William Hartnell
Acting
- Born:
- 1908-01-08
- Died:
- 1975-04-23
- Place of birth:
- Saint Pancras, London, England, UK
Biography
William Henry Hartnell (8 January 1908 – 23 April 1975), also known as Billy Hartnell or Bill Hartnell, was an English actor. Hartnell played the first incarnation of the Doctor in Doctor Who, from 1963 to 1966. He was also known for his roles as Sergeant Grimshaw, the title character of the first Carry On film, Carry On Sergeant in 1958, and Company Sergeant Major Percy Bullimore in the sitcom The Army Game from 1957 until 1958, and again in 1960. Hartnell entered the theatre in 1925 working under Frank Benson as a general stagehand. He appeared in numerous Shakespearian plays, including The Merchant of Venice (1926), Julius Caesar (1926), As You Like It (1926), Hamlet (1926), The Tempest (1926) and Macbeth (1926). He also appeared in She Stoops to Conquer (1926), School for Scandal (1926) and Good Morning, Bill (1927), before performing in Miss Elizabeth's Prisoner (1928). This play was written by Robert Neilson Stephens and E. Lyall Swete. It featured the actress Heather McIntyre, whom he married during the following year. His first of more than sixty film appearances was in Say It With Music (1932). Hartnell continued to play comic characters until he was cast in the robust role of Sergeant Ned Fletcher in The Way Ahead (1944). From then on his career was defined by playing mainly policemen, soldiers, and thugs. Hartnell's performance in This Sporting Life was noted by Verity Lambert, the producer who was setting up a new science-fiction television series for the BBC entitled Doctor Who; and, mainly on the strength of that performance, Lambert offered him the title role.
Known For
Filmography
Doctor Who: Wish World & The Reality War
Doctor Who: The Savages
Doctor Who at the Proms
Doctor Who: The Celestial Toymaker
Doctor Who: The Daleks in Colour
Talking Doctor Who
Tales of the Tardis
Doctor Who: Galaxy 4
Doctor Who: Galaxy 4
Doctor Who: Twice Upon a Time
Doctor Who: The Husbands of River Song
Doctor Who: The Day of the Doctor
An Adventure in Space and Time
Doctor Who at the Proms
Doctor Who: The Doctors Revisited
Don't Lose Your Head: The Making of 'The Reign of Terror'
Vision On
The Sets of Marinus
Mounting the Rescue
Doctor Who: The Next Doctor
The Ties That Bind Us
Creation of the Daleks
Masters of Sound
Inside the Spaceship: The Story of the TARDIS
Doctor Who: Origins
Future Memories: Making 'The Dalek Invasion of Earth'
Remembering 'The Aztecs'
What's a Carry On?
Doctor Who: Resurrection of the Daleks
Doctor Who: The Five Doctors
Doctor Who: Mawdryn Undead
Doctor Who: Earthshock
That's Carry On!
Doctor Who: The Brain of Morbius
Doctor Who: The Three Doctors
Doctor Who: Day of the Daleks
Doctor Who: The Power of the Daleks
Doctor Who: The Tenth Planet
Doctor Who: The Smugglers
Doctor Who: The War Machines
Doctor Who: The Savages
Doctor Who: The Gunfighters
Doctor Who: The Celestial Toymaker
Doctor Who: The Ark
Doctor Who: The Massacre of St Bartholomew's Eve
Doctor Who: The Daleks' Master Plan
Doctor Who: The Myth Makers
Doctor Who: Galaxy 4
Doctor Who: The Time Meddler
Doctor Who: The Chase
Doctor Who: The Space Museum
Doctor Who: The Crusade
Doctor Who: Lost in Time
Doctor Who: The Web Planet
Doctor Who: The Romans
Doctor Who: The Rescue
Doctor Who: The Dalek Invasion of Earth
Doctor Who: Planet of Giants
Doctor Who: The Reign of Terror
Doctor Who: The Sensorites
Doctor Who: The Aztecs
Doctor Who: The Keys of Marinus
Doctor Who: Marco Polo
Doctor Who: The Edge of Destruction
Doctor Who: The Daleks
Doctor Who: An Unearthly Child
Doctor Who
The World Ten Times Over
To Have and to Hold
Tomorrow at Ten
Heavens Above!
This Sporting Life
Ghost Squad
Piccadilly Third Stop
And the Same to You
Jackpot
The Desperate Man
The Night We Dropped a Clanger
No Hiding Place
The Mouse That Roared
Shake Hands with the Devil
Strictly Confidential
Carry On Sergeant
On the Run
Date with Disaster
The Hypnotist
Hell Drivers
The Army Game
Yangtse Incident: The Story of H.M.S. Amethyst
Tons of Trouble
Private's Progress
Doublecross
Josephine and Men
Footsteps in the Fog
Will Any Gentleman...?
The Holly and the Ivy
The Ringer
The Pickwick Papers
The Magic Box
The Dark Man
Double Confession
The Lost People
Now Barabbas
Escape
Brighton Rock
Temptation Harbour
Odd Man Out
Appointment with Crime
A Defeated People
Murder in Reverse
The Agitator
Strawberry Roan
The Way Ahead
Headline
The Dark Tower
The Bells Go Down
The Peterville Diamond
Sabotage at Sea
The Goose Steps Out
They Flew Alone
Suspected Person
Freedom Radio
They Came by Night
Murder Will Out
They Drive by Night
Farewell Again
Midnight at Madame Tussaud's
The Crimson Circle
Parisian Life
The Guv'nor
The Perfect Flaw
The Lure
Follow the Lady