Cuyler Hastings

Cuyler Hastings (c. 1864 – January 10, 1914) was an American stage actor whose Broadway career spanned from 1894 to 1911. He is particularly remembered for his portrayal of the fictional detective Sherlock Holmes.

Hastings's most prominent engagement outside the United States came in 1902, when he was contracted by J. C. Williamson's to perform the role of Holmes in Melbourne and Sydney. He departed San Francisco on August 14, 1902, arriving in Sydney aboard the Sierra on September 5. His Melbourne opening followed in mid-September, with Sydney scheduled approximately a month later. The production was William Gillette's Sherlock Holmes — The Strange Case of Miss Faulkner, based on the work of Arthur Conan Doyle, who received co-author credit. H. H. Vincent directed, with a cast that included F. Lumsden Hare as Watson, May Chevalier as Faulkner, J. B. Atholwood as Moriarty, and Redge Carey as Billy. Williamson had already been presenting Harry Plimmer, an Australian actor, in the same role, with Plimmer's Perth season extended due to strong business before Hastings took over in Melbourne.

During his time in Australia, Hastings also appeared as the butler Crichton in J. M. Barrie's The Admirable Crichton and as Dick Heldar in George S. Fleming's The Light That Failed. He was reportedly less memorable in the role of François Villon in Justin Huntly McCarthy's If I Were King. While in Australia he formed a friendship with journalist Eugenia Stone, who later, as Eugenia, Lady Doughty, introduced him in London to several notable figures, among them Sir Herbert Tree.

Following his return to America, Hastings appeared on Broadway in a number of productions, including The Sea Woman, The Turning Point, The Dollar Mark, A Woman of Impulse, and An International Marriage. He also played the reform candidate Matthew Standish in the New York production of William C. De Mille's play The Woman.

Hastings died on January 10, 1914, from a self-inflicted pistol shot in his room on Fourth Avenue in New York City. In the period preceding his death he had suffered an attack of partial paralysis, and had also experienced financial setbacks, both of which were speculated to have contributed to his decision. His will, executed at The Players club on December 3, 1913, directed the bulk of his estimated $25,000 estate to a half-brother, George W. Hastings, a lawyer in Toronto, and a half-sister, Anna Garrett Munro. The will also designated $1,000 to Marion Irene Vivers of New South Wales, for whom he was additionally holding stocks and shares; a 1914 article identified Vivers as a love interest.