With thanks to John Daniel for reminding me that I had not yet written a post about Basil Rathbone, one of my favourite actors.
Philip St. John Rathbone was born in Johannesburg, South African Republic on 13th June 1892. His parents were British. Basil’s father, Edgar Philip Rathbone, was a mining engineer and scion of the Liverpool-based Rathbone family. His mother, Anna Barbara Rathbone (née George), was a violinist. Basil had two older half-brothers, Harold and Horace, as well as two younger siblings, Beatrice and John.
The Rathbones returned to Britain when Basil was three years old after his father was accused by the Boers of being a spy, following the Jameson Raid. Rathbone attended Repton School in Derbyshire from 1906 to 1910, where he excelled at sports and was given the nickname "Ratters" by schoolmates. He was briefly employed as an insurance clerk by the Liverpool and Globe Insurance Companies, to appease his father's wish for him to have a conventional career.
On 22nd April 1911, Basil made his first appearance on stage at the Theatre Royal, Ipswich, Suffolk, as Hortensio in The Taming of the Shrew, with his cousin Sir Frank Benson's No. 2 Company, under the direction of Henry Herbert. In October 1912, he went to the United States with Benson's company, playing roles such as Paris in Romeo and Juliet, Fenton in The Merry Wives of Windsor, and Silvius in As You Like It. Returning to Britain, he made his first appearance in London at the Savoy Theatre on 9th July 1914, as Finch in The Sin of David. That December, he appeared at the Shaftesbury Theatre as the Dauphin in Henry V. During 1915, he toured with Benson and appeared with him at London's Court Theatre in December as Lysander in A Midsummer Night's Dream.
During the First World War, Basil was called up in 1915 through the Derby Scheme, joining the British Army as a Private with the London Scottish Regiment. Also in that Regiment at different points through the conflict were Basil’s future professional acting contemporaries Claude Rains, Herbert Marshall and Ronald Colman.
After basic training with the London Scots, in early 1916 Basil was commissioned as a Leutenant into the 2/10th Battalion of the King's Liverpool Regiment (Liverpool Scottish), where he served as an intelligence officer and attained the rank of Captain. Basil was twice the British Army Fencing Champion, a skill that served him well in his film career and allowed him to even teach actors Errol Flynn and Tyrone Power swordsmanship.
Basil's younger brother John was killed in action on 4th June 1918. In 2012 two letters Rathbone wrote to his family while serving on the Western Front were published. One reveals the anguish and anger he felt following the death of his brother, John:
“I want to tell him to mind his place. I think of his ridiculous belief that everything would always be well, his ever-hopeful smile, and I want to cuff him for a little fool. He had no business to let it happen and it maddens me that I shall never be able to tell him so, or change it or bring him back. I can’t think of him without being consumed with anger at him for being dead and beyond anything I can do to him.”
Following his brother's death, Basil seems to have become unconcerned about the dangers of serving at the Front. Author Richard Van Emden in Famous 1914–18 speculates that his extreme bravery may have been a form of guilt or need for vengeance. He persuaded his superiors to allow him to scout enemy positions during daylight rather than at night, as was the usual practice to minimise the chance of detection. Basil wore a special camouflage suit that resembled a tree with a wreath of freshly plucked foliage on his head with burnt cork applied to his hands and face. As a result of these highly dangerous daylight reconnaissance missions in September 1918, he was awarded the Military Cross for "conspicuous daring and resource on patrol".
Basil died in New York, USA on 21st July 1967 after a long and illustrious career. He was buried in Ferncliffe Cemetery, New York - Shrine of Memories, Unit 1, Tier K, Crypt 117.
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basil_Rathbone
Additional Notes: An interview with Basil Rathbone about WW1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=khdIdn7xN9k
Basil Rathbone was a cousin of Eleanor Rathbone and I wrote up a panel for both of them for Dean Johnson's Wilfred Owen Story Museum in Argyle Street, Birkenhead for on of the WW1 commemorative exhibitions held there. Unfortunately the WOS has since closed down.
Eleanor Florence Rathbone (12 May 1872 – 2 January 1946) was an independent British member of parliament (MP) and long-term campaigner for family allowances and for women's rights. She was a member of the noted Rathbone family of Liverpool. The Rathbones of Liverpool were a family of non-conformist merchants and shipowners, whose sense of high social consciousness led to a fine tradition of philanthropy and public service.
And
From a post on https://www.facebook.com/groups/1609379815967794/ by Mark Bristow who has given me permission to share.
Basil was a cousin of the actor https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frank_Benson_(actor)
And had a relationship with WW1 poet Richard Le Gallienne's daughter Eva le Gallienne - a British-born American stage actress, producer, director, translator, and author.
