And this week's Personality is….

Welcome to Café Lumiere’s first Personality of the week competition. In this contest, people are considered for this prestigious prize on almost any grounds at all. It helps, however, if the contenders have done something remarkable.

Café Lumiere’s criteria for what remarkable consists of is flexible, but even if some people were to sometimes question our judgement, we are sure that this week’s personality will have tremendous support from our readers it is…

Mr. Jeremy Brett! Congratulations to you.

Jeremy Brett, was born Peter Jeremy William Huggins and was born at Berkswell Grange in Warwickshire. Though he attended the prestigious Eton College, he did not excel academically and it was not until his mid life that he began to receive the attention due to him. Jeremy Brett may very well be known to you through his masterly portrayal of Sherlock Holmes in the 1980s and early 1990s, though you might also recognise him from My Fair Lady. Brett gained a reputation for his seminal portrayal of Holmes through all manner of ways. His speech patterns and diction were wonderful – allegedly he practiced voice exercises every day to produce that high standard. His body language was impeccable in the role.

Brett also captured the detective at work running about having deduced some complex solution to a devious mystery. In the Devils Foot and Three Glasses for example, Brett keeps a low and sincere voice throughout. Never does one get the impression that Brett is anyone other than Sherlock Holmes. Imagine Hugh Grant playing Sherlock Holmes, would he loose his sense of self on screen? I wonder….

Brett’s portrayal also captures some of the edginess which makes Conan Doyle’s character more interesting than some more banal heroes. Brett, for example, gives due weight to Holmes’s dislike of women (the Greek ambassador), his heroine problem (Devil’s foot amongst others) and some of Holmes’s put downs for Watson (His Final Bow and others).

Sadly, Brett passed away in 1995 but his legacy of wonderful acting lives on. It is therefore as a tribute to the man and his work that he is awarded this week’s Personality of the Week.

(thank you to Wikipedia for the use of the image).