Known For
Acting
Born
Jan 08, 1908
Died
Apr 23, 1975
Place of Birth
Saint Pancras, London, England, UK
Credits
133 titles
William Hartnell
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
Dr. Who (archive footage) (uncredited)
Doctor Who: The Savages
The Doctor (voice)
Doctor Who at the Proms
The Doctor (1) (archive footage)
Doctor Who: The Celestial Toymaker
The Doctor (voice)
Doctor Who: The Daleks in Colour
The Doctor (archive footage)
Tales of the Tardis
The Doctor
Talking Doctor Who
Self / The Doctor (1) (archive footage)
Doctor Who: Galaxy 4
Doctor Who
Doctor Who: Galaxy 4
The Doctor (voice)
Mission to the Unknown
Dr. Who
Doctor Who: Twice Upon a Time
The Doctor (1) (archive footage)
Doctor Who: The Husbands of River Song
The Doctor (1) (picture) (uncredited)
Doctor Who: The Day of the Doctor
The Doctor (1) (archive footage)
An Adventure in Space and Time
The Doctor (1) (archive footage)
Doctor Who: The Doctors Revisited
Self
Don't Lose Your Head: The Making of 'The Reign of Terror'
The Doctor (archive footage)
Vision On
The Doctor (archive footage)
The Sets of Marinus
The Doctor (archive footage)
Mounting the Rescue
The Doctor (1) (archive footage)
Doctor Who: The Next Doctor
The Doctor (1) (archive footage)
The Ties That Bind Us
The First Doctor (archive footage)
Creation of the Daleks
The Doctor (archive footage)
Doctor Who: Origins
The Doctor (archive footage)
Masters of Sound
The Doctor (archive footage)
Inside the Spaceship: The Story of the TARDIS
The Doctor (archive footage)
Future Memories: Making 'The Dalek Invasion of Earth'
The Doctor (1) (archive footage)
Remembering 'The Aztecs'
The Doctor (archive footage)
What's a Carry On?
Sergeant Grimshawe (archive footage) (uncredited)
Doctor Who: Resurrection of the Daleks
The Doctor (1) (archive footage) (uncredited)
Doctor Who: The Five Doctors
The First Doctor (archive footage)
Doctor Who: Mawdryn Undead
The Doctor (1) (archive footage)
Doctor Who: Earthshock
The Doctor (1) (archive footage)
That's Carry On!
Sergeant Grimshawe (archive footage)
Doctor Who: The Brain of Morbius
The Doctor (1) (picture) (uncredited)
Doctor Who: The Three Doctors
The Doctor
Doctor Who: Day of the Daleks
The Doctor (1) (picture) (uncredited)
Doctor Who: The Power of the Daleks
The Doctor in the mirror (uncredited)
Doctor Who: The Tenth Planet
The Doctor (1)
Doctor Who: The Smugglers
The Doctor
Doctor Who: The War Machines
The Doctor
Doctor Who: The Savages
The Doctor
Doctor Who: The Gunfighters
The Doctor
Doctor Who: The Celestial Toymaker
The Doctor
Doctor Who: The Ark
The Doctor
Doctor Who: The Massacre of St Bartholomew's Eve
The Doctor / Abbot of Amboise
Doctor Who: The Daleks' Master Plan
The Doctor
Doctor Who: The Myth Makers
The Doctor
Doctor Who: Galaxy 4
The Doctor
Doctor Who: The Time Meddler
The Doctor
Doctor Who: The Chase
The Doctor