Stage Whispers is the deliciously honest memoirs of Douglas Wilmer, one of Britain's leading post-war character actors.
During a career that embraced the theatre, TV (Sherlock Holmes) and film (El Cid, Octopussy, The Fall of the Roman Empire, Cleopatra) Douglas Wilmer worked alongside a host of acting greats including Richard Burton, Elizabeth Taylor, Charlton Heston, Sofia Loren, Gene Wilder and Marilyn Monroe.
He witnessed first-hand the breakdown of Richard Burton's first marriage and the development of his relationship with Elizabeth Taylor, worked with the mercurial Laurence Olivier, was great friends with Charlton Heston, fell out with the BBC, partied with Sofia Loren and was told by the director Anthony Mann that he would never work again!
Wilmer also gave what is considered by many to be the definitive portrayal of Sir Arthur Conan-Doyle's brilliant literary detective, Sherlock Holmes in the 1960s BBC TV series. He was the first to play Holmes faithfully, warts and all: impatient with lesser mortals, incisive and mercurial.
Written with incisive wit and candour, Stage Whispers presents the dramas of Wilmer's life, his stage and screen roles and the characters he met along the way - many of them Hollywood stars and household names.