Inspector Lestrade facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Inspector Lestrade
Sherlock Holmes character
Inspector Lestrade (left) arresting a suspect in "The Adventure of the Cardboard Box", illustrated by Sidney Paget
First appearance	A Study in Scarlet (1887)
Last appearance	"The Adventure of the Three Garridebs" (1924)
Created by	Arthur Conan Doyle
Information
Gender	Male
Occupation	Police detective
Title	Detective Inspector
Nationality	British

Inspector Lestrade is a famous detective character from the Sherlock Holmes stories. These popular tales were written by Arthur Conan Doyle. Lestrade first appeared in the very first Sherlock Holmes novel, A Study in Scarlet, published in 1887.

His last appearance was in the short story "The Adventure of the Three Garridebs" in 1924. This story was part of Doyle's final collection of Holmes adventures. Lestrade works as a detective for Scotland Yard, a well-known police force. He often asks Sherlock Holmes for help with difficult cases. He is the most important police character in the entire Sherlock Holmes series. Many actors have played Inspector Lestrade in movies, TV shows, and other adaptations.

Lestrade's Story Appearances

Inspector Lestrade appears in many Sherlock Holmes stories. He is also mentioned in The Sign of the Four (1890), even though he doesn't show up in that book. Here is a list of the stories where he plays a part:

Lestrade's Character and Personality

His Police Work and Relationship with Holmes

Lestrade has a lot of experience as a police officer. In A Study in Scarlet, he mentions having "twenty years' experience." Sherlock Holmes describes Lestrade as a "well-known detective." Holmes also notes that Lestrade and another detective, Tobias Gregson, are rivals.

Holmes often lets the police take credit for his clever solutions. This includes Lestrade, in cases like "The Adventure of the Empty House". Lestrade is also good at writing in shorthand, a fast way to write notes.

At first, Lestrade doesn't always trust Holmes's unusual methods. He sometimes thinks Holmes is "too much inclined to be cocksure," meaning too confident. Holmes can also be rude to Lestrade. For example, he once called Lestrade "unskilled at handling facts."

However, Holmes's opinion of Lestrade improves over time. In "The Adventure of the Cardboard Box", Holmes says Lestrade's determination helped him rise to the top at Scotland Yard. In The Hound of the Baskervilles, Holmes calls Lestrade "the best of the professionals." This means the best among the police detectives.

By the time of "The Adventure of the Six Napoleons", Lestrade often visits Holmes at 221B Baker Street. Watson, Holmes's friend, says these visits are welcome. In that same story, Lestrade tells Holmes how much Scotland Yard respects him. He says they are "very proud" of Holmes. Holmes is rarely emotional, but he thanks Lestrade for this kind comment.

Lestrade's Appearance and Age

Inspector Lestrade is described in the stories as a "little sallow rat-faced, dark-eyed fellow." "Sallow" means he has a yellowish skin tone. He is also called a "lean, ferret-like man, furtive and sly-looking." A ferret is a small, quick animal.

In The Hound of the Baskervilles, he is described as a "small, wiry bulldog of a man." Holmes also noticed that Lestrade's left foot has an "inward twist" when he walks.

His exact age is not given in the stories. Lestrade works with Holmes from 1881 (in A Study in Scarlet) until 1902 (in "The Adventure of the Three Garridebs"). Some experts believe Lestrade might be ten to twelve years older than Holmes. If Holmes was born around 1854, Lestrade could have been born between 1842 and 1844.

Lestrade's Name: Where it Came From

Arthur Conan Doyle likely got the name Lestrade from a fellow student. This student was Joseph Alexandre Lestrade, a medical student from Saint Lucia. In "The Adventure of the Cardboard Box", Lestrade's first initial is "G." This might have been inspired by a police chief named "G—" in a story by Edgar Allan Poe.

Even though "Lestrade" sounds French, the Inspector has no clear French connections. The name can be pronounced in two ways: "Le'strayed" (like "trade") or "Le'strahd." There is no single correct way to say it. Doyle's daughter said her father pronounced it with a long "a" sound, like "Le'strayed."

Many movies and TV shows use the "Le'strahd" pronunciation. Examples include the 2009 film Sherlock Holmes and the TV series Sherlock. Other adaptations, like the Granada television series, use "Le'strayed."

Lestrade in Movies and TV Shows

Inspector Lestrade has been played by many actors over the years. He appears in various films, television series, and other media based on Sherlock Holmes.

Film Appearances

• Arthur Bell played Lestrade in several short films in 1921.
• Philip Hewland played him in The Sleeping Cardinal (1931).
• Alan Mowbray was Lestrade in A Study in Scarlet (1933).
• Dennis Hoey played Lestrade in six films from 1939 to 1946. In these movies, Lestrade was a kind but sometimes foolish officer. He greatly appreciated Holmes's help.
• Frank Finlay played Lestrade twice, in A Study in Terror (1965) and Murder by Decree (1979).
• Roger Ashton-Griffiths played a younger Lestrade in Young Sherlock Holmes (1985).
• Eddie Marsan plays Lestrade in the 2009 film Sherlock Holmes and its 2011 sequel. This Lestrade is often annoyed by Holmes but still relies on him.
• Adeel Akhtar plays Lestrade in the 2020 Netflix film Enola Holmes and its 2022 sequel.

Television Film Appearances

• Eustace Wyatt played Lestrade in a 1937 TV production.
• Alan Caillou was Lestrade in The Hound of the Baskervilles (1972).
• Borislav Brondukov played him in the Soviet TV series The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson (1979–1986).
• William Huw portrays Lestrade in the 2010 film Sherlock Holmes.

Television Series Appearances

• Bill Owen played Lestrade in the 1951 TV series Sherlock Holmes.
• Archie Duncan played Lestrade in the 1954–55 American TV series Sherlock Holmes.
• Peter Madden and William Lucas both played Lestrade in the 1965–1968 BBC series Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes.
• Colin Jeavons played Lestrade in the 1984–1994 Granada Television series. His portrayal is often seen as very true to the original books.
• Akiko Morison voiced Inspector Beth Lestrade, a descendant, in Sherlock Holmes in the 22nd Century (1999–2001).
• Rupert Graves plays Detective Inspector Greg Lestrade in the 2010–2017 BBC series Sherlock. He is a skilled detective who uses Holmes as a consultant.
• Sean Pertwee plays Lestrade in the 2013 series Elementary.
• Mikhail Boyarsky played Lestrade in the Russian TV adaptation Sherlock Holmes (2013).
• Daisuke Kishio voices Lestrade in the 2014 Japanese puppetry series Sherlock Holmes.

Stage, Radio, and Video Game Appearances

• Paul Gill played Lestrade in a 1923 play.
• Donald Gee and Stephen Thorne both played Inspector Giles Lestrade in the BBC Radio series from 1989 to 1998.
• Lestrade appears as a character in several video games. These include Sherlock (1984) and Sherlock Holmes: Crimes & Punishments (2014).
• A young pickpocket named Gina, who later becomes a trainee police officer, is based on Lestrade in the video game The Great Ace Attorney: Adventures (2015).

Print Appearances

• Author M. J. Trow wrote a series of seventeen books with Lestrade as the main character. These books, starting in 1985, show Lestrade as a very capable detective.
• In the novel The Canary Trainer (1993), Sherlock Holmes uses "Inspector Lestrade" as a fake name.

Lestrade's Influence in Popular Culture

Inspector Lestrade has influenced other fictional characters.

• Agatha Christie created her detective character, Inspector Japp, based on Lestrade. Japp is described as a "little, sharp, dark, ferret-faced man," similar to Lestrade. Christie said she wrote her early stories with a "Lestrade-type Scotland Yard detective."
• There is a search engine called "the Inspector Lestrade."
• The "Inspector Lestrade Award" is a term used online for someone who is "almost correct" in their answer.
• The Peterson Pipes company has a Sherlock Holmes series of pipes, which includes two "Lestrade" pipes.

See also

In Spanish: Inspector Lestrade para niños