Rathbone???s career, which had reached its apogee during the 1930???s (in 1939, he was the highest-paid freelance movie actor in the world, with a history of strong performances in such films as ANNA KARENINA, DAVID COPPERFIELD, and ROMEO AND JULIET) was never quite the same after the Holmes series ended; he later said that playing the master detective had irrevocably typecast him.