About Arthur Conan Doyle
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (1859–1930) was born of Irish parentage in Scotland. He studied medicine at the University of Edinburgh, but he also had a passion for storytelling. His first book introduced that prototype of the modern detective in fiction, Sherlock Holmes. Despite the immense popularity Holmes gained throughout the world, Doyle was not overly fond of the character and preferred to write other stories. Eventually popular demand won out and he continued to satisfy readers with the adventures of the legendary sleuth. He also wrote historical romances and made two essays into pseudoscientific fantasy: The Lost World and The Poison Belt.
About Basil Rathbone
Philip St. John Basil Rathbone (1892–1967) was a South African–born English actor. He rose to prominence in Britain as a Shakespearean stage actor and went on to appear in over seventy films. He was widely recognized for his many portrayals of Sherlock Holmes in a series of fourteen feature films made between 1939 and 1946.