Sheldon Reynolds

Who was Sheldon Reynolds?

Sheldon Reynolds was an American television producer best known for his involvement in the Sherlock Holmes franchise.

In 1954, he produced one of the first television shows to feature the Holmes and Watson characters, which did not directly adapt Conan-Doyle's original Holmes stories. It starred Ronald Howard as Holmes, and Howard Marion-Crawford as Watson.

In the 1970s, Reynolds attempted to acquire a license to produce direct adaptations of the stories. At that time, the rights were in the hands of the Royal Bank of Scotland, which acquired them after the previous owner defaulted on a loan. Reynolds successfully formed a consortium which acquired the rights at auction. Much of the money for the consortium came from the family of Reynold's then-wife, Andrea Reynolds-Plunket. After their divorce in 1990, she pursued the ownership of the American copyright in a number of court cases, but her claims were rejected.

In the 1957-1958 season, Reynolds became executive producer of an American sitcom filmed in England, Dick and the Duchess, starring Patrick O'Neal and Hazel Court.

Reynolds died of emphysema.