future Biographer will need to track down a
copy of the book, but at least he or she has been alerted to this source
of information.
Memories. We encourage those of you who knew
Basil to write down your memories and send them to us. We don't know when a biography will be
written. If it's fifty years from now, it will probably be too late to
interview you. But an archive of unpublished memoirs will be a gold mine
for the Future Biographer.
Letters. Personal letters from Rathbone can
be very revealing about his personality. Letters from other people who
write something about Rathbone may also be helpful. Send us a scan
of your letter. You keep the original; we are interested in the content
of the letter.
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| How is this different from the requests
on other pages on this site to send stuff to "Gisbourne"? |
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The difference is privacy. On other pages, where I ask for
letters or photos or stories, I'm asking for something that I can publish
on this website. You may have something personal that you don't want
published on this website. Send it to the Biography Project with your
stipulation ("Do not publish during my lifetime," for example). Even if
you want your story or letter to never, ever be published, the information
itself can help the Future Biographer form a complete picture of who Basil
Rathbone was. |
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| What happens to the stuff I send you? |
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Material that is received for the Biography Project is not
published unless you give your consent. It goes into a database to be held for a Future Biographer. |
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Thanks for your help!
The Basil Rathbone Biography Project Committee: Marcia Jessen, Neve
Rendell, and Anna Pindurka
Current Holdings in the Basil Rathbone Biography
Project Database
Magazine articles:
- The American (September, 1945), "Art Lover"
- The Big Reel (August 1988), "Basil Rathbone
- Broadway and Hollywood Movies (March 1931), “A Diamond Not in
the Rough”
- Castle of Frankenstein #12 (1968),
"A Farewell to Basil Rathbone"
- Castle of Frankenstein #13 (Spring 1969) has Rathbone's last
interview, entitled
"Basil Rathbone: His Last Bow"
- Chiller Theatre #15 (2001), "The Basil Rathbone Story"
Classic Images #236 (February, 1995)
"Basil Rathbone," by Blackie Seymour
- Classic Images #314 (August, 2001) "Basil Rathbone: Classic Villain,
Classic Hero," by Neil Doyle
- Etude (March 1951), “How Do You Look to Your Audience?”
- Everybody's Digest (1946), "Elementary, My Dear Rathbone"
- Family Circle (February 1, 1935), "Fancy Dress"
- Famous Monsters of Filmland #58 (October, 1969), "Smile If You Call Him Monster"
- Film Fan Monthly #75 (September, 1967), "Basil Rathbone
1892-1967"
- Film Pictorial (June 5, 1937), "Basil Rathbone--Hero or Villain?"
- Film Weekly (July 23, 1938), “W.H. Mooring reports the Problem
of Rathbone and the Handlebars”
- Flashback Magazine (June, 1972), an interview with Rathbone
- For Monsters Only (June, 1972), "Demon of Distinction"
- Hollywood Magazine (August, 1935) "Parade of Shadows."
- Hollywood Magazine (May 1936), "Juliets I Have Known"
- Hollywood Magazine (November, 1936),
"He Was My Friend," written by Rathbone about his
favorite dog Moritz
- Hollywood Magazine (March 1940) "How to Do Spring Cleaning"
- The Homemaker (September, 1945), "A Woman's
Voice" by Basil Rathbone
- Horrorfan #3 (Fall, 1989), an article on the career of Basil Rathbone
- Liberty (September 14, 1940)
"Hollywood Hostess--Mrs. Basil Rathbone"
- Life
Magazine (April 19, 1937) "Life Goes to a Party"
- Modern Screen (December 1937) "Bouyant Battler"
- Modern Screen (January 1940) "Horror Men Talk about Horror"
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Motion Picture Classic (August 1929), "An Amiable Icicle"
- Motion Picture (August 1935), "It's Cheers for Basil
Rathbone Now"
- Motion Picture (March 1938), "That Nasty Man"
- Motion Picture (May 1939), "The Man Who Won't Be Typed"
- Movie Mirror (January 1938), "Six Months to Love"
- Movie Mirror (August 1940), "Knight with Fanfare"
- Movies
(July 1940) "A Weekend with the Rathbones"
- Nostalgia Digest (April-May 1995), “My Favorite Villain”
- Nostalgia Digest (Fall 2012), “Elementary, my dear Basil"
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Photoplay (August, 1936)
"What Women Don't Know About Themselves" by Basil Rathbone
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Photoplay (September, 1936) "High
Tea for Two or Twenty with Basil and Ouida Rathbone."
- Photoplay (August 1938), "Love Life of a Villain"
- Photoplay (July
1939), "The Rathbones Are Entertaining"
- Photoplay (March 1942), "How to
be a Social Success," by Ouida Rathbone
- Picturegoer (January 28, 1933) "Basil Rathbone Speaks His
Mind"
- Picturegoer (December 12, 1942), "Rathbone
Deserves a Break"
- Picture Play (September, 1937), "Gentleman Firebrand"
- Picture Play (February 1938), "First Host of Hollywood"
- Popular Photography (March 1940), "Basil Rathbone: Star Behind the Camera"
- Radio and Television Mirror (April 1940), "Marriage Brought Him Everything"
- Scarlet Street #13 (Winter, 1994), article on Rathbone as
Sherlock Holmes
- Scarlet Street #30 (1998), Part One of an article called
"Our Man on Baker Street: Basil Rathbone Rediscovered"
- Scarlet Street #31 (1998), Part Two of the "Our Man on Baker
Street" article
- Scary Monsters Magazine #46 (April 2003), "The Distinguished
Demon"
- Screen Album Vol. 1, #1 (March 1931) brief
biography with photo of Rathbone
- Screen Book (December 1936) "He's not
a Villain at Home!"
- Screen Book (May 1938), "Peer of the Costume Drama"
- Screen Book (July 1939) "At Home
with Basil Rathbone"
- Screen Life (Dec. 1940)
"Villain--with Malice Toward None"
- Screen Play
(May, 1937) "In the Manor of Basil Rathbone"
- Screen Stars
(June, 1944) "Debunking a Villain"
- Screen Stars (1945), "Movie Marriages Can Work Out if ..."
- Screenland (November 1929), "Don Juan from Broadway"
- Screenland (November, 1936)
"Busman's Holiday"
- Screenland (April, 1937) "Once a Villain"
- Screenland (July, 1938) "The Host of Hollywood"
- Screenland
(July, 1940) "Hollywood's Strange Social Code"
- Screenland (November 1953), "Are Movie Stars Dopes?"
- Silver Screen (July 1936) "He
Resents Being Typed: Can Basil Rathbone Escape Playing Villains?"
- Silver Screen (August 1938), "Hiss-s-s-s"
- Silver Screen (January 1946) "The Strange Case of Basil Rathbone"
- Time magazine (February 26, 1940) "Folies
Bergere" (an article about Ouida's parties)
- True Story (July 1940) "Why I am a Happy Man" by Basil Rathbone
- The Woods Runner (May 1979), article on Basil Rathbone
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Extracts from Books:
- Auction Madness, by Charles Hamilton.
- Cads and Cavaliers, by Tony Thomas (A.S. Barnes, 1973)
- Counterpoint, by Roy Newquist (Rand McNally, 1964)
- Horror Film Stars, by Michael R. Pitts. (McFarland &
Company, 1981)
- Old Familiar Faces, by Robert A. Juran (Movie
Memories Publishing, 1995)
Miscellaneous Letters from Basil Rathbone
Archives:
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