Actor Douglas Wilmer, a 1960s Sherlock Holmes, dies at 96

LONDON (AP) – Douglas Wilmer, who played detective Sherlock Holmes in a 1960s television series, has died at 96.

The Sherlock Holmes Society of London says Wilmer died Thursday in a hospital in Ipswich, eastern England.

Wilmer played the pipe-smoking sleuth a series of TV dramas in 1964 and 1965. The Sherlock Holmes Society says “for many, he was the seminal television Sherlock Holmes.”

Wilmer returned to the role in the 1975 TV movie “The Adventure of Sherlock Holmes’ Smarter Brother” and in a series of audio books.

Wilmer also appeared alongside Roger Moore in 1960s TV adventure series “The Saint” and in the James Bond film “Octopussy.”

One of his final screen appearances was a 2012 cameo in the BBC’s “Sherlock,” which stars Benedict Cumberbatch as the great detective.