William Hartnell

Acting · 1.4 popularity

Age

118

Movies

124

Born: January 8, 1908 – April 23, 1975
From: 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.

Works

124 films

Doctor Who: The Day of the Doctor

20138.2

Hell Drivers

19576.7

The Mouse That Roared

19596.3

Doctor Who: Twice Upon a Time

20178.0

Doctor Who at the Proms

20247.2

The Bells Go Down

19437.2

Odd Man Out

19477.3

An Adventure in Space and Time

20137.7

Talking Doctor Who

20235.0

This Sporting Life

19637.0

Private's Progress

19566.6

Doctor Who: The Husbands of River Song

20158.0

Footsteps in the Fog

19557.0

That's Carry On!

19775.8

Doctor Who: The Next Doctor

20087.4

Carry On Sergeant

19586.4

The Magic Box

19526.5

Shake Hands with the Devil

19596.5

Brighton Rock

19486.8

Heavens Above!

19636.6

Doctor Who: The Chase

19656.5

The Ties That Bind Us

2008

The Guv'nor

19357.8

The Lure

193310.0

The Ringer

19526.0

The Way Ahead

19446.6

Doctor Who: Resurrection of the Daleks

19847.9

The Crimson Circle

19365.6

Doctor Who: Wish World & The Reality War

20255.0

The Pickwick Papers

19527.0

Doctor Who: The Five Doctors

19837.8

Doctor Who: The Daleks' Master Plan

19657.9

To Have and to Hold

19635.3

Doctor Who: The Brain of Morbius

19768.1

Doctor Who: The Crusade

19656.1

Doctor Who: The Daleks in Colour

20236.1

The Lost People

19496.0

The Goose Steps Out

19426.7

Doctor Who: Galaxy 4

20216.0

The Night We Dropped a Clanger

19595.8

The Holly and the Ivy

19526.5

Doctor Who: The Power of the Daleks

19668.1

They Came by Night

19406.3

They Flew Alone

19426.8

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

19577.3

What's a Carry On?

19987.7

Temptation Harbour

19475.4

Doctor Who: The Reign of Terror

19646.3

Doctor Who: Origins

20068.5

Date with Disaster

19585.9

Midnight at Madame Tussaud's

19366.0

Doctor Who: The Keys of Marinus

19645.9

Doctor Who: The Myth Makers

19657.2

The Agitator

19456.3

Doublecross

19567.7

Doctor Who: Mawdryn Undead

19837.0

Doctor Who: The War Machines

19667.4

Doctor Who: The Three Doctors

19737.4

The Dark Tower

19436.2

Doctor Who: The Celestial Toymaker

19665.7

Doctor Who: The Tenth Planet

19667.9

Murder in Reverse?

19456.7

Doctor Who: The Celestial Toymaker

20248.0

Doctor Who: Day of the Daleks

19727.9

Escape

19485.7

Doctor Who: Marco Polo

19647.2

Masters of Sound

20068.0

Doctor Who: The Daleks

19647.3

Doctor Who: The Smugglers

19665.8

Parisian Life

19368.0

Appointment with Crime

19466.2

And the Same to You

19605.9

Josephine and Men

19556.4

The Peterville Diamond

19435.8

Doctor Who: The Romans

19657.8

Tomorrow at Ten

19636.0

Jackpot

19606.0

The World Ten Times Over

19637.4

Doctor Who: The Edge of Destruction

19645.8

Headline

19437.0

Farewell Again

19376.5

Doctor Who: The Dalek Invasion of Earth

19647.3

Will Any Gentleman...?

19536.3

Doctor Who: The Savages

19667.2

Inside the Spaceship: The Story of the TARDIS

20068.0

Doctor Who: The Sensorites

19645.1

Doctor Who: An Unearthly Child

19637.3

Piccadilly Third Stop

19606.7

Doctor Who: The Aztecs

19647.5

Doctor Who: The Ark

19666.8

Doctor Who: Planet of Giants

19647.1

The Dark Man

19516.9

Doctor Who: The Savages

2025

Tons of Trouble

19565.5

Doctor Who: The Web Planet

19655.6

The Hypnotist

19575.3

Doctor Who: The Massacre of St Bartholomew's Eve

19667.2

Now Barabbas

19496.5

Creation of the Daleks

20068.0

Doctor Who: Galaxy 4

19655.5

Strawberry Roan

19446.5

Follow the Lady

19337.0

A Defeated People

19466.3

Doctor Who: The Gunfighters

19666.3

The Perfect Flaw

19347.0

Freedom Radio

19417.0

Sabotage at Sea

19426.5

Double Confession

19506.2

Strictly Confidential

19595.3

Doctor Who: Earthshock

19828.1

The Desperate Man

19595.0

Doctor Who: The Space Museum

19656.5

On the Run

19587.0

Suspected Person

19426.7

Doctor Who: The Time Meddler

19657.4

Remembering 'The Aztecs'

20027.5

Doctor Who: The Rescue

19656.4

They Drive by Night

19386.0

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

2012

Murder Will Out

1939

Future Memories: Making 'The Dalek Invasion of Earth'

20039.0

The Sets of Marinus

2009

Vision On

2012

Mounting the Rescue

2009