Sherlock Holmes: 15 faces of the famed detective in movies and TV

“Elementary, my dear Watson” is probably one of the most famous lines in pop culture, even if the creator of Sherlock Holmes himself, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, never put such words to paper. Still, it’s as ensconced in the collective memory of who the mysterious detective is as his pipe thanks to its various adaptations. Dozens of actors from around the world have taken a crack at portraying the famous resident of 221B Baker Street to varying success, and as Henry Lloyd-Hughes joins the this exclusive fraternity of distinguished gentleman with Netflix’s The Irregulars, EW looks back at the pugilistic private detectives who came before him.  

John Barrymore first played the great detective in a 1922 silent film, but it was Rathbone — in 14 pictures from 1939 to '46 — who transformed Holmes from literary to cinematic icon.

Related: Review — The Complete Sherlock Holmes Collection

Before he bossed around Darth Vader in Star Wars, Peter Cushing co-starred opposite Christopher Lee (himself a former Holmes, this time as Sir Henry Baskerville) in this gothic Hammer House production.

Related: Peter Cushing: The scare master

Billy Wilder imagined Baker Street in lush, color-soaked Panavision. His version starring suffered studio recuts and flopped upon release but has grown in popularity ever since.

Related: Review — The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes

The title refers to the amount of cocaine in hophead Holmes' morning cocktail, and his addiction leads Dr. Watson (Robert Duvall) to get his pal counseling from Sigmund Freud (Alan Arkin).

Brett starred in 41 episodes of this beloved British TV show. "He's the dark side of the moon for me," he said of playing Holmes. "Harder than Hamlet or Macbeth."

Japanese animation maestro Hayao Miyazaki directed this drool worthy canine version for television, complete with real adaptations of the Sir Arthur Conan Doyle stories.

Chris Columbus wrote the script for this witty, knowing teen version of the Holmes mythology. Rowe and Alan Cox (as Watson) deliver buoyant performances amid creepy, cutting-edge F/X.

What if Holmes were all along just a creation of his sidekick? That's the premise of this comedy, featuring Ben Kingsley as Dr. Watson, who hires a lousy actor (Michael Caine) to play the famed sleuth.

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, meet Guy Ritchie. And remember to duck. A beefy Robert Downey Jr. played Holmes here (and in a 2011 sequel) as a martial-arts specialist solving cases with his brains — and fists.

Related: Style Hunter: Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law's looks in Sherlock Holmes

More than a century after publication of the books, Holmes achieved true rock-star status due to Benedict Cumberbatch's hysteria-inducing, Emmy-winning turn on the BBC's limited series.

Related: Sherlock star Benedict Cumberbatch is related to Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

Another adaptation that opts to acknowledge the character's drug history, this CBS series is set in New York City and begins with a sober Holmes (Jonny Lee Miller) meeting Watson (Lucy Liu), his recovery sponsor.

Related: Dressing Dr. Watson as a woman and the secret to Sherlock's quirky style

Based on the novel A Slight Trick of the Mind, Bill Condon's movie finds the world's greatest (retired) detective at 93 years old, losing his memory. Ian McKellen imbues the man with his usual grace notes.

Related: Ian McKellen talks about Sherlock Holmes and the dilemma of age

Sacha Baron Cohen was originally set to star as Sherlock to Will Ferrell’s Watson in this comedic adaptation, but a long development process before production saw Cohen drop out, leaving Ferrell to take over the role of Holmes and for his longtime collaborator John C. Reilly to step in as Watson. Holmes and Watson ended up being a rare miss for the pair, as audiences were not fans of the film.

A subdued but amused Sherlock (Henry Cavill) takes a backseat to his adventurous younger sister Enola (Millie Bobby Brown) in this 2020 adaptation of author Nancy Springer’s young-adult series The Enola Holmes Mysteries.  

Related: Millie Bobby Brown on becoming a Victorian 'wild child' in Enola Holmes

The Baker Street Irregulars, a ragtag group of London street urchins, have long been a part of the Sherlock Holmes canon. And now, thanks to the new series The Irregulars on Netflix, mystery fans will explore the origin of their peculiar happenstances — which might just be out of this world. Though Sherlock (Henry Lloyd-Hughes) is in the background of this story, one never knows in which shadow he may be lurking. 

Related: Who are The Irregulars? Everything you need to know about Netflix's new detectives