Basil Rathbone's
Appearances on Television
Page Two

"Five Minutes to Live"

"The Amazing Dunninger" and Rathbone

2/2/1955	"The Reluctant Dragon," as narrator (The World of Disney, ABC)
5/23/1955	"Always the Butler," episode 18 of The Eddie Cantor Comedy Theater.  Watch an episode of The Eddie Cantor Comedy Theater! Note that this is NOT the episode in which Basil appeared. It is a different episode from 1955 ("How Much for Van Such," with Vincent Price).
7/30/1955	"Svengali and the Blonde," as Svengali (NBC special, musical), with Carol Channing, Ethel Barrymore, Russell Arms.
8/12/1955	"The Stones Began to Move," as Dr. Victor Berenson (Science Fiction Theatre, NBC), with Robin Short, Jean Willis, Jonathan Hale, Richard Flato, Carol Thurston, Russ Conway and Helen van Camp. Directed by Lew Landers, produced by Ivan Tors. . Click here to watch it!   . Order from Roberts Hard-to-Find Videos.
8/1955	The Woman's Angle (WMAR-TV, Baltimore) with Ann Mar. Rathbone appeared as a guest on the program.
9/11/1955	"I am an American" (NBC), a program for "Citizenship Day" (to recognize all who had attained the status of American citizenship), with Edward Everett Horton
11/24/1955	"CBS Thanksgiving Day Special," co-host with Burl Ives
12/22/1955	"The Selfish Giant," as narrator of the Oscar Wilde tale (Star Tonight, ABC)
5/3/1955	"Billy Budd," an episode of Encounter (CBC), as Captain Vere, with Patrick Macnee and William Shatner. Order from Roberts Hard-to-Find Videos. Click here to watch a video clip! . See a clip of William Shatner talking about an incident that happened during this live broadcast: http://youtu.be/Z6zgs98fjY8 .
1/17/ 1956	"The Sculpture Show" (The Red Skelton Show, CBS), as a British artist
2/1/1956	"Five Minutes to Live," (Kraft TV Theatre, NBC), with Dennis O'Keefe, Gloria Holly, Richard Shepard, Felicia Montealegre and Neil Hamilton
Richard Shepard and Basil Rathbone in "Five Minutes to Live" Ralph Bellamy, Rita Gam, and Basil Rathbone in "Affair in Sumatra"
2/22/1956	"Affair in Sumatra" (Screen Director's Playhouse, NBC), with Ralph Bellamy and Rita Gam. Hal Roach directed. Rathbone played Paul Charters. Click here to see a video clip.
2/29/1956	I've Got a Secret (game show, CBS)
3/9/1956	Ethel and Albert (NBC), "Meeting Basil Rathbone," guest appearance.  Click here to see a video clip.
October 1956-1957	Theatre of Movie Classics (WOR-TV, New York). As the host of this weekly program, Rathbone introduced outstanding movies from the 1930s. Rathbone replaced Constance Bennett, who hosted the program in September 1956.
10/10/1956	The Amazing Dunninger (ABC), guest appearance. Dunninger was a mentalist and mind reader.
12/23/1956	"The Stingiest Man in Town," as Scrooge (The Alcoa Hour, NBC), with Vic Damone, Martyn Greene, Patrice Munsel and Betty Madigan

Click here to see 3 video clips.   Click here to buy the DVD.     Above and right: promotional photos from "The Stingiest Man in Town"	"On TV, I've been a bank robber, a nicely crazy old man and some other things, and now Scrooge."  -- Basil Rathbone, newspaper interview, 1956

Buy the soundtrack CD at Amazon.com: Listen to Basil Rathbone sing tunes from "The Stingiest Man in Town." Click the links to download: "The Humbug Song" (1.97 MB) "One Little Boy" (2.40 MB) "Mankind Should Be My Business" (2.26 MB) "Listen to the Song of the Christmas Spirit" (1.56 MB)
1/11/1957	Person to Person, hosted by Edward R. Murrow (CBS)
2/10/1957	"The Lark," as the chief inquisitor (Hallmark Hall of Fame, NBC) with Julie Harris, Eli Wallach and Boris Karloff Click here to watch "The Lark" or download it from archive.org or order it from Roberts Hard-to-Find Videos.
5/21/1957	The Arthur Murray Party (ABC)
11/20/1957	"Huck Finn," as the Duke (The U.S. Steel Hour, CBS), a musical with Jimmy Boyd, Jack Carson and Florence Henderson
Rathbone with Julie Harris and Boris Karloff in "The Lark" Rathbone as The Duke in "Huck Finn" Rathbone with Jimmy Boyd and Jack Carson in "Huck Finn"
12/11/1957	"Heroes Walk on Sand," as General Zomback (Kraft TV Theatre, NBC), with Walter Abel, Ann Harding, Gene Rayburn and Elliott Nugent
2/4/1958	The Arlene Francis Show (NBC), episode #1.107, guest appearance
2/9/1958	"Hans Brinker or the Silver Skates," as Dr. Boekman (Hallmark Hall of Fame, NBC), with Tab Hunter, Peggy King, and Dick Button	The cast of "Aladdin"
2/21/1958	"Aladdin," (Cole Porter musical) as the Emperor (DuPont Theatre, CBS), with Dennis King, Sal Mineo, George Hall & Cyril Ritchard Order from Roberts Hard-to-Find Videos.
3/19/1958	The Betty White Show (ABC), guest appearance. Watch an episode of The Betty White Show! Note that this is NOT the episode in which Basil appeared. It is a different episode (from 1954).
4/10/1958	Make Me Laugh, guest appearance.  Watch an episode of Make Me Laugh! Note that this is NOT the episode in which Basil appeared. It is a different episode from 1958.
1958	"A Christmas Carol," as Scrooge (Tales of Dickens, British TV series, Tower of London Productions) Frederic March was host. Click here to watch it!

Rathbone as Scrooge in "A Christmas Carol"

Rathbone in "I, the Leader"

July 1958	Pantomime Quiz, (ABC).  Watch an episode of Pantomime Quiz! Note that this is NOT the episode in which Basil appeared. It is an episode from 1955.
1959	"I, the Leader" (CBS), as the leader of a gang of jewel thieves. With Richard Jaekel, Lou Perri, Vince Barbi, Tom Barto and Dave Starr. Click here to see a video clip.
1959	The Jack Paar Tonight Show (NBC), guest appearance.  Watch an episode of The Jack Paar Show! Note that this is NOT the episode in which Basil appeared. It is an episode from 1960. Jack's guest was a senator from Massachusetts: John F. Kennedy.
1/1/1959	Time to Remember, "1896-1902: Turn of the Century" (Season 1, episode 1), as narrator.
May (?) 1959	Time to Remember, "Came the Dawn" (Season 1, episode 17), narrator
4/19/1960	"Super-Cauliflower" (The Red Skelton Show, CBS), as Hugh Rubicoff
5/17/1960	The Arthur Murray Party (ABC)
12/4/1960	The Christopher Program, guest appearance. Host and founder of "The Christophers": Father Keller Click here to watch a video clip!   Order from Roberts Hard-to-Find Videos.
sometime between 1952 and 1960	Masquerade Party. A celebrity (or a pair of celebrities) appeared in make-up and costume before a panel of celebrities (Ogden Nash, Buff Cobb, Ilke Chase, Peter Donald) who asked yes or no questions in order to guess the celebrity's identity. The expert make-up artists were George Fiala and Billy Herman. The original run of the show was from 1952 to 1960; the date of Rathbone's appearance is unknown. Watch an episode of Masquerade Party! Note that this is NOT the episode in which Basil appeared. It is an episode from 1955.
Ouida and Basil before being made-up for Masquerade Party Basil and Ouida as they appeared on Masquerade Party (disguised as Winston Churchill and Queen Victoria)
1961	"Mystic Prophecies and Nostradamus," as narrator. (Produced and directed by Merle S. Gould)
3/24/1961	Here's Hollywood (NBC). Hollywood celebrities were interviewed on this series. Watch an episode of Here's Hollywood! Note that this is NOT the episode in which Basil was interviewed. It is an episode from 1962.
11/30/1961	"Victoria Regina," as Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli (Hallmark Hall of Fame, NBC) with Julie Harris as Queen Victoria. Cast included James Donald, Inga Swenson, Barry Jones, Isabel Jeans, Felix Aylmer and Pamela Brown. Click here to watch a video clip!  See three photos below:
getting hair styled for role of Disraeli
1962	Warbirds (20th Century Fox) with David Macklin (pilot for unsold series, never broadcast)
1/23/1963	The Merv Griffin Show, guest appearance
2/15/1963	The Merv Griffin Show, guest appearance
2/18/1963	The Merv Griffin Show, guest appearance
3/20/1963	The Merv Griffin Show, guest appearance	Rathbone in "Who Killed Hamlet" (Burke's Law)
4/7/1965	"Who Killed Hamlet?" (episode of Burke's Law, ABC) starring Gene Barry. Rathbone played Milo James. Click here to watch the episode!
5/2/1965	Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color (NBC), Rathbone narrated the adventures of J. Thaddeus Toad in "The Wind in the Willows"
5/24/1965	The Merv Griffin Show, guest appearance.
6/10/1965	The Celebrity Game (CBS, hosted by Carl Reiner), guest panelist. Watch an episode of The Celebrity Game! Note that this is NOT the episode in which Basil appeared. It is a different episode from 1965.
6/16/1965	The Merv Griffin Show, guest appearance.
6/23/1965	The Merv Griffin Show, guest appearance.
7/1/1965	The Celebrity Game (CBS, hosted by Carl Reiner), guest panelist.
12/27/1965	"Perfect Is Too Hard To Be" (part one of two-part episode of Dr. Kildare, NBC), Susan Oliver and Rathbone were guest stars. Rathbone played Frederick Foray, a concert pianist with Parkinson's disease. Click here to see four video clips.
12/28/1965	"Duet for One Hand" (part two of two-part episode of Dr. Kildare, NBC), Susan Oliver and Rathbone were guest stars.
	with Raymond Massey (Dr. Kildare) with Raymond Massey (Dr. Kildare)
1965-1966	The Sherlock Holmes Theatre, which showed the Basil Rathbone/Nigel Bruce Sherlock Holmes films of the 1940s, was hosted by Rathbone.
6/16/1966	"The Baffling World of ESP," as narrator (ABC documentary special)
8/26/1966	The Pirates of Flounder Bay, (ABC, pilot for unsold series), with William Cort, Bridget Hanley, Jack Soo, Harold Peary, Charles Dierkop, Burt Mustin, Jim Connell, Jim Begg, Peter Bonerz and Keenan Wynn. Rathbone played the Governor in this comedy about bumbling pirate Barnaby Kidd (Cort) and his crew of idiots.
4/26/1967	"Soldier in Love," as the Duke of York (Hallmark Hall of Fame, NBC), with Claire Bloom, Keith Mitchell, Ray Poole, and Jean Simmons Order from Roberts Hard-to-Find Videos.

Rathbone hosting the Sherlock Holmes Theater The Pirates of Flounder Bay
Rathbone as Scrooge getting makeup applied for role of Svengali

Rathbone also made numerous commercials for cigarettes, liquor, insurance (Prudential), diet food, and more. (Watch the Prudential commercial here.)

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All original content is copyright Marcia Jessen, 2024