In the post-Soviet space, it is widely believed that the People's Artist of the RSFSR was named the best Holmes, even in the homeland of the great detective. We checked if this is true.

The fact that the British recognized Livanov’s merits often appears in materials and broadcasts dedicated to him. Sometimes - without specifying the circumstances (“Livanov and Vitaly Solomin, who played the role of Dr. Watson, were recognized by the British as the best couple of Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson,” TV and radio company “Mir”, reportage to the actor’s 85th birthday). However, the media mainly mention two specific events that occurred already in the 21st century.

About the first of them in December 2003 told Livanov himself:

“...In September, a powerful delegation of 20 people arrived, which included seven Englishmen led by the chairman of the International Club Conan Doyle, three Germans and ten Japanese. I was awarded a diploma from the International Society as the best Sherlock Holmes."

This episode (with a diploma "to the best Sherlock Holmes of all time") is also mentioned on the series dedicated to website, in the magazine issue "The Art of Cinema" and many other sources.

An equally important and solemn event took place three years later: in 2006, Vasily Livanov was awarded the Order of the British Empire. Here's what the actor said about this incident in 2015. interview Life TV channel:

“Firstly, I believe that the fact that Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II of Great Britain awarded me the Order of the British Empire... I perceive this primarily as recognition of our Russian national acting school, because the royal decree states that she is awarding me as the best Sherlock Holmes in world cinema.”

A year later, speaking on Channel One in the program “Alone with Everyone,” Vasily Borisovich repeated his thought about the content of the decree, adding that “the order is awarded only through embassies, and in world cinema this order has been awarded to Steven Spielberg, Elizabeth Taylor and your humble servant.”

Of course, a diploma or decree, if their descriptions are given correctly, would become proof of the validity of the statement in question. But let's take a closer look at the information available about them.

Vasily Livanov’s essay “Our Friend Sherlock Holmes” will help us learn more about the first case, with a diploma. In it Vasily Borisovich quotes report from the Moscow newspaper “Slovo”:

“The lobby of the Cosmos Hotel... In the motley bustling crowd, one group of foreign tourists stood out. She simply could not be confused with anyone. The people who kept themselves apart: men and women, Europeans and Japanese, wore checkered caps a la Sherlock Holmes on their heads, some had pipes in their mouths. Members of the society of fans and admirers of Sherlock Holmes arrived in Moscow. Especially in order to meet with People's Artist of Russia Vasily Livanov, the leading actor in the most popular Soviet TV series of the 80s. Which, by the way, has not left our television screens for almost a quarter of a century. Shouts, greetings, performances, flashes of television and photo cameras... The group was brought to Russia by the president of the English Society of Sherlock Holmes Fans, Philip Weller. It is not surprising that a group of fans of the world-famous detective came to Russia to meet with Livanov - the film adaptation of works about Holmes by director Maslennikov is considered one of the best in the world, and the Lebanese incarnation of Holmes has been declared a reference. <…> The guests presented Vasily Borisovich Livanov with a diploma, which certifies that from now on the most popular Russian actor is an honorary member of the society of admirers of Sherlock Holmes.”

Stop. “Honorary member of the Sherlock Holmes Society” is not at all “the best Sherlock Holmes of all time.” What did this diploma actually look like? Studying the biography of the aforementioned Philip Weller confirmsthat he was the chairman of one of the Sherlockian societies, namely The Baskerville Hounds, as well as a member of about fifty other thematic societies. After a short search we find and photograph the diploma itself, as well as Vasily Borisovich with him:

It is quite clearly stated here that Vasily Livanov was elected an honorary member of The Baskerville Hounds society and nothing more. This formulation is confirmed by newsletter Sherlock Holmes Society of London, November 2003. Therefore, the 2003 event does not match the claim.

Now let's turn to the presentation of the Order of the British Empire. Of course, it took place - not only numerous photographs speak of this:

The fact of the award is confirmed by the open information from British government archives. But the official description of the reason is very short: For service to the theater and performing arts (“For services to the theater and performing arts”).

The situation is somewhat clarified by the already familiar newsletter Sherlock Holmes Society of London, this time from April 2006. In it, Alan Twomey from the Ceremonial Secretariat of the Cabinet Office of the United Kingdom clarifies that Vasily Livanov received an Honorary Order of the British Empire. “Since honorary awards are not included in the semi-annual award lists, citations associated with them are not published. However, I can tell you that Mr. Livanov was awarded this honor for his portrayal of Sherlock Holmes in the Soviet television series from 1979-1986,” he adds. There, with reference to Philip Weller, it is said that Livanov was nominated for the award by the British Ambassador (in 2006, this position was held by Anthony Brenton).

In the summer of the same year, an award ceremony took place at the British Embassy in Moscow. The order was presented by Ambassador Brenton (and not by the Queen personally, as claimed TV channel "Zvezda"). Channel One did reportage about this event, including the following statement: “The best Sherlock Holmes of the British Empire lives in Russia. Queen Elizabeth II awarded actor Vasily Livanov the Order of the British Empire for creating the most faithful image of the legendary detective.” Brenton himself added fuel to the fire, telling reporters in Russian: “He has become Sherlock Holmes perfectly, perhaps better than English actors.” And First’s journalists added: “Queen Elizabeth absolutely agrees with this opinion. And not only her. The best Sherlock Holmes is Soviet. The British made this verdict back in 1982, when the film starring Vasily Livanov was first broadcast on the BBC. Everyone - from British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher to a simple London baker - accepted the image of good old England, which was created in the film by director Igor Maslennikov and actors Vasily Livanov and Vitaly Solomin.”

Perhaps it was this report from the central television channel that gave rise to the second wave of universal faith in Livanov, “recognized by the British as the best Holmes.” However, if we take a closer look at the bare facts, we have the following.

1) No written British source speaks of a "better Holmes" in the context of an honorary order.

2) Ambassador Brenton, with a certain degree of assumption (perhaps according to the moment, and perhaps expressing a personal opinion), says that Livanov played “maybe better than English actors.”

The text of the decree, which Vasily Borisovich likes to talk about, could bring some clarity. In one of his reports Livanov showed this paper. The image is quite blurry and the text is difficult to make out. However, we can look at the text similar decree in relation to the British and Russian sociologist Theodor Shanin and make sure that it is standard:

Judging by the outlines, at most a few words in the text of the decree may differ - mostly where a specific type of Order of the British Empire is named. The rest is “from whom”, “to whom” and “what is handed over”. There is no description of merit there.

Thus, with a high probability it can be argued that the decree signed by Queen Elizabeth II in no way affects the issue of “the best Sherlock Holmes.” So the second official paper does not correspond to the stated statement. Unfortunately, in both cases, Vasily Borisovich’s words contradict the facts.

And finally, a little about recognition from other Englishmen. Livanov himself tells about the enthusiastic attitude of British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher to the series, as well as Arthur Conan Doyle’s elderly daughter, Jane. True, in that interview the actor does not claim that his version of the hero’s image was recognized as the best. But this does with reference to the Daily Mail newspaper, the director of the series Igor Maslennikov. However, contrary to his words, in the mentioned article there is nothing about Thatcher or primacy.

In 2003, the book by Briton Alan Barnes was published.Sherlock Holmes on screen", in which he collected and summarized information about all the famous film adaptations of Conan Doyle's detective stories. It is interesting not only the phrase “the couple of Livanov and the late Vitaly Solomin should be included in the gallery of the best Holmes / Watson performers,” but also the following fragment:

“Livanov himself has no doubt that he knows the secret of the success of the television series. In an interview with a Russian magazine in 2000, he said: “Conan Doyle’s stories have been filmed many times before us. But, as far as I understand, it was our heroes who turned out to be the most humane and convincing.” He goes on to say: “Perhaps this is why the British recognized our film as the best European adaptation.” Not yet, not recognized. But over time, who knows.”

In 2015, the authoritative publication The Telegraph published your version of the 20 best incarnations of Sherlock Holmes. Livanov is simply not on this list. At the same time, oddly enough, in a similar ranking of Doctor Watsons second place went to... Livanov’s partner in the series Vitaly Solomin. This suggests that the Soviet series was still taken into account, but the British admire Solomin more.

In 2019 survey has already been published on the website of the famous British magazine Radio Times. Of course, no one controlled the nationality of those who voted, but Vasily Livanov took a quite honorable eighth place in this ranking. And in 2020, the London Sherlock Holmes Society in absentia congratulated Happy 85th birthday to Vasily Borisovich, calling him “one of the best” Holmeses of cinema. A portrait of Vasily Livanov adorns the souvenir shop of the official Sherlock Holmes Museum in London and the coins of the Cook Islands formally subordinate to Elizabeth II:

However, the widespread claim that Vasily Livanov was recognized by the British themselves as the best Sherlock Holmes of all time is based on unreliable sources.