Carleton Hobbs
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Carleton Hobbs | |
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| Born | Carleton Percy Hobbs 18 June 1898 Farnborough, Hampshire, England |
| Died | 31 July 1978 (aged 80) London, England |
| Occupation | Actor |
| Spouse |
Gladys Ponsonby (m. 1934) |
Carleton Percy Hobbs, OBE (18 June 1898 – 31 July 1978) was an English actor with many film, radio and television appearances. He portrayed Sherlock Holmes in 80 radio adaptations in a series of a series of Sherlock Holmes radio dramas (opposite Norman Shelley as Watson), and also starred in the radio adaptation of Evelyn Waugh's Sword of Honour.
Early life and career
Hobbs was born in
Hobbs as Sherlock Holmes
For most of his broadcasting career he was a freelance, with the exception of the
His own Holmes became a familiar performance after the war, at first in children's programming, later in the general services. Despite Hobbs's acidulated voice and his often trenchant or sardonic delivery, his rendering of the great detective now sounds somewhat avuncular – perhaps because of its original youthful audience, perhaps by comparison with later performances in the role, which became freer and more eccentric. Shelley said after his long-time colleague's death: "There was only one thing for Hobbo ... the best and nothing less than the best."
Hobbs and Shelley starred as the detective duo for 17 years, from 1952 to 1969.
Other work
Apart from Holmes, he seldom played the top lead – exceptions being the title role in
As a regular in Children's Hour – usually in the "For Older Listeners" scheduling – he played, among much else, many of the parts in the "Alice" stories, some several times. One of his most distinctive characterisations was Kipling's Cat That Walked By Himself.
Another "non-human" voice, in adult drama, was his Lizard in
Hobbs did a good deal of television, and often played judges as he memorably did in
A little surprisingly, but indicating his versatility, he was in the original London stage production of John Osborne's Luther. He was a great verse reader, and his impeccable French was a great asset, especially in his many bookings on the Third Programme, later Radio Three. A younger colleague, Frank Duncan, spoke of his "wonderful attention to detail, and beautiful delicate craftsmanship."
One of the last parts in his fifty-year broadcasting career was Shakespeare's Justice Robert Shallow from Henry IV, Part 2.
Honours and legacy
He was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 1969 Queen's Birthday Honours for services to drama.
The Carleton Hobbs Bursary provides six-month contracts for young actors in the BBC's Radio Drama Company.
References
- ^ The Peerage, Baronetage and Knightage of the British Empire for 1881- The Baronetage and Knightage, Joseph Foster, Nichols & Sons, 1881, p. 668
- ^ The Royal Lineage of our Noble and Gentle Families, Joseph Foster, Hazell, Watson, and Viney, Ltd, 1884, p. 172
- ^ The Peerage, Baronetage, Knightage & Companionage of the British Empire for 1907, Volume 2, Edmund Lodge, Kelly's Directories, 1907, p. 1844
- ^ A Genealogical and Heraldic History of the Landed Gentry of Ireland, new edition, Sir Bernard Burke, revised by A. C. Fox-Davies, Harrison & Sons, 1912, p. 323
External links
- Carleton Hobbs at IMDb
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