Roy William Neill (4 September 1887 – 14 December 1946) was an Irish-born American film director best known for directing the last eleven of the fourteen Sherlock Holmes films starring Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce, made between 1943 and 1946 and released by Universal Studios. Biography With his father as the captain, Roy William Neill was born on a ship off the coast of Ireland. His birth name was Roland de Gostrie. Neill began directing silent films in 1917 and went on to helm 111 films, 55 of them silent. Although most of Neill's films were low-budget B-movies, he was known for directing films with meticulously lit scenes with carefully layered shadows that would become the style of film noir in the late 1940s. In fact, his last film, Black Angel (1946), is considered a film noir. He was also credited in some works as R. William Neill, Roy W. Neill, and Roy Neill. Neill lived in the United States for most of his career and was a US citizen. He did go to London from 1935 until 1940 where better opportunities existed for American directors. During this period, British film producer Edward Black hired Neill to direct The Lady Vanishes. However, due to delays in production, Black hired Alfred Hitchcock to direct instead. Neill died in London, England, from a heart attack. Filmography The Girl, Glory (1917) The Mother Instinct (1917) They're Off (1917) The Price Mark (1917) Love Letters (1917) Flare-Up Sal (1918) Love Me (1918) Free and Equal (1918) Tyrant Fear (1918) The Mating of Marcella (1918) The Kaiser's Shadow (1918) Green Eyes (1918) Vive la France! (1918) Puppy Love (1919) Charge It to Me (1919) Trixie from Broadway (1919) The Career of Katherine Bush (1919) The Bandbox (1919) The Woman Gives (1920) The Inner Voice (1920) Yes or No? (1920) Good References (1920) Dangerous Business (1920) Something Different (1920) The Idol of the North (1921) The Conquest of Canaan (1921) The Iron Trail (1921) What's Wrong with the Women? (1922) The Man From M.A.R.S. (1922) Toilers of the Sea (1923) By Divine Right (1924) Vanity's Price (1924) Broken Laws (1924) Percy (1925) Marriage in Transit (1925) The Kiss Barrier (1925) Greater Than a Crown (1925) The Cowboy and the Countess (1926) The Fighting Buckaroo (1926) A Man Four-Square (1926) Black Paradise (1926) The City (1926) Marriage (1927) The Arizona Wildcat (1927) The Lady of Victories (1928)