In the short story "The Adventure of the Naval Treaty," Holmes says "Her cuisine is a little limited, but she has as good an idea of breakfast as a Scotchwoman,"[3] which some readers have taken to mean that she is Scottish.
Other than one mention of her "stately tread" in the novel A Study in Scarlet, she is given no physical description or first name, although some commentators have identified her with the "Martha" in "His Last Bow".
[1] Holmes tells Watson in "The Adventure of the Empty House" that his sudden return to Baker Street three years after his supposed death "threw Mrs. Hudson into violent hysterics".
In the same story, Watson notes that their old Baker Street rooms are unchanged due to "the supervision of Mycroft Holmes and the immediate care of Mrs.
Not only was her first-floor flat invaded at all hours by throngs of singular and often undesirable characters but her remarkable lodger showed an eccentricity and irregularity in his life which must have sorely tried her patience.
His incredible untidiness, his addiction to music at strange hours, his occasional revolver practice within doors, his weird and often malodorous scientific experiments, and the atmosphere of violence and danger which hung around him made him the very worst tenant in London.
[1] Though limited information is given about Mrs. Hudson in the original stories, the character has developed a popular image due to portrayals in adaptations and speculation in articles and books, according to a 2005 essay by Catherine Cooke.
According to Smith, "Mary Gordon in the Rathbone films and Rosalie Williams in the Granada TV series did much to form the popular image of the landlady".
Smith also comments that Gordon, Williams, and other actresses such as Irene Handl and Una Stubbs have provided "memorable portrayals of the occasionally tetchy but ultimately sympathetic stalwart of 221B" and helped cement Mrs Hudson's place in the public consciousness.
[11] Other actresses who have played Mrs. Hudson in films include Minnie Rayner in The Sleeping Cardinal (1931), The Missing Rembrandt (1932), The Triumph of Sherlock Holmes (1935) and Silver Blaze (1937), Marie Ault in The Speckled Band (1931), Clare Greet in The Sign of Four (1932), and Tempe Pigott in A Study in Scarlet (1933).
[2] Mrs. Hudson was played by Edith Schultze-Westrum in Sherlock Holmes and the Deadly Necklace (1962), Barbara Leake in A Study in Terror (1965), Irene Handl in The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes (1970), Alison Leggatt in The Seven-Per-Cent Solution (1976), Betty Woolfe in Murder by Decree (1979),[12] and Pat Keen in Without a Clue (1988).
Mrs. Hudson appears in the 2002 anime film Case Closed: The Phantom of Baker Street, in which she is voiced by Kei Hayami in the original Japanese release, and Emily Gray in the English-language dub.
[2] In the TMS anime series Sherlock Hound (1984–1985) directed by Hayao Miyazaki, Mrs. Hudson is depicted as a much younger woman in her early to mid 20s, and a widow of a pilot named Jim.
In this incarnation, her full name is revealed to be Marie Hudson, and fitting with the theme of the characters being canines, she resembles a Golden Retriever.
She normally stays behind at 221B Baker Street, but accompanies Hound and Watson on a few cases, usually any that involve something related to flight, and is shown to be a very skilled driver, pilot, and markswoman.
She offers Holmes a lower rent because he helped her out by ensuring the conviction and execution of her husband in Florida after he murdered two people.
In "His Last Vow" her name is revealed to be Martha Louise Hudson (née Sissons), a semi-reformed alcoholic and former exotic dancer.
A transgender Ms. Hudson appears in the 19th episode of the US series Elementary, "Snow Angels" (2013),[14] as an expert in Ancient Greek who essentially makes a living as a kept woman and muse for various wealthy men; Holmes allows her to stay in the apartment after a break-up, and she subsequently agrees to clean for them once a week as a source of income and to prevent Holmes from having to do it himself.
[15] In the anime television series Case File nº221: Kabukicho (2019–2020), a re-imagined version of the character is voiced by Junichi Suwabe in the original Japanese release, and by David Wald in the English-language dub.
[18] On various BBC radio stations, Mrs. Hudson was played by Dora Gregory in "The Adventure of the Speckled Band" (1945), Susan Richards in a different dramatisation of the same story in 1948, Elizabeth Maude in "The Dying Detective" and "The Second Stain" (both in 1954), Elsa Palmer in The Sign of Four (1959), Kathleen Helme in "The Naval Treaty" (1960), Penelope Lee in "The Valley of Fear" (1960), Gudrun Ure in "The Empty House" (1961), Beryl Calder in "Thor Bridge" (1962), and Grizelda Hervey in "The Sign of the Four" (1963).
Janet Morrison played Mrs. Hudson in "The Bruce-Partington Plans", "The Three Garridebs", "The Norwood Builder", and "The Retired Colourman" (all in 1964), plus "The Dancing Men", "The Lion's Mane", and "His Last Bow" (all in 1969).
[19] Cecile Chevreau played Mrs. Hudson in a 1970 LP record audio drama adaptation of "Charles Augustus Milverton".
Mrs. Clara (née Clarisa) Hudson is a much more developed character in Laurie R. King's series of novels focusing on the detective scholar Mary Russell.
A skilled actress and con artist, she is comfortable with the criminals who inhabit his world and enjoys playing occasional roles in investigations in which an eminently respectable older woman might be needed.
To Holmes, Hudson represents a way of solving the ethical problem of what to do with someone who murders to prevent harm, but who may return to criminal activity.
[40] She appears briefly in the Mythos Software video games The Lost Files of Sherlock Holmes: The Case of the Serrated Scalpel (voiced by Diana Montano)[13] and The Lost Files of Sherlock Holmes: The Case of the Rose Tattoo (voiced by Coralie Persee).