
William Hartnell
Born: 1908-01-08
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

Sabotage at Sea

The Pickwick Papers

The Goose Steps Out

And the Same to You

Headline

Now Barabbas

Hell Drivers

The Ringer

The Desperate Man

Brighton Rock

Doctor Who: The Space Museum

Vision On

The Hypnotist

The Peterville Diamond

Suspected Person

Doctor Who: The Husbands of River Song

Heavens Above!

Temptation Harbour

Strictly Confidential

Escape

The Dark Tower

Private's Progress

Footsteps in the Fog

Doctor Who: The Day of the Doctor

The Magic Box

Mounting the Rescue

Creation of the Daleks

The Crimson Circle

Doctor Who: The Reign of Terror

Tons of Trouble

Midnight at Madame Tussaud's

Strawberry Roan

Doctor Who: The Keys of Marinus

They Came by Night

Josephine and Men

The Dark Man

Tomorrow at Ten

Inside the Spaceship: The Story of the TARDIS

Doctor Who: Galaxy 4

Doctor Who: The Next Doctor

Doctor Who: The Time Meddler

Doctor Who: The Edge of Destruction

Doctor Who: The War Machines

The Mouse That Roared

Doctor Who: The Chase

Doctor Who: Twice Upon a Time

Doctor Who: The Aztecs

Doctor Who: The Crusade

Carry On Sergeant

Odd Man Out

Doctor Who: Resurrection of the Daleks

An Adventure in Space and Time

Doctor Who: Planet of Giants

Doctor Who: The Celestial Toymaker

The Night We Dropped a Clanger

Doctor Who: The Smugglers

The Holly and the Ivy

Doctor Who: The Five Doctors

Doctor Who: The Daleks in Colour

The Way Ahead

The Lost People

Doctor Who: Marco Polo

Doctor Who: Galaxy 4

Doctor Who: The Celestial Toymaker

This Sporting Life

That's Carry On!

The Guv'nor

Doctor Who: Origins

Doctor Who: The Sensorites

Doctor Who: The Rescue

Doctor Who: Day of the Daleks

Shake Hands with the Devil

Masters of Sound

Doctor Who at the Proms

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

Doctor Who: The Daleks

They Flew Alone

Talking Doctor Who

The Sets of Marinus

Date with Disaster

Doctor Who: The Savages

Will Any Gentleman...?

Doctor Who: The Romans

Doctor Who: The Savages

To Have and to Hold

Doctor Who: Wish World & The Reality War

Doctor Who: The Myth Makers

The Agitator

Doctor Who: An Unearthly Child

Doctor Who: The Ark

Doctor Who: The Dalek Invasion of Earth

Doctor Who: The Power of the Daleks

Doctor Who: The Gunfighters

Doctor Who: The Daleks' Master Plan

Doctor Who: Mawdryn Undead

Remembering 'The Aztecs'

Don't Lose Your Head: The Making of 'The Reign of Terror'

Appointment with Crime

Doctor Who: The Three Doctors

Doctor Who: Earthshock

The Bells Go Down

Jackpot

A Defeated People

What's a Carry On?

Doctor Who: The Massacre of St Bartholomew's Eve

Murder in Reverse?

Piccadilly Third Stop

Doctor Who: The Brain of Morbius

Doctor Who: The Tenth Planet

Farewell Again

The World Ten Times Over

They Drive by Night

The Ties That Bind Us

Double Confession

Freedom Radio

Future Memories: Making 'The Dalek Invasion of Earth'
