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Carleton Percy Hobbs,
OBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...
(18 June 1898 – 31 July 1978) was an English actor with many film, radio and television appearances. He portrayed
Sherlock Holmes Sherlock Holmes () is a Detective fiction, fictional detective created by British author Arthur Conan Doyle. Referring to himself as a "Private investigator, consulting detective" in his stories, Holmes is known for his proficiency with obser ...
in 80 radio adaptations in a series of a series of Sherlock Holmes radio dramas (opposite
Norman Shelley Norman Shelley (16 February 1903 – 21 August 1980) was a British actor, best known for his work in radio, in particular for the BBC's ''Children's Hour''. He also had a recurring role as Colonel Danby in the long-running radio soap opera ''Th ...
as Watson), and also starred in the radio adaptation of
Evelyn Waugh Arthur Evelyn St. John Waugh (; 28 October 1903 – 10 April 1966) was an English writer of novels, biographies, and travel books; he was also a prolific journalist and book reviewer. His most famous works include the early satires ''Decli ...
's ''
Sword of Honour The ''Sword of Honour'' is a trilogy of novels by Evelyn Waugh which loosely parallel Waugh's experiences during the World War II, Second World War. Published by Chapman & Hall from 1952 to 1961, the novels are: Men at Arms (Waugh novel), ''M ...
''.


Early life and career

Hobbs was born in Farnborough, Hampshire, to Major-General Percy Eyre Francis Hobbs, of the
Royal Army Service Corps The Royal Army Service Corps (RASC) was a corps of the British Army responsible for land, coastal and lake transport, air despatch, barracks administration, the Army Fire Service, staffing headquarters' units, supply of food, water, fuel and do ...
, and his wife Eliza Anne, daughter of Henry Hutson, MD, of Georgetown,
British Guiana British Guiana was a British colony, part of the mainland British West Indies. It was located on the northern coast of South America. Since 1966 it has been known as the independent nation of Guyana. The first known Europeans to encounter Guia ...
. Her brother was cricketer Henry Wolseley Hutson. The Hobbs family, of Barnaboy, at Frankford (now called
Kilcormac Kilcormac () is a small village in County Offaly, Republic of Ireland, Ireland, located on the N52 road, N52 at its junction with the R437 road, R437 Regional road (Ireland), regional road, between the towns of Tullamore and Birr, County Offaly ...
), King's County (now
County Offaly County Offaly (; ) is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is part of the Eastern and Midland Region and the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster. It is named after the Ancient Ireland, ancient Kingdom of Uí ...
), were a landed gentry family with a strong military tradition;A Genealogical and Heraldic History of the Landed Gentry of Ireland, new edition, Sir Bernard Burke, revised by A. C. Fox-Davies, Harrison & Sons, 1912, p. 323 Hobbs himself served in
Royal Artillery The Royal Regiment of Artillery, commonly referred to as the Royal Artillery (RA) and colloquially known as "The Gunners", is one of two regiments that make up the artillery arm of the British Army. The Royal Regiment of Artillery comprises t ...
during the
First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
. He trained at
RADA The Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, also known by its abbreviation RADA (), is a drama school in London, England, which provides vocational conservatoire training for theatre, film, television, and radio. It is based in Bloomsbury, Central Lond ...
and worked in London theatres through the 1920s, but by the next decade had become a specialist radio actor. His first broadcast was in 1925 as Hastings in '' She Stoops to Conquer''. The Marlow, Henry Oscar, then a more experienced broadcaster, pointed him back towards the microphone when necessary during transmission. In 1934, he married Gladys Ponsonby, to whom he remained married until his death. They had no children.


Hobbs as Sherlock Holmes

For most of his broadcasting career he was a freelance, with the exception of the wartime period when the
BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...
formed its original Drama Repertory Company that could be moved out of London and away from the bombing. Hobbs was predictably one of its strengths, as was his regular future
Dr. Watson Dr. John H. Watson is a fictional character in the Sherlock Holmes stories by Arthur Conan Doyle, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Along with Sherlock Holmes, Dr. Watson first appeared in the novel ''A Study in Scarlet'' (1887). "The Adventure of Shosc ...
,
Norman Shelley Norman Shelley (16 February 1903 – 21 August 1980) was a British actor, best known for his work in radio, in particular for the BBC's ''Children's Hour''. He also had a recurring role as Colonel Danby in the long-running radio soap opera ''Th ...
. In fact, Hobboas everyone called himhad played Watson before he played Holmes, in a wartime production of '' The Boscombe Valley Mystery'' with Arthur Wontner as the sleuth. His own Holmes became a familiar performance after the war, at first in children's programming, later in the general services. Despite Hobbs's acidulated voice and his often trenchant or sardonic delivery, his rendering of the great detective now sounds somewhat avuncularperhaps because of its original youthful audience, perhaps by comparison with later performances in the role, which became freer and more eccentric. Shelley said after his long-time colleague's death: "There was only one thing for Hobbo ... the best and nothing less than the best." Hobbs and Shelley starred as the detective duo for 17 years, from 1952 to 1969.


Other work

Apart from Holmes, he seldom played the top leadexceptions being the title role in '' King John'' and Hieronimo in ''
The Spanish Tragedy ''The Spanish Tragedy'', or ''Hieronimo is Mad Again'' is an Elizabethan tragedy written by Thomas Kyd between 1582 and 1592. Highly popular and influential in its time, ''The Spanish Tragedy'' established a new genre in English theatre: the re ...
''. As a regular in ''
Children's Hour ''Children's Hour'', initially ''The Children's Hour'', was the BBC's principal recreational service for children (as distinct from "Broadcasts to Schools") which began during the period when radio was the only medium of broadcasting. ''Childre ...
''usually in the "For Older Listeners" schedulinghe played, among much else, many of the parts in the "Alice" stories, some several times. One of his most distinctive characterisations was
Kipling Joseph Rudyard Kipling ( ; 30 December 1865 – 18 January 1936)''The Times'', (London) 18 January 1936, p. 12. was an English journalist, novelist, poet, and short-story writer. He was born in British India, which inspired much of his work. ...
's '' Cat That Walked By Himself''. Another "non-human" voice, in adult drama, was his Lizard in Henry Reed's ''The Streets of Pompeii''. He loved being in Reed's "
Hilda Tablet Hilda Tablet is a fictitious "twelve-tone composeress" created by Henry Reed in a series of radio comedy plays for the British Broadcasting Corporation's Third Programme. Hilda is the inventor of ''musique concrète renforcée'' (literally, "r ...
" plays. He could do plain men like Major Liconda in Maugham's '' The Sacred Flame'', and could convey great vulnerability which he did as simple old Adam in ''
As You Like It ''As You Like It'' is a pastoral Shakespearean comedy, comedy by William Shakespeare believed to have been written in 1599 and first published in the First Folio in 1623. The play's first performance is uncertain, though a performance at Wil ...
'', played both on radio and on record. Hobbs did a good deal of television, and often played judges as he memorably did in '' Pennies From Heaven''. Other TV appearances included ''
Jude the Obscure ''Jude the Obscure'' is a novel by Thomas Hardy which began as a magazine serial in December 1894 and was first published in book form in 1895 (though the title page says 1896). The protagonist, Jude Fawley, is a working-class young man; he i ...
'' (1971) as Dr Tetuphar, ''
Lord Peter Wimsey Lord Peter Death Bredon Wimsey (later 17th Duke of Denver) is the fictional protagonist in a series of detective novels and short stories by Dorothy L. Sayers (and their continuation by Jill Paton Walsh). A amateur, dilettante who solves myst ...
'', ''A Life of Bliss'', '' Strange Report'' and '' I, Claudius''. He also had a small role as a freemason in the BBC 1972 version of ''
War and Peace ''War and Peace'' (; pre-reform Russian: ; ) is a literary work by the Russian author Leo Tolstoy. Set during the Napoleonic Wars, the work comprises both a fictional narrative and chapters in which Tolstoy discusses history and philosophy. An ...
''. His film appearances were few, but included roles in '' The House That Dripped Blood'' (1971) and '' Dark Places'' (1973). A little surprisingly, but indicating his versatility, he was in the original London stage production of
John Osborne John James Osborne (12 December 1929 – 24 December 1994) was an English playwright, screenwriter, actor, and entrepreneur, who is regarded as one of the most influential figures in post-war theatre. Born in London, he briefly worked as a jo ...
's '' Luther''. He was a great verse reader, and his impeccable French was a great asset, especially in his many bookings on the Third Programme, later Radio Three. A younger colleague, Frank Duncan, spoke of his "wonderful attention to detail, and beautiful delicate craftsmanship." One of the last parts in his fifty-year broadcasting career was
Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 23 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 natio ...
's Justice
Robert Shallow Robert Shallow is a fictional character who appears in Shakespeare's plays '' Henry IV, Part 2'' and ''The Merry Wives of Windsor''. He is a wealthy landowner and Justice of the Peace in Gloucestershire, who at the time of ''The Merry Wives of ...
from ''Henry IV'', Part 2.


Honours and legacy

He was appointed an
Officer of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...
(OBE) in the 1969 Queen's Birthday Honours for services to drama. The Carleton Hobbs Bursary provides six-month contracts for young actors in the BBC's Radio Drama Company.


References


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hobbs, Carleton 1898 births 1978 deaths English male film actors English male radio actors People from Farnborough, Hampshire Alumni of the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art British Army personnel of World War I Officers of the Order of the British Empire 20th-century English male actors Royal Artillery personnel Military personnel from Hampshire Male actors from Hampshire Actors from Rushmoor