William Hartnell

Known for ActingBorn 1908-01-08Died 1975-04-23Saint Pancras, London, England, UK

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.Read more

Movies & web series

The Lure

Future Memories: Making 'The Dalek Invasion of Earth'

Doctor Who: Origins

Doctor Who: The Day of the Doctor

Doctor Who: The Celestial Toymaker

Doctor Who: Twice Upon a Time

Doctor Who: The Husbands of River Song

Creation of the Daleks

Masters of Sound

Inside the Spaceship: The Story of the TARDIS

Doctor Who: Earthshock

Doctor Who: The Brain of Morbius

An Adventure in Space and Time

Doctor Who: The Power of the Daleks

Doctor Who: Resurrection of the Daleks

What's a Carry On?

Doctor Who: Day of the Daleks

Doctor Who: The Five Doctors

Doctor Who: The Tenth Planet

Doctor Who: The Daleks' Master Plan

Doctor Who

Remembering 'The Aztecs'

Doctor Who: The Next Doctor

Doctor Who: The Romans

Doctor Who at the Proms

Parisian Life

Doublecross

Doctor Who: The Aztecs

Doctor Who: The Dalek Invasion of Earth

Doctor Who: The Three Doctors

The Guv'nor

Doctor Who: The War Machines

Doctor Who: The Time Meddler

The World Ten Times Over

Doctor Who: An Unearthly Child

Doctor Who: The Daleks

Doctor Who: The Massacre of St Bartholomew's Eve

Doctor Who: The Savages

Doctor Who: The Myth Makers

Yangtse Incident: The Story of H.M.S. Amethyst

Doctor Who: Marco Polo

Doctor Who: Mawdryn Undead

Odd Man Out

Doctor Who: Planet of Giants

This Sporting Life

The Bells Go Down

On the Run

The Army Game