English actor Jeremy Brett was BOTD in 1933. Born Peter Jeremy Huggins in Berkswell, Warwickshire to a military family, he was educated at Eton College. He studied acting at the Central School of Speech and Drama, taking the stage name Brett at his father’s insistence, so as not to embarrass the family. He began his acting career at the Old Vic Theatre and the Royal National Theatre, and attracted a wider international audience playing Audrey Hepburn’s love interests in the films War and Peace and My Fair Lady. He is best known for playing Victorian detective Sherlock Holmes in the TV drama series The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, broadcast between 1984 and 1994. Brett’s debonair persona, cut-glass accent and erratic energy seemed tailor-made for Holmes, and he is widely regarded as the best interpreter of the role. Brett married the actress Anna Massey in 1962, with whom he had a son, leaving her to live with actor-singer Gary Bond, an on-off relationship that lasted for seven years. In 1976, he married Joan Wilson, remaining with her until her death in 1985, while also having a relationship with American actor Paul Shenar. (Both Bond and Shenar died of AIDS-related illnesses). Brett struggled for many years with bipolar disorder, discussing the illness openly during his final years. He died in 1995, aged 61. His cause of death was officially stated as heart failure, though was widely rumoured to be AIDS-related.