Nigel Bruce which became the first film to win an Oscar for special effects. Bruce's career signature role was that of Dr. Watson in the 1939-1946 Sherlock Holmes film series, alongside his friend Basil Rathbone playing Holmes. Bruce starred as Watson in all 14 films of the series, and over 200 radio programs of "The New Adventures of Sherlock Holmes". Although Watson often appears to be the older of the two main characters, Bruce was three years younger than Rathbone. Though for most viewers Nigel Bruce formed their vision of Dr. Watson, Holmes purists have long objected that the Watson of the
Sherlock Holmes (1932 film) Sherlock Holmes (1932 film) Sherlock Holmes (a.k.a. Conan Doyle's Master Detective Sherlock Holmes) is a 1932 American Pre-Code film starring Clive Brook as the eponymous London detective. The movie is based on the successful stage play "Sherlock Holmes" by William Gillette, in turn based on the stories by Arthur Conan Doyle, and is directed by William K. Howard for the Fox Film Corporation. Brook had played Holmes previously in "The Return of Sherlock Holmes" and the "Murder Will Out" segment of "Paramount on Parade". Reginald Owen plays Dr. Watson, and Ernest Torrence is Holmes's arch-rival, Professor Moriarty. Reginald Owen played