William Hartnell
William Hartnell | |
---|---|
File:William Hartnell.jpg William Hartnell in a publicity photo | |
Born | St Pancras, London, England | 8 January 1908
Died | 23 April 1975 Marden, Kent, England | (aged 67)
Years active | 1925–1973 |
Spouse |
Heather McIntyre (m. 1929) |
Children | 1 |
William Henry Hartnell (8 January 1908 – 23 April 1975) was an English actor. Hartnell played the first incarnation of the Doctor in Doctor Who, from 1963 to 1966. He was also well known for his roles as Sergeant Grimshaw, the title character of the first Carry On film, Carry On Sergeant in 1958, and as Company Sergeant Major Percy Bullimore in the sitcom The Army Game from 1957 until 1958, and again in 1960.
Early life
William Hartnell, known as Billy to family and friends, was born in St Pancras, London, England, the only child of Lucy Hartnell, an unmarried mother. Hartnell never discovered the identity of his father, whose particulars were left blank on his birth certificate, despite his efforts to trace him.
He was brought up partly by a foster mother, and also spent many holidays in Devon with his mother's family of farmers, from whom he learned to ride horses.[1] He was a second cousin of the fashion designer Norman Hartnell.[2]
He left school without prospects and dabbled in petty crime.[3] Through a boys' boxing club, at the age of 14[4] Hartnell met the art collector Hugh Blaker, who later became his unofficial guardian, arranged for him to train as a jockey and helped him to enter the Italia Conti Academy.[5] Theatre being a passion of Blaker's, he paid for Hartnell to receive some "polish" at the Imperial Service College, though Hartnell found the strictures too much and ran away.[1]
Career
Hartnell entered the theatre in 1925[1] working under Frank Benson as a general stagehand.[3][6] 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,[7] whom he married during the following year.[5] His first of more than 60 film appearances was in Say It With Music (1932).
Radio work also featured in his career, with his earliest known performance – in a production of Chinese Moon Party – being broadcast by the BBC on 11 May 1931.[8]
From the outbreak of the Second World War Hartnell served in the British Army in the Tank Corps, but he was invalided out after 18 months as the result of suffering a nervous breakdown and returned to acting.[5] In 1942 he was cast as Albert Fosdike in Noël Coward's film In Which We Serve. He turned up late for his first day of shooting, and Coward berated him in front of the cast and crew for his unprofessionalism, made him personally apologise to everyone and then sacked him. Michael Anderson, who was the first assistant director, took over the part (and was credited as "Mickey Anderson").[9]
Hartnell continued to play comic characters until he was cast in the robust role of Sergeant Ned Fletcher in The Way Ahead (1944).[6] From then on his career was defined by playing mainly policemen, soldiers and thugs. This typecasting bothered him, for even when he was cast in comedies he found he invariably played the "heavy". In 1958 he played the sergeant in the first Carry On comedy film, Carry On Sergeant. He appeared as Will Buckley, another military character, in the film The Mouse That Roared (1959), which starred Peter Sellers, and he played a town councillor in the Boulting brothers' film Heavens Above! (1963), again with Sellers.
His first regular role on television was as Sergeant Major Percy Bullimore in The Army Game in 1957. He left after the first season and returned for the final season in 1961. Again, although it was a comedy series, he found himself cast in a "tough guy" role. He also appeared in a supporting role in the film version of This Sporting Life (1963), giving a sensitive performance as an ageing rugby league talent scout known as "Dad".[6]
Doctor Who (1963–66)
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/7/70/First_Doctor_%28Doctor_Who%29.jpg/180px-First_Doctor_%28Doctor_Who%29.jpg)
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; mainly on the strength of that performance, Lambert offered him the title role. Although Hartnell was initially uncertain about accepting a part in what was pitched to him as a children's series, in part due to his success in films,[10] Lambert and director Waris Hussein convinced him to take the part, and it became the character for which he gained the highest profile and is now most remembered. Hartnell later revealed that he took the role because it led him away from the gruff, military parts in which he had become typecast, and, having two grandchildren of his own, he came to relish particularly the attention and affection that playing the character brought him from children. His first episode of Doctor Who was aired on 23 November 1963.[11]
Doctor Who earned Hartnell a regular salary of £315 an episode by 1966 (in the era of 48 weeks per year production on the series), equivalent to £7,412 in 2023. By comparison, in 1966 his co-stars Anneke Wills and Michael Craze were earning £68 and £52 per episode at the same time, respectively.[12] Throughout his tenure as the Doctor, William Hartnell wore a wig when playing the part, as the character had long hair.[13]
According to some of his colleagues on Doctor Who, he could be a difficult person to work with. Others, though, such as the actors William Russell and Peter Purves, and the producer Verity Lambert, spoke glowingly of him after more than 40 years. Carole Ann Ford, who played the Doctor's granddaughter Susan, has said that she and Hartnell "got on terribly well", saying "It upsets me when I hear people saying he was difficult to work with, he was very sweet".[14] Hartnell also adored Verity Lambert and had great respect for Waris Hussein.[1][15] Hartnell also admired African American singer Paul Robeson. In his Desert Island Discs interview, Hartnell stated that Paul Robeson was his hero and described him as having a voice like crushed velvet. Hartnell described Robeson in his own words, "this man's voice is so rich", saying "to me, he is completely in harmony with the whole of nature and it sounds just liquid poetry".[16]
Hartnell's deteriorating health (he suffered from arteriosclerosis) began to affect his ability to learn his lines, and he had a poor relationship with a new production team on the series following the departure of Verity Lambert. He left Doctor Who in 1966.[13][17] When he departed the producer of the show came up with the idea that, since the Doctor is an alien, he can transform himself physically, thereby renewing himself. William Hartnell himself suggested the new Doctor, stating that "There's only one man in England who can take over, and that's Patrick Troughton."[18] In the fourth episode of the serial The Tenth Planet the First Doctor regenerates into Troughton's Second Doctor.[19]
Many of Hartnell's episodes are missing from the BBC archives as a result of the BBC's purge of old shows during the early 1970s.
Hartnell reprised the role of the Doctor in Doctor Who during the tenth anniversary story The Three Doctors (1972–73). When Hartnell's wife Heather found out about his planned involvement she informed the crew of the show that his failing memory and weakening health prevented him from starring in the special. An agreement was made between the crew and Heather that Hartnell would sit down during the shoot and read his lines from cue cards.[20] His appearance in this story was his final piece of work as an actor.
Portrayals in fiction
Hartnell appears as a character in the Doctor Who audio drama Pier Pressure, which stars Colin Baker as the Sixth Doctor.
For the 50th anniversary of Doctor Who in 2013 the BBC broadcast An Adventure in Space and Time, a dramatisation of the events surrounding the creation of the series. David Bradley portrayed Hartnell.[21][22][23]
Later life and death
Hartnell's health had worsened during the early 1970s, and in December 1974 he was admitted to hospital permanently. In early 1975 he suffered a series of strokes brought on by cerebrovascular disease, and he died in his sleep of heart failure on 23 April 1975, at the age of 67.[24] He was cremated and his ashes are buried at the Kent and Sussex Crematorium and Cemetery.
A clip of a scene starring Hartnell from the end of the Doctor Who serial The Dalek Invasion of Earth (1964) was used as a pre-credits sequence for the 20th anniversary story The Five Doctors (1983); Richard Hurndall portrayed the First Doctor for the remainder of the story, in Hartnell's absence.[25] Colourised footage of Hartnell in The Aztecs was meshed with new footage of actress Jenna-Louise Coleman, and with body doubles for the First Doctor and Susan, to create a new scene in 2013's "The Name of the Doctor". The following story and the 50th anniversary special of the show, "The Day of the Doctor", featured two new pieces of dialogue for Hartnell's Doctor, recorded by John Guilor, who had previously voiced the actor in a reconstruction of Planet of Giants. Hartnell's Doctor also made a silent cameo appearance in the Series 9 episode "The Witch's Familiar" (2015) again played by a body double. David Bradley, who portrayed Hartnell in the biopic An Adventure in Space and Time, played the First Doctor in the Series 10 episode "The Doctor Falls", and the 2017 Christmas special, "Twice Upon a Time", which also served as Twelfth Doctor actor Peter Capaldi's final story.
Hartnell was married to Heather McIntyre from 9 May 1929 until his death. They had one child, a daughter, Heather Anne,[3] and two grandchildren.[12] After living at 51 Church Street, Isleworth, next door to Hugh Blaker, the Hartnells lived on Thames Ditton Island[citation needed]. Then in the 1960s they moved to a cottage in Mayfield, Sussex. They lived in later life at Sheephurst Lane in Marden, Kent. Heather Hartnell died in 1984.
The only published biography of him is by his granddaughter, Judith "Jessica" Carney, entitled Who's There? The Life and Career of William Hartnell. It was first published in 1996 by Virgin Publishing. To mark the 50th anniversary of Doctor Who Carney, with Fantom Publishing, revised and republished the book in 2013.[26]
A blue plaque marking Hartnell's work in film and television was unveiled at Ealing Studios by his granddaughter, Jessica Carney, on 14 October 2018.[27]
Filmography
Hartnell acted in numerous British films, as well as having many stage and television appearances, though he is best known for his role in Doctor Who.[3]
Film
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
1932 | Say It with Music | film debut | |
1933 | The Lure | Billy | |
I'm an Explosive | Edward Whimperley | ||
Follow the Lady | Mike Martindale | ||
1934 | Swinging the Lead | Freddy Fordum | |
The Perfect Flaw | Vickers | ||
Seeing Is Believing | Ronald Gibson | ||
1935 | Old Faithful | Minor role | Credited as "Billy Hartnell" |
While Parents Sleep | George | ||
The Guv'nor | Car salesman | Uncredited | |
1936 | The Crimson Circle | Minor role | Credited as "Billy Hartnell" |
The Shadow of Mike Emerald | Unknown | Uncredited | |
Midnight at Madame Tussaud's | Stubbs | Credited as "Billy Hartnell" | |
La Vie parisienne | Unknown | ||
Nothing Like Publicity | Pat Spencer | Credited as "Billy Hartnell" | |
1937 | Farewell Again | Minor role | Uncredited |
1938 | They Drive by Night | Bus Conductor | Credited as "Billy Hartnell" |
1939 | Too Dangerous to Live | Minor role | |
Murder Will Out | Dick | ||
1940 | They Came by Night | Minor Role | Uncredited |
1941 | Freedom Radio | Radio Location Aerial Operator | Uncredited |
1942 | Flying Fortress | Gaylord Parker | Uncredited |
They Flew Alone | Scotty | Credited as "Billy Hartnell" | |
Suspected Person | Saunders | ||
The Goose Steps Out | German Officer at Station | Uncredited | |
Sabotage at Sea | Jacob Digby | ||
The Peterville Diamond | Joseph | Credited as "Bill Hartnell" | |
1943 | The Bells Go Down | Brookes | Credited as "Billy Hartnell" |
The Dark Tower | Jim Towers | Credited as "Bill Hartnell" | |
Headline | Dell | ||
1944 | The Way Ahead | Sgt. Ned Fletcher | Credited as "Billy Hartnell" |
Strawberry Roan | Chris Lowe | ||
1945 | The Agitator | Peter Pettinger | |
Murder in Reverse | Tom Masterick | ||
1946 | Appointment with Crime | Leo Martin | |
1947 | Odd Man Out | Fencie | |
Temptation Harbour | Jim Brown | ||
1948 | Brighton Rock | Dallow | |
Escape | Inspector Harris | ||
1949 | Now Barabbas | Warder Jackson | |
The Lost People | Barnes | ||
1950 | Double Confession | Charlie Durham | |
1951 | The Dark Man | Police Superintendent | |
1952 | The Magic Box | Recruiting Sergeant | |
The Pickwick Papers | Irate Cabman | ||
The Ringer | Sam Hackett | ||
The Holly and the Ivy | The Company Sergeant-Major (C.S.M.) | ||
1953 | Will Any Gentleman...? | Detective Inspector (D.I.) Martin | |
1955 | Footsteps in the Fog | Herbert Moseby | |
Josephine and Men | Detective Sgt.(D.S.) Parsons | ||
1956 | Private's Progress | Sergeant Sutton | |
Doublecross | Herbert Whiteway | ||
Tons of Trouble | Bert | ||
1957 | Yangtse Incident: The Story of H.M.S. Amethyst | Leading Seaman Frank | |
Hell Drivers | Cartley | ||
The Hypnotist | Detective Inspector Ross | ||
Date with Disaster | Tracy | ||
1958 | On the Run | Tom Casey | |
Carry On Sergeant | Sergeant Grimshawe | ||
1959 | Shake Hands with the Devil | Sergeant Jenkins | |
The Mouse That Roared | Sergeant-at-Arms Will Buckley | ||
The Night We Dropped a Clanger | Sergeant Bright | ||
Strictly Confidential | Grimshaw | ||
Kraft Television Theatre | Smith | Episode: "The Desperate Men" | |
1960 | And the Same to You | Walter "Wally" Burton | |
Piccadilly Third Stop | Colonel | ||
Jackpot | Superintendent Frawley | ||
1963 | This Sporting Life | 'Dad' Johnson | |
Heavens Above! | Major Fowler | ||
Tomorrow at Ten | Freddy | ||
The World Ten Times Over | Dad | ||
To Have and to Hold | Insp. Roberts |
Television
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
1955 | Douglas Fairbanks, Jr., Presents | Christy | Season 3, Episode 28: "The Auction" |
London Playhouse | Kenyon | Season 1, Episode 7: "The Inward Eye" | |
1956 | The Errol Flynn Theatre | Himself | Season 1, Episode 13: "The Red Geranium" |
1957 | A Santa For Christmas | Unknown | TV movie |
1957–1961 | The Army Game | Company Sergeant Major Percy Bullimore |
Series 1 (3 episodes) Series 2 (2 episodes) Series 5 (8 episodes) |
1958–1959 | Dial 999 | Joss Crawford Jeff Richards |
Season 1, Episode 1: "The Killing Job" Season 1, Episode 16: "50,000 Hands" |
1959 | Probation Officer | Unknown | Season 1, Episode 28 |
The Flying Doctor | Abe McKeller | Season 1, Episode 9: "The Changing Plain" | |
1960 | ITV Television Playhouse | Reynolds Jim |
Season 5, Episode 41: "Place of My Own" Season 5, Episode 44: "After the Party" |
1961 | Kraft Mystery Theater | Unknown | Season 1, Episode 11: "The Desperate Men" |
Ghost Squad | Fred Rice | Season 1, Episode 4: "High Wire" | |
1963 | The Plane Makers | Wally Griggs | Season 1, Episode 15: "One of Those Days" |
The Edgar Wallace Mystery Theatre | Inspector Roberts | Season 4, Episode 9: "To Have and to Hold" | |
1963–1966, 1972–1973 |
Doctor Who | First Doctor | Season 1 (42 episodes) Season 2 (39 episodes) Season 3 (45 episodes) Season 4 (8 episodes) Season 10 (4 episodes), (final appearance) |
1967 | No Hiding Place | Impey | Season 10, Episode 2: "The Game" |
1968 | Softly, Softly | Henry Swift | Season 3, Episode 13: "Cause of Death" |
1969 | Life With Johnny | Dad | Season 1, 2 Episodes inc "Johnny Come Home"[28] |
1970 | Crime of Passion | Henri Lindon | Season 1, Episode 6: "Alain" |
References
- ^ a b c d Carney
- ^ Keay, Douglas (26 July 1957). "Off Parade – At the Hartnell Home". TV Times. London.
- ^ a b c d Meyrick, Robert (2004) "Hugh Blaker: Doing His Bit for the Moderns" Journal of the History of Collections 16 (2):173–89 ISSN 0954-6650
- ^ Retter, Emily (22 November 2013). "William Hartnell: Original Doctor Who transformed himself from a poverty stricken illegitimate child and hard-drinking womaniser to one of television's most iconic characters". The Mirror. Retrieved 14 December 2013.
- ^ a b c "Hartnell, William Henry (1908–1975)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Oxford University Press. September 2004. Retrieved 2 November 2007.
- ^ a b c "Obituary: Mr William Hartnell – An actor of varied talents", The Times, 25 April 1975.
- ^ Craig Cabell Who Were the Doctors (John Blake, 2013)
- ^ "BBC Genome Project, 11 May 1931". BBC. Retrieved 5 March 2018.
- ^ Hoare, Philip (1995). Noël Coward: A Biography. New York: Simon & Schuster. ISBN 978-0-684-80937-3.
- ^ Mulkern, Patrick (16 October 2013). "Doctor Who's Waris Hussein on William Hartnell, Bette Davis, & Peter Cook loathing David Frost". Radio Times. Retrieved 14 December 2013.
- ^ 2-entertain (2006). Doctor Who: Origins. YouTube. Retrieved 28 July 2013.
{{cite AV media}}
: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - ^ a b Howe, David J.; Stammers, Mark; Walker, Stephen James (1994). The Handbook: The First Doctor – The William Hartnell Years 1963–1966. London: Virgin Publishing. ISBN 978-0-426-20430-5.
- ^ a b Doctor Who. "A Brief History of a Time Lord". British Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 28 July 2013.
- ^ Martin, William (13 February 2006). "Carole Ann Ford ('Doctor Who') interview". Cultbox. Retrieved 6 September 2018.
- ^ Mulkern, Patrick (16 October 2013). "Doctor Who's Waris Hussein on William Hartnell, Bette Davis, & Peter Cook loathing David Frost". Radio Times. Retrieved 13 November 2013.
- ^ "BBC Radio 4 - Desert Island Discs, William Hartnell". BBC.
- ^ Haining, p. 39
- ^ Howe, Stammers and Walker, p. 68
- ^ The Tenth Planet. Doctor Who. 8–29 October 1966. BBC.
{{cite serial}}
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suggested) (help) - ^ Doctor Who (7 February 2012). "Exclusive First Look: Hartnell's perseverance – Doctor Who – The Three Doctors". British Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 28 July 2013.
- ^ Jones, David (29 January 2013). "Doctor Who: Mark Gatiss reveals casting for An Adventure in Space and Time". Radio Times. Retrieved 30 January 2013.
- ^ Zemler, Emily (24 July 2013). "'Doctor Who' celebrates 50 years with biopic". CNN. Retrieved 27 July 2013.
- ^ Cornet, Ron (22 July 2013). "Comic-Con: Doctor Who's 50th!". IGN. Retrieved 27 July 2013.
- ^ "BBC – Archive – The Changing Face of Doctor Who – 'Radio Times' Letters Page, 24 November 1966". www.bbc.co.uk.
- ^ "The Five Doctors". Doctor Who. 23 November 1983. BBC.
{{cite episode}}
: Unknown parameter|episodelink=
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suggested) (help) - ^ Retter, Emily (22 November 2013). "Story of the first Doctor Who: How illegitimate thief and womaniser William Hartnell became the original Time Lord".
- ^ "DWAS honours William Hartnell". Doctor Who News. 14 October 2018. Retrieved 14 October 2018.
- ^ nwhyte (18 April 2015). "William Hartnell as Cliff Richard's father".
Bibliography
- Wood, Tat; Lawrence Miles (2006). About Time 1: The Unauthorized Guide to Doctor Who 1963–1966. Illinois: Mad Norwegian Press. ISBN 978-0-9759446-0-8.
- Carney, Jessica (1996). Who's There? The Life and Career of William Hartnell. Virgin Publishing. ISBN 978-1-85227-514-3.
- Howe, David J.; Stammers, Mark; Walker, Stephen James (1993). Doctor Who: The Sixties. London: Virgin Publishing. ISBN 978-0-86369-707-4.
- Haining, Peter (1983). Doctor Who: A Celebration. London: W.H. Allen and Co. ISBN 978-0-491-03351-0.
External links
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/fa/Wikiquote-logo.svg/34px-Wikiquote-logo.svg.png)
- William Hartnell at IMDb
- William Hartnell at the BFI's Screenonline
- 1908 births
- 1975 deaths
- British Army personnel of World War II
- English male film actors
- English male television actors
- English male stage actors
- English male Shakespearean actors
- Male actors from Kent
- People from St Pancras, London
- Alumni of the Italia Conti Academy of Theatre Arts
- People educated at the Imperial Services College
- 20th-century English male actors
- English adoptees
- British male comedy actors