Howard Marion-Crawford (17 January 1914 – 24 November 1969), the grandson of writer F. Marion Crawford, was an English character actor, best known for his portrayal of Dr. Watson in the 1954 television adaptation of Sherlock Holmes. In 1948, Marion-Crawford had played Holmes in a radio adaptation of "The Adventure of the Speckled Band", making him one of the few actors to portray both Holmes and Watson. He is also known for his portrayal of Dr. Petrie in a series of low budget Fu Manchu films in the 1960s, and playing Paul Temple in the BBC Radio serialisations.

Biography

Marion-Crawford was married four times. Early in World War II, he was married to Jeanne Scott-Gunn, with whom he had a single son, Harold Francis Marion-Crawford. In 1946, he married the actress Mary Wimbush, with whom he had another son, Charles. His later marriages were to June Elliot and Germaine Tighe-Umbers.

A large man with a very distinctive booming voice, known to his friends and family as "Boney", Howard Marion-Crawford had a lot of talent and acting came easily to him. Unfortunately, this sometimes led to his being unreliable and his later years were a struggle. Plagued by ill health later in life, he died from a mixture of alcohol and sleeping pills in 1969.