William Hartnell

William Henry Hartnell (8 January 1908 – 23 April 1975) was an English actor. He is best remembered for his portrayal of the first incarnation of the Doctor in '' Doctor Who'' from 1963 to 1966. In film, Hartnell notably appeared in '' Brighton Rock'' (1949), ''The Mouse That Roared'' (1959) and ''This Sporting Life'' (1963). He was associated with military roles, playing Company Sergeant Major Percy Bullimore in the ITV sitcom ''The Army Game'' (1957, 1961) and Sergeant Grimshaw, the title character in the first ''Carry On'' film ''Carry On Sergeant'' (1958).

Early life

Hartnell was born on 8 January 1908 in the slums of the district of 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. In various interviews, he claimed that he was born in Seaton, Devon, and that his father was a dairy farmer, but later said he was a soldier turned stockbroker.

Hartnell 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. Carney Reportedly, Hartnell had a fall and was kicked by a horse. An unspecified person applied disinfectant to the open wound in an apparent attempt to cleanse it. However, the disinfectant was of a type unsuitable for first aid purposes and caused blisters. The end result was a more serious wound than would have otherwise occurred. That left him with a large scar on his temple, which is visible in some of his stills shots even though it was covered with make-up during filming. He was a second cousin of the fashion designer Norman Hartnell.

Hartnell left school without prospects and dabbled in petty crime. At the age of 16, he 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. 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. When Hartnell married, he and his wife continued to live in one of Blaker's adjacent properties at Isleworth and their daughter was born there in 1929.

Career

Early career

Hartnell entered the theatre in 1925 working under Frank Benson as a general stagehand."Obituary: Mr William Hartnell – An actor of varied talents", ''The Times'', 25 April 1975. 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), '' The 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 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.

From the outbreak of the Second World War, Hartnell attempted to volunteer for the RAF. He served in the British Army in the Tank Corps, but he was invalided out after 18 months as the result of a nervous breakdown and returned to acting. 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").

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. 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".

Hartnell described himself as "a legitimate character actor of the theatre and film".

''Doctor Who''

Hartnell's performance in ''This Sporting Life'' was liked by Verity Lambert, the producer who was setting up a new science-fiction television series for the BBC
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