Louis Hector (March 19, 1883 – October 1968) was an American radio, theater, film, and television actor. He is best known for his roles of Sherlock Holmes in the 1937 broadcast of ''

The Three Garridebs ''The Three Garridebs'' is a 1937 television presentation that aired on NBC, based on Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's 1924 story "The Adventure of the Three Garridebs". Louis Hector played Sherlock Holmes, the first actor to do so on television. Pro ...

'' (the first US televised portrayal of Sir

Arthur Conan Doyle Sir Arthur Ignatius Conan Doyle (22 May 1859 – 7 July 1930) was a British writer and physician. He created the character Sherlock Holmes in 1887 for ''A Study in Scarlet'', the first of four novels and fifty-six short stories about Ho ...

's protagonist Holmes); and that of the Reverend Browne in

MGM Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc., also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures and abbreviated as MGM, is an American film, television production, distribution and media company owned by Amazon through MGM Holdings, founded on April 17, 1924 a ...

's 1940

Technicolor Technicolor is a series of Color motion picture film, color motion picture processes, the first version dating back to 1916, and followed by improved versions over several decades. Definitive Technicolor movies using three black and white films ...

release of ''

Northwest Passage The Northwest Passage (NWP) is the sea route between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans through the Arctic Ocean, along the northern coast of North America via waterways through the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. The eastern route along the Arct ...

''.

Life and career

Hector was born in March 1883 in England. He started his acting career in Theatre performances in London and Broadway.''Holmes is from London''; ''Obituary''
January 13, 1935; article,

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

(via ''Faces of Holmes: Louis Hector'' at the Fourth Garrideb website); accessed August 2019 He acted in several plays in London, mainly

Shakespearean William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...

, with actress

Jane Cowl Jane Cowl (December 14, 1883 – June 22, 1950) was an American film and stage actress and playwright "notorious for playing lachrymose parts". Actress Jane Russell was named in Cowl's honor. Biography Cowl was born Jane Bailey in Boston, Mas ...

before emigrating to the US in 1920, where he appeared in several Broadway productions, including ''No More Ladies'', and ''Arms and Men''; and choreographed duels in

Ziegfeld Florenz Edward Ziegfeld Jr. (; March 21, 1867 – July 22, 1932) was an American Broadway impresario, notable for his series of theatrical revues, the ''Ziegfeld Follies'' (1907–1931), inspired by the ''Folies Bergère'' of Paris. He also p ...

's 1928 musical version of ''

Three Musketeers 3 is a number, numeral, and glyph. 3, three, or III may also refer to: * AD 3, the third year of the AD era * 3 BC, the third year before the AD era * March, the third month Books * ''Three of Them'' (Russian: ', literally, "three"), a 1901 n ...

''.''The Three Musketeers – A Musical Adventure''
play; production staff; The Broadway League.com; accessed August 2019 Hector made his American radio debut on WJZ in New York in 1924, and played many roles on American radio including

Long John Silver Long John Silver is a fictional character and the main antagonist in the novel ''Treasure Island'' (1883) by Robert Louis Stevenson. The most colourful and complex character in the book, he continues to appear in popular culture. His missing l ...

and

William Tell William Tell (german: Wilhelm Tell, ; french: Guillaume Tell; it, Guglielmo Tell; rm, Guglielm Tell) is a folk hero of Switzerland. According to the legend, Tell was an expert mountain climber and marksman with a crossbow who assassinated Albr ...

. Hector worked regularly as a radio performer in the 1930s, often portraying Sir

's protagonist,

Sherlock Holmes Sherlock Holmes () is a fictional detective created by British author Arthur Conan Doyle. Referring to himself as a " consulting detective" in the stories, Holmes is known for his proficiency with observation, deduction, forensic science and ...

. Hector was chosen to play Holmes in an early

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...

experimental television broadcast of ''

'' on November 27, 1937. This is the first televised adaptation of the Sherlock Holmes character. The show ran for 30 minutes, and was processed in B&W.''The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes - 23 Old-time Radio Shows with Various Actors''
at

amazon.com Amazon.com, Inc. ( ) is an American multinational technology company focusing on e-commerce, cloud computing, online advertising, digital streaming, and artificial intelligence. It has been referred to as "one of the most influential economi ...

; retrieved May 2016 The New York Times wrote a positive review of his performance in the teleplay.

Death

Hector died in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

in early to mid-October 1968, his obituary was published in the

on October 19.

Radio, film, and TV work

Hector performed on radio in the NBC Blue network radio series ''

The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes ''The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes'' is a collection of twelve short stories by British writer Arthur Conan Doyle, first published on 14 October 1892. It contains the earliest short stories featuring the consulting detective Sherlock Holmes, w ...

''. He played

Professor Moriarty Professor James Moriarty is a fictional character and criminal mastermind created by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle to be a formidable enemy for the author's fictional detective Sherlock Holmes. He was created primarily as a device by which Doyle could ...

in at least one episode, "The Missing Leonardo Da Vinci", which aired on May 19, 1932. From 1934 to 1935, he played Sherlock Holmes in the series.''Louis Hector''
the Sir A. C. Doyle Dictionary online; retrieved May 2016''The Three Garridebs on Radio''
Ruby, Greg D.; September 3, 2014; The Fourth Garrideb - Numismatics of Sherlock Holmes; accessed August 2019 Only three episodes of Hector as Holmes are believed to have survived to 2020. Hector played Holmes in 29 episodes. Many of these episodes, particularly those that aired in 1934 and early 1935, were new stories or based on non-Sherlock Holmes stories by Arthur Conan Doyle (such as " The Case of the Lost Special", which aired on 18 November 1934), while the episodes that aired in 1935 were generally based on Doyle's Sherlock Holmes stories. The episodes in which Hector portrayed Holmes that were based on Doyle's Sherlock Holmes stories include the following: Hector's other performances include: ;Film and TV * ''

''; televised play with two pre-filmed segments; 1937; Sherlock Holmes; performed live six times''The Three Garridebs on Television''
Ruby, Greg D.; TV film; September 4, 2014; The Fourth Garrideb - Numismatics of Sherlock Holmes; accessed August 2019 * ''

'';

film; 1940; Reverend Browne * ''

Tales of Tomorrow ''Tales of Tomorrow'' is an American anthology science fiction series that was performed and broadcast live on ABC from 1951 to 1953. The series covered such stories as ''Frankenstein'' starring Lon Chaney Jr., '' 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea'' ...

''; TV series; June 20, 1952; Dr. Bache''The Miraculous Serum''
actor, Louis Hector on Tales of Tomorrow;

YouTube YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...

; retrieved May 2016 * ''

King Richard II Richard II (6 January 1367 – ), also known as Richard of Bordeaux, was King of England from 1377 until he was deposed in 1399. He was the son of Edward the Black Prince, Prince of Wales, and Joan, Countess of Kent. Richard's father d ...

''; TV film; 1954; Henry Percy; Hallmark Hall of Fame (#3.18) ;Radio * '' The Planets: A Modern Allegory''; (

radio play Radio drama (or audio drama, audio play, radio play, radio theatre, or audio theatre) is a dramatized, purely acoustic performance. With no visual component, radio drama depends on dialogue, music and sound effects to help the listener imagine t ...

); 1938; SaturnKreymborg, Alfred; ''The Planets: A Modern Allegory'';

Farrar & Rinehart Farrar & Rinehart (1929–1946) was a United States book publishing company founded in New York. Farrar & Rinehart enjoyed success with both nonfiction and novels, notably, the landmark Rivers of America Series and the first ten books in the Ner ...

; New York; 1938; retrieved May 2016 * ''

The New Adventures of Sherlock Holmes ''The New Adventures of Sherlock Holmes'' is a radio drama series which aired in the USA from 1939 to 1950, it ran for 374 episodes, with many of the later episodes considered lost media. The series was based on the Sherlock Holmes stories by Ar ...

''; radio series, 1939–50; Professor Moriarty; recurring role; NBC Blue radio network and Mutual Broadcasting radio network. * '' Great Plays''; radio series; 1938–1940; various characters; seven episodes ** '' Richelieu''; radio episode; February 5, 1939; Richelieu ** '' The Tempest''; radio episode; November 24, 1940

Theatre work

* ''Romeo and Juliet''; ;

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

* ''Antony and Cleopatra''; ; London * ''Pelleas and Melisande''; ; London * ''The Road to Rome''; ; London * ''Inherit the Wind''; National Theatre,

Dayton Dayton () is the sixth-largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Montgomery County. A small part of the city extends into Greene County. The 2020 U.S. census estimate put the city population at 137,644, while Greater Da ...

Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...

; 1924 * ''No More Ladies'';

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street **Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...

;

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

* ''Arms and Men''; Broadway; New York * '' Three Musketeers Musical'' (choreographer)''; Broadway; New York

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Hector, Louis 1883 births 1968 deaths British male actors