The actor who brought intelligence and beauty to Conan Doyle’s Watson.
Arthur Conan Doyle called Watson “Holmes’s stupid friend”. But the Granada folks, mainly Michael Cox and Jeremy Brett saw Watson differently. Watson was a soldier, a doctor, and an author. David Burke was the man hired to play Watson as a real person and as a gentleman. Not the baffoon, but the good friend.
It is this friendship which is at the heart of the relationship between Watson and Holmes. And the spark of playfulness David brought to it. For me some of the best moments between David and Jeremy were when as in the “Blue Carbuncle” Holmes is giving Watson his deductions about the hat. The interplay of Brett’s and Burke’s voices here as Watson questions Holmes, is one of my favorite moments in the series. It defines them and who they are together.
Thank you, David for all the joy you brought us, on stage and infront of the camera. But especially when you donned that bowler hat and gave us Sherlockians the best Watson ever.
From the John H. Watson Society: “One of the finest and most beloved Watsons ever to grace the screen has passed away. David Burke was 91 years old, just shy of his 92nd birthday, and he is survived by his wife Anna Calder-Marshall and his son Tom Burke.
By all accounts, he was a gentleman and a wonderful human being. He could have stayed on to play Watson much longer, which would have made many of us very happy, but he chose to leave the show to be nearer to his family, especially since Tom was very young at the time.” Not something most actors would do.
“His was not the first intelligent and competent Watson, but his version marked a turning point in mainstream depictions, from comedic sidekick to a hero in his own right.”
RIP, dear sir. You will be missed. JOHN H. WATSON SOCIETY“
The Times “David Burke obituary: actor who reinvented Dr Watson” “One of Burke’s favourite roles was performing Kent in King Lear: the combination of warmth and puckishness suited his acting style perfectly. As well as cats and chopping wood, Burke loved practical jokes — though never cruel ones. The pranks he played, said Tom, “were always like something miraculous had happened”. Read The Times obituary here.
Gretchen Altabef is an award-winning author of sensational new Sherlock Holmes mysteries written from a woman’s perspective. THESE SCATTERED HOUSES brings Holmes to New York during his ‘great hiatus’. REMARKABLE POWER OF STIMULUS follows in London. During the investigation of a gruesome murder, Sherlock seizes a second chance with THE woman, and they marry in anarchist-ridden Paris. The series continues with FIVE MILES OF COUNTRY. Holmes is called in by Thomas Edison to solve a murder in his unique film studio. While Mrs Irene Adler-Holmes triumphs on Broadway despite the antics of a theater ghost. THE KEYS OF DEATH is a genesis story of 221B Baker Street and its inhabitants, as told by Mrs Hudson and Dr Watson. Sherlock Holmes FAR & WIDE mystifies with nine stories and one play, including the award-winning “Sir Arthur And The Time Machine”.
Features of Interest 