 Basil Rathbone was twice the British Army Fencing Champ, a skill that would serve him well in movies and allow him to even teach actors Errol Flynn and Tyrone Power the finer art of swordsmanship.Rathbone's younger brother John was killed in action on 4 June 1918.In 2012 two letters Rathbone wrote to his family while serving on the Western Front were published.