David Burke, 1934 – 2026

British actor David Burke—Watson to Jeremy Brett’s Sherlock Holmes—has died, his family announced on May 14. He was 91. The Liverpool native was an RADA grad, and started his career onstage. He appeared in nearly 100 films and TV shows beginning in the early ’60s. Among his many vehicles were Reilly, Ace of Spies (as Stalin), The Avengers, Coronation Street (was everyone in that?), Dr. Finlay’s Casebook, Crown Court, The House of Eliott, Poirot, Casualty, Holby City, and that mid-80s Adventures of Sherlock Holmes series. Burke said of Jeremy Brett, “He was a delightful man. He was a great perfectionist. I mean, he carried his book of Sherlock Holmes stories around with him, almost like a Bible . . . Not merely did he keep a very close eye on the dialogue remaining faithful, but also, when we were actually filming, he would concern himself, in the nicest possible way, with making sure everybody was dressed correctly and that the action mirrored what it said in the book.” Burke is survived by his wife, actress Anna Calder-Marshall, and their son, actor Tom Burke.