Studies in Starrett

Studies in Starrett

An exploration of the works of Charles Vincent Emerson Starrett

(October 26, 1886 – January 5, 1974)

Curated by Ray Betzner
Original content owned and copyrighted by Ray Betzner

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"Marry Him or Murder Him: William Gillette's Sherlock Holmes."

September 04, 2025 by Ray Betzner

It is Time to sign up for the 2025 BSI Trust Annual Lecture

Registration is now open for the fifth annual BSI Trust Lecture. This free Zoom webinar is open to everyone but does require advance registration.

The topic will be the influence of actor William Gillette on the public’s image of the great detective.

From 1899 to the height of the Great Depression, a Connecticut Yankee in a deerstalker cap starred on both sides of the pond in a legendary play about a very British detective created by Arthur Conan Doyle.  

This BSI Trust Lecture by S.E. Dahlinger is about the enigmatic actor, his career and his castle, and his role in reviving the Sherlock Holmes franchise.


Essential details

The lecture will be held on Saturday, September 20, 2025 at 2 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time (aka, New York time)

  • Online using Zoom

  • Open to all Sherlockians and the public

  • Free – no registration fee

  • Advance registration required

  • Registration closes when event reaches capacity


 Your 2025 BSI Trust speaker: S.E. Dahlinger

S.E. Dahlinger is an independent scholar in theatre history and operatic performance. Susan is a volunteer historian for The Friends of Gillette Castle State Park.

Her article, "The Sherlock Holmes We Never Knew," won The Morley-Montgomery Award in 1999. 

She was invested into the Baker Street Irregulars in 2009 as “The Bruce-Partington Plans.”


Event Notes

Only the scheduled speakers will be visible and talking, so you do not need a camera or microphone to watch the lecture.

The event time reflects the USA's Daylight Saving Time.  The event will last about one hour.

A recording of the lecture will be posted online in the BSI Digital Archive in the future, but we do not have a date for that posting and encourage you to watch this event live.

While the Lecture is free, advance registration is required and space is limited. 


To sign up, click the link below to the online Zoom registration page:

Register for the free 2025 BSI Trust Lecture


Want to catch up on past lectures?


Roberta Pearson: 2021 BSI Trust Lecture
The Adventure of the Mutable Detective
(See also her paper in the Spring 2022 BSJ)

Ray Betzner: 2022 BSI Trust Lecture
"221B": The Story of a Sherlockian Sonnet

Steven Rothman: 2023 BSI Trust Lecture
The Godfathers of Sherlockian Publishing: Christopher Morley and Edgar W. Smith

Mattias Boström: 2024 BSI Trust Lecture
"The public shall know": The Impact of the Baker Street Irregulars Over 90 Years

September 04, 2025 /Ray Betzner
William Gillette, S.E. Dahlinger, Frederic Dorr Steele, BSI Trust 2025 Lecture, Baker Street Irregulars Trust
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