20 Famous Sherlock Holmes Actors Ranked

Will Ferrell stepped into the deerstalker cap for the 2018 parody Holmes and Watson opposite John C. Reilly. Relying on crude slapstick and anachronistic gags rather than clever mystery plotting, the film was universally panned by critics and earned six Golden Raspberry Awards.

Fresh off his early James Bond adventures, Roger Moore tackled the sleuth in the 1976 television film Sherlock Holmes in New York. While Moore brought effortless charisma and polished wit, his Holmes felt far more like a globetrotting secret agent than an analytical Victorian detective.

Best known as Max Headroom, Matt Frewer headlined four Canadian television movies between 2000 and 2002 starting with The Hound of the Baskervilles. Frewer delivered a manic, twitchy interpretation packed with nervous energy that strayed far from Doyle's composed investigator.

Australian actor Richard Roxburgh took on the sleuth in the BBC's 2002 adaptation of The Hound of the Baskervilles opposite Ian Hart as Watson. Roxburgh delivered a haunted and broody detective, though the adaptation favored horror film tropes over classic deduction.

Rupert Everett portrayed an older, world-weary sleuth in the 2004 BBC television film Sherlock Holmes and the Case of the Silk Stocking. Everett brought aristocratic poise and narcotic melancholy to the role, presenting Holmes as an aloof aristocrat battling deep boredom.

Monty Python legend John Cleese played the detective's inept grandson Arthur Sherlock Holmes in the 1977 comedy The Strange Case of the End of Civilization as We Know It. Cleese leaned into theatrical slapstick, offering an affectionate Python-esque sendup of Victorian pomp.

Jonathan Pryce took the lead in the 2007 BBC drama Sherlock Holmes and the Baker Street Irregulars. Framed for murder, Pryce's Holmes relies on his young street informants, delivering a grounded, unusually warm performance that brought humanity to the often chilly detective.

In the inventive 1988 comedy Without a Clue, Michael Caine played Reginald Kincaid, a drunkard actor hired by Ben Kingsley's genius Watson to pose as Holmes. Caine delivered peerless comedic timing, turning the Holmes mythos completely upside down with huge charm.

Classic Hollywood romantic lead Stewart Granger starred in the 1972 television film The Hound of the Baskervilles alongside Bernard Fox. Granger brought dashing matinee-idol charm and commanding presence, though purists found his performance lacking the cerebral edge Doyle wrote.

Nicol Williamson starred in Herbert Ross's 1976 classic The Seven-Per-Cent Solution, which sees Holmes travel to Vienna to be treated by Sigmund Freud. Williamson brought raw emotional instability and brilliant manic intensity to the role, emphasizing the human toll of Holmes's genius.

Directed by his son Fraser Heston, Charlton Heston took on the sleuth in the 1991 cable television adaptation The Crucifer of Blood. Drawing on his stage experience, Heston delivered an authoritative, stentorian detective who commanded every scene with theatrical power.

Christopher Plummer delivered an acclaimed performance in the 1979 thriller Murder by Decree, investigating the Jack the Ripper murders alongside James Mason. Plummer portrayed a warmer, empathetic Holmes who felt profound sorrow for the victims of London's foggy underworld.

In Barry Levinson's 1985 adventure Young Sherlock Holmes, nineteen-year-old Nicholas Rowe played the detective during his boarding school years. Rowe captured the arrogance, keen intellect, and budding observational genius that would mature into Doyle's iconic hero.

Horror royalty Christopher Lee was a devoted Sherlockian who played Holmes in Sherlock Holmes and the Deadly Necklace in 1962 and two 1990s television films. Standing six foot five, Lee brought severe physical presence and intellectual gravitas to every single scene.

Jonny Lee Miller redefined Holmes for the modern era in Elementary from 2012 to 2019, starring alongside Lucy Liu's Joan Watson in New York City. Miller's kinetic, tattooed Holmes was a brilliant recovering addict whose rapid-fire deductions and vulnerability resonated with fans.

In Bill Condon's 2015 drama Mr. Holmes, Sir Ian McKellen played a 93-year-old Sherlock struggling with dementia in post-war Sussex. McKellen delivered a masterclass in quiet melancholy, exploring the burden of legend and the painful fade of a once-unrivaled intellect.

Hammer Horror icon Peter Cushing first played the detective in the 1959 Technicolor classic The Hound of the Baskervilles, later reprising the role for BBC television. Cushing's nervous energy, hawk-like profile, and obsessive precision set the benchmark for post-war Holmes cinema.

Robert Downey Jr. revitalized the franchise in Guy Ritchie's 2009 and 2011 films, playing Holmes as a bohemian martial artist whose physical prowess matched his mind. Downey's kinetic delivery and electric chemistry with Jude Law introduced the detective to a new generation.

Benedict Cumberbatch shot to international stardom in BBC's 2010 modern reboot Sherlock. Cumberbatch's lightning-fast deductions, cold social detachment, and swaggering intellectual arrogance made him the defining 21st-century face of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's creation.

Across forty-one episodes from 1984 to 1994, Jeremy Brett embodied Sherlock Holmes with passionate fidelity and manic intensity for Granada Television. Brett captured every Doyle nuance, from mercurial mood swings to supreme deductive genius, standing as the screen pinnacle.