On September 25, 1938, Orson Welles and The Mercury Theater on the Air present Sherlock Holmes
by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. The radio script was written by Welles, adapted from the play by
William Gillette, which was adapted from a play by Conan Doyle. Cast: Orson Welles (Sherlock Holmes),
Ray Collins (Dr. Watson), Mary Taylor (Alice Faulkner), Brenda Forbes (Madge Larrabee), Edgar
Barrier (James Larrabee), Morgan Farley (Inspector Forman), Richard Wilson (Jim Craigin), Eustace
Wyatt (Professor Moriarty), Frank Gallop (Announcer.) Music by Bernard Herrmann.

Listen/Download Absolutely Free at wWw.OrsOnRaDio.com

The entire script for this broadcast can be read here: http://www.genericradio.com/show.php?id=8VCGXSKAOS

In 1928, thirteen-year-old Welles scripted and starred in a radio production of Sherlock Holmes
for the Todd School radio station. (The Medium and the Magician by Paul Heyer: Orson Welles, the
Radio Years, 1934-1952. Rowman & Littlefield, 2005.)

Perry Mason fans will remember actor Ray Collins, who plays Watson, as Lt. Tragg in the long-running
CBS television series, which is currently streaming on Paramount+. Collins made his professional stage
debut at age 13, worked in vaudeville and "played 900 roles on the legitimate stage." -wiki

Collins was a featured member of Welles' Mercury Theatre repertory company of actors, beginning with
Mercury's first radio production in 1937 (Les Misérables). He made his feature film debut in Welles'
Citizen Kane (1941) and also appeared in The Magnificent Ambersons (1942), Touch of Evil (1957),
and over 100 film and television roles.

"In October 1963, Collins filmed his last Perry Mason episode, 'The Case of the Capering Camera',
broadcast January 16, 1964. Although it was clear that Collins would not return to work on the series
due to his declining health, his name appeared in the opening title sequence through the eighth season,
which ended in May 1965. Executive producer Gail Patrick Jackson was aware that Collins watched the
show every week and wished not to discourage him." -wiki

A 1950s BBC radio adaptation of twelve Sherlock Holmes stories paired Sir John Gielgud and Ralph
Richardson as Holmes and Watson. The series aired in 1954 and was broadcast in the U.S. on NBC in 1955.
Radio producer Harry Alan Towers wanted to star Welles as Sherlock Holmes, but struggling to complete
his film of Othello (1952), Welles was only available for a single guest slot as Moriarty in the final
episode, "The Final Problem". It was Orson Welles' last appearance in a radio drama. The BBC series is
currently available on CD from Amazon.