- Title: Benedict Cumberbatch and Sherlock Holmes is match made in history
- Date: 1st January 2017
- Summary: LONDON, ENGLAND, UNITED KINGDOM (FILE) (REUTERS) ***WARNING CONTAINS FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY*** BENEDICT CUMBERBATCH WITH WIFE SOPHIE HUNTER PALM SPRINGS, CALIFORNIA, UNITED STATES (FILE) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF BENEDICT CUMBERBATCH WITH WIFE SOPHIE HUNTER CUMBERBATCH SPEAKING TO REPORTER LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, UNITED STATES (SEPTEMBER 23, 2012) (REUTERS) (ORIGINALLY 4:3) BENEDICT CUMBERBATCH AND MARTIN FREEMAN ON RED CARPET (SOUNDBITE) (English) BENEDICT CUMBERBATCH, "SHERLOCK" STAR, EMMYS BEST ACTOR IN A MINISERIES NOMINEE, SAYING: "It's just lovely about us being here. We're very proud of the quality [of 'Sherlock'] and it's fantastic to get recognised." LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, UNITED STATES (OCTOBER 20, 2016) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF RED CARPET ATMOSPHERE AT 'DOCTOR STRANGE' WORLD PREMIERE VARIOUS OF ACTOR BENEDICT CUMBERBATCH TALKING TO PRESS BERLIN, GERMANY (OCTOBER 26, 2016) (REUTERS) CARDBOARD CUT-OUT OF CUMBERBATCH IN DR. STRANGE COSTUME VARIOUS OF CUMBERBATCH POSING FOR PHOTOGRAPHS
- Embargoed: 16th January 2017 09:54
- Keywords: Benedict Cumberbatch Sherlock Sherlock Holmes TV television Arthur Conan Doyle genealogy
- Location: LONDON, ENGLAND, UNITED KINGDOM; PALM SPRINGS, CALIFORNIA, UNITED STATES; LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, UNITED STATES; BERLIN, GERMANY; VARIOUS LOCATIONS
- City: LONDON, ENGLAND, UNITED KINGDOM; PALM SPRINGS, CALIFORNIA, UNITED STATES; LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, UNITED STATES; BERLIN, GERMANY; VARIOUS LOCATIONS
- Country: United Kingdom
- Topics: Celebrities,Arts/Culture/Entertainment
- Reuters ID: LVA0015X8ZO0D
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text:EDITORS PLEASE NOTE: SOME FOOTAGE / PHOTOGRAPHS ORIGINALLY 4:3
It's been announced that actor Benedict Cumberbatch has more in common with his alter ego Sherlock Holmes than first thought, genealogy website Ancestry.com said on Sunday (January 1).
Cumberbatch is distantly related to author Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, who created the brilliant but quirky sleuth some 130 years ago.
Cumberbatch, 40, star of the Emmy award-winning BBC TV series, "Sherlock," is a 16th cousin, twice removed of Doyle.
The two are related through 14th century English nobleman John of Gaunt, who, according to records, was Cumberbatch's 17th great-grandfather and Conan Doyle's 15th great-grandfather, Ancestry researchers said.
John of Gaunt, born about 1340, was a son of England's King Edward III, meaning that Cumberbatch and Conan Doyle also have a distant royal connection.
"Sherlock," a modern twist on the life and investigations of the 19th century London detective, first aired in 2010 and returns for its fourth series on Sunday on both U.S. and British television.
The show, in which Cumberbatch plays Holmes as a haughty, socially inept detective to Martin Freeman's calm, practical Dr. John Watson, is the most popular TV drama in Britain, according to ratings data, and has been sold to 180 other countries.
Conan Doyle published the first of about 60 Sherlock Holmes stories in 1887. The eccentric, violin-playing character has since become one of the best-known fictional detectives in the world and the inspiration for hundreds of movies, stage plays, books and TV shows.
Ancestry said its researchers looked at everything from church records, censuses, land deeds, newspaper announcements and tombstones to establish the link between Cumberbatch and Conan Doyle. - Copyright Holder: FILE REUTERS (CAN SELL)
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