Sheldon Reynolds (10 December 1923 – 25 January 2003) was an American

television producer A television producer is a person who oversees one or more aspects of a television show, television program. Some producers take more of an executive role, in that they conceive new programs and pitch them to the television networks, but upon acce ...

best known for his involvement in the

Sherlock Holmes Sherlock Holmes () is a Detective fiction, fictional detective created by British author Arthur Conan Doyle. Referring to himself as a "Private investigator, consulting detective" in his stories, Holmes is known for his proficiency with obser ...

franchise. He began his career as producer, writer and editor of the syndicated television show ''

Foreign Intrigue ''Foreign Intrigue'' (also known as ''Foreign Assignment'') is a syndicated espionage drama television series produced in Europe by Sheldon Reynolds. The 30-minute series ran for four seasons from 1951 to 1955, producing 156 episodes. It was ...

''. In 1954, he produced the first American television show to feature the Holmes and Watson characters, ''

'', which (except in two instances) did not directly adapt

Conan Doyle Conan may refer to: People * Saint Conan (died 684), bishop of the Isle of Man * Conan of Cornwall (c. 930 – c. 950), bishop of Cornwall * Conan I of Rennes (died 992), duke of Brythonic Brittany * Conan II, Duke of Brittany (died 1066), duke ...

's original Holmes stories. It starred Ronald Howard as

and

Howard Marion-Crawford Howard Marion-Crawford (17 January 1914 – 24 November 1969), was an English People, English character actor, best known for his portrayal of Dr. Watson in the Sherlock Holmes (1954 TV series), 1954 television adaptation of Sherlock Holmes ...

Doctor Watson Dr. John H. Watson is a fictional character in the Sherlock Holmes stories by Arthur Conan Doyle, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Along with Sherlock Holmes, Dr. Watson first appeared in the novel ''A Study in Scarlet'' (1887). "The Adventure of Shosc ...

, and Archie Duncan as

Inspector Lestrade Detective Inspector G. Lestrade ( or ) is a fictional character appearing in the Sherlock Holmes stories written by Arthur Conan Doyle. Lestrade's first appearance was in the first Sherlock Holmes story, the 1887 novel ''A Study in Scarlet''. Hi ...

. Most of the filming took place in France with several sets having been built in Paris, including the street outside 221B Baker Street. In 1979, he was involved in the creation of another Sherlock Holmes adaptation, the television series ''

Sherlock Holmes and Doctor Watson ''Sherlock Holmes and Doctor Watson'' is a television series created by Sheldon Reynolds and based on characters and storylines from Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes stories. It starred Geoffrey Whitehead, Donald Pickering and Patri ...

'', starring

Geoffrey Whitehead Geoffrey Whitehead (born 1 October 1939) is an English actor. He has appeared in a range of television, film and radio roles. Early life Whitehead was born on 1 October 1939 in Grenoside, Sheffield. After his father was killed in the Second Wo ...

as Holmes, Donald Pickering as Watson and

Patrick Newell Patrick David Newell (27 March 1932 – 22 July 1988) was a British actor perhaps best known for playing Mother in '' The Avengers''. Early life and education The second son of Eric Llewellyn Newell, of High Lodge, Hadleigh, Suffolk, an Oxf ...

as Lestrade. The series had a relatively low budget and was filmed in Poland and while it had followed the same format of his previous Holmes series, it was considerably less successful. In the 1970s, Reynolds attempted to acquire a license to produce direct adaptations of the stories. At that time, the rights were in the hands of the

Royal Bank of Scotland The Royal Bank of Scotland Public Limited Company () is a major retail banking, retail and commercial bank in Scotland. It is one of the retail banking subsidiaries of NatWest Group, together with NatWest and Ulster Bank. The Royal Bank of Sco ...

, which acquired them after the previous owner defaulted on a loan. Reynolds successfully formed a consortium which acquired the rights at auction. Much of the money for the consortium came from the family of Reynolds' then-wife, Andrea Reynolds-Plunket. After their divorce in 1990, she pursued the ownership of the American copyright in a number of court cases, but her claims were rejected. In the 1957–1958 season, Reynolds became executive producer of an American

sitcom A sitcom (short for situation comedy or situational comedy) is a genre of comedy produced for radio and television, that centers on a recurring cast of character (arts), characters as they navigate humorous situations within a consistent settin ...

filmed in the United Kingdom, '' Dick and the Duchess'', starring Patrick O'Neal and

Hazel Court Margery Hazel Court (10 February 1926 – 15 April 2008) was an English actress. She is known for her roles in British and American horror films during the 1950s and early 1960s, including Terence Fisher's ''The Curse of Frankenstein'' (19 ...

. Reynolds died of

emphysema Emphysema is any air-filled enlargement in the body's tissues. Most commonly emphysema refers to the permanent enlargement of air spaces (alveoli) in the lungs, and is also known as pulmonary emphysema. Emphysema is a lower respiratory tract di ...

References

External links

* 1923 births 2003 deaths {{US-tv-bio-stub