William Hartnell
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
Doctor Who
The Doctor (archive footage)
Doctor Who
The Doctor
Doctor Who
Doctor Who
No Hiding Place
The Army Game
Heavens Above!
Major Fowler
Ghost Squad
Doctor Who: The Doctors Revisited
Self
Doctor Who: Lost in Time
The Doctor
Tales of the Tardis
The Doctor
Doctor Who: The Day of the Doctor
The Doctor (1) (archive footage)
Doctor Who at the Proms
The Doctor (1) (archive footage)
That's Carry On!
Sergeant Grimshawe
An Adventure in Space and Time
The Doctor (1) (archive footage)
Carry On Sergeant
Sergeant Grimshawe
Doctor Who: Twice Upon a Time
The Doctor (1) (archive footage)
Hell Drivers
Cartley, Hawlett Manager
Doctor Who: The Husbands of River Song
The Doctor (1) (picture) (uncredited)
Doctor Who: The Chase
The Doctor
Doctor Who: The Five Doctors
The Doctor (1) (archive footage)
Doctor Who: The Romans
The Doctor
Footsteps in the Fog
Herbert Moresby
Brighton Rock
Dallow
The Way Ahead
Sgt. Ned Fletcher
The Magic Box
Recruiting Sergeant
The Mouse That Roared
Will Buckley
The Ties That Bind Us
The First Doctor (archive footage)
Doctor Who: The Next Doctor
The Doctor (1) (archive footage)
Odd Man Out
Fencie - the barman
Will Any Gentleman...?
Detective Inspector Martin
Private's Progress
Sgt. Sutton
Doctor Who: The Keys of Marinus
The Doctor
Doctor Who: The Web Planet
The Doctor
The Night We Dropped a Clanger
Sgt. Bright
Shake Hands with the Devil
Sergeant Jenkins
Doctor Who: The Daleks' Master Plan
The Doctor
Doctor Who: Resurrection of the Daleks
The Doctor (1) (archive footage) (uncredited)
Doctor Who: The Dalek Invasion of Earth
The Doctor
Doctor Who: The Brain of Morbius
The Doctor (1) (picture) (uncredited)
Doctor Who: The Crusade
The Doctor
Doctor Who: The Tenth Planet
The Doctor (1)
Tomorrow at Ten
Freddie Maddox
And the Same to You
Walter 'Wally' Burton
Doctor Who: Marco Polo
The Doctor
The Bells Go Down
Brookes
Talking Doctor Who
Self / The Doctor (1) (archive footage)
Josephine and Men
Detective Sgt. Parsons
Doctor Who: The Aztecs
The Doctor
They Drive by Night
Bus Conductor
Doctor Who: Mawdryn Undead
The Doctor (1) (archive footage)
The Pickwick Papers
Irate Cabman
Doctor Who: The Daleks
Dr. Who
The Goose Steps Out
German Officer at Station
Now Barabbas
Warder Jackson
Strictly Confidential
Grimshaw
Yangtse Incident: The Story of H.M.S. Amethyst
Leading Seaman Leslie Frank
Doctor Who: The War Machines
The Doctor
The Ringer
Sam Hackett
Temptation Harbour
Jim Brown
Doctor Who: The Daleks in Colour
The Doctor (archive footage)
Doctor Who: Planet of Giants
The Doctor
Doctor Who: Earthshock
The Doctor (1) (archive footage)
Doctor Who: The Ark
The Doctor
Escape
Inspector Harris
Doctor Who: An Unearthly Child
Dr. Who
Doctor Who: The Celestial Toymaker
The Doctor (voice)
Doctor Who: The Savages
The Doctor
Doctor Who: The Celestial Toymaker
The Doctor
Freedom Radio
Radio Location Aerial Operator (uncredited)
Doctor Who: The Three Doctors
The Doctor
The Holly and the Ivy
Company Sergeant Major
Doctor Who: The Gunfighters
The Doctor
Doctor Who: The Smugglers
The Doctor
Doctor Who: The Reign of Terror
The Doctor
The Agitator
Peter Pettinger (as Billy Hartnell)
Doctor Who: The Space Museum
The Doctor
Doctor Who: The Power of the Daleks
The Doctor in the mirror (uncredited)
Appointment with Crime
Leo Martin
Doctor Who: The Savages
The Doctor (voice)
The Dark Man
Superintendent of Police
Doctor Who: The Sensorites
The Doctor
They Flew Alone
Scotty
Murder in Reverse?
Tom Masterick
Doctor Who: Day of the Daleks
The Doctor (1) (picture) (uncredited)
Suspected Person
Detective Saunders
Date with Disaster
Tracey
This Sporting Life
'Dad' Johnson
Piccadilly Third Stop
Colonel
Doctor Who: The Myth Makers
The Doctor
Doctor Who: The Rescue
The Doctor
Doctor Who: The Time Meddler
The Doctor
Jackpot
Supt. Frawley
Doctor Who: Galaxy 4
The Doctor
Farewell Again
Minor Role
The Crimson Circle
The Hypnotist
Inspector Ross
Midnight at Madame Tussaud's
Stubbs
Sabotage at Sea
Jacob Digby
To Have and to Hold
Insp. Roberts
Headline
Dell
Doctor Who: The Massacre of St Bartholomew's Eve
The Doctor/Abbot of Amboise
Double Confession
Charlie Durham
Strawberry Roan
Chris Lowe
Doctor Who: The Edge of Destruction
Dr. Who
Masters of Sound
The Doctor (archive footage)
The Lost People
Barnes
Doublecross
Herbert Whiteway
The Peterville Diamond
Joseph (as Bill Hartnell)
The World Ten Times Over
Dad
The Dark Tower
Jim Towers (as Bill Hartnell)
Don't Lose Your Head
The Doctor (archive footage)
The Sets of Marinus
The Doctor (archive footage)
Parisian Life
They Came by Night
Undetermined Role
The Guv'nor
Car Salesman
Inside the Spaceship: The Story of the TARDIS
The Doctor (archive footage)
Remembering 'The Aztecs'
The Doctor (archive footage)
Creation of the Daleks
The Doctor (archive footage)
Murder Will Out
Dick
Tons of Trouble
Bert
The Lure
Billy
Follow the Lady
Mike Martindale
Vision On
The Doctor (archive footage)
Doctor Who: Galaxy 4
The Doctor (voice)
The Desperate Man
Smith
The Perfect Flaw
Vickers