5. Vasily Livanov
Vasily Livanov is a Russian actor whose greatest success came when he played Sherlock Holmes in the 1970s and '80s for Russian TV. Many cinematographers have called Livanov the best Sherlock Holmes ever, and all eight TV movies where he has portrayed the sleuth are highly rated and acclaimed. The daughter of Arthur Conan Doyle, Jean Conan Doyle, once commented that her father would have approved of Livanov as Holmes, and he is the only Holmes to have ever become an Honorary Member of the Order of the British Empire for his work. In 2007, a sculpture featuring Holmes and Watson as portrayed by Vasily Livanov and his co-worker Vitaly Solomin was opened alongside the Embassy of the United Kingdom in Moscow. Livanovs Holmes is known for his deep, resonant voice, his cool demeanor and eccentric behavior, and for his subtle relationship with Vitaly Solomins Dr. Watson.