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William Hartnell

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For the merchant, schoolmaster and governor, see William Edward Petty Hartnell.

William Hartnell
Hartnell in 1946
Born
William Henry Hartnell

(1908-01-08)8 January 1908
London, England
Died23 April 1975(1975-04-23) (aged 67)
Marden, Kent, England
Alma materItalia Conti Academy
Years active1925–1973
Known forFirst Doctor in Doctor Who
Spouse
Heather McIntyre
​
(m. 1929)​
Children1
RelativesNorman Hartnell (second cousin)

William Henry Hartnell (/ˈhɑːrtnəl/; 8 January 1908 – 23 April 1975) was an English actor, who is best known for portraying the first incarnation of the Doctor, in the long-running British science-fiction television series Doctor Who from 1963 to 1966; he reprised the role in 1972–1973. 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

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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.[1][2] Hartnell never discovered the identity of his father, whose particulars were left blank on his birth certificate, despite his efforts to trace him.[3] 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.[4]

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.[5] Reportedly, Hartnell had a fall and was kicked by a horse. Disinfectant was applied to the open wound to cleanse it. However, the disinfectant was of a type unsuitable for first aid purposes and caused blisters. The result was a more serious wound than what would have otherwise occurred.[6] Hartnell was left 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.[5] He was a second cousin of the fashion designer Norman Hartnell.[7]

Hartnell left school without prospects and dabbled in petty crime.[8][9] 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.[10] 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.[5] 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.[11]

Career

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Hartnell in 1950

Early career

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Hartnell entered the theatre in 1925[5] working under Frank Benson as a general stagehand.[8][12] He appeared in numerous Shakespearian plays, including The Merchant of Venice, Julius Caesar, As You Like It, Hamlet, The Tempest and Macbeth (all 1926). He also appeared in She Stoops to Conquer, The School for Scandal (both 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,[13] whom he married during the following year.[10] 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.[14]

From the outbreak of the Second World War, Hartnell attempted to volunteer for the RAF.[15] 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.[10] 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").[16]

Hartnell continued to play comic characters until he was cast in the robust role of Sergeant Ned Fletcher in The Way Ahead (1944).[12] 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 1947 he was cast in a major role in the Boulting brothers classic gangster film noir Brighton Rock, playing the tough gang underboss, Dallow. In 1958, he played the sergeant in the first Carry On comedy film, Carry On Sergeant. He appeared as serjeant-at-arms of Grand Fenwick 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".[12]

Hartnell described himself as "a legitimate character actor of the theatre and film".[17][18]

Doctor Who

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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 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,[19][20] 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. An obituary would state how delighted Hartnell was to get the role of the Doctor at the age of 55 after a career of "playing what he called bastards."[21] His first episode of Doctor Who aired on 23 November 1963.[22]

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.[23] Throughout his tenure as the Doctor, Hartnell wore a wig when playing the part, as the character had long hair.[24]

Hartnell described his character the Doctor as "a wizard", and "a cross between the Wizard of Oz and Father Christmas".[25] According to William Russell, Hartnell deliberately became occasionally tongue-tied and stumbled over words.[26]

According to some of his colleagues on Doctor Who, Hartnell could be a difficult person to work with; among the more caustic accounts, Nicholas Courtney and Wills described Hartnell as being racist[27] and antisemitic.[28][29] Hussein stated that Hartnell was homophobic, but also said "I never allowed him to think of me as anything other than a director". They enjoyed a good working relationship and Hussein developed a "great affection" for Hartnell; Hussein said Hartnell was upset when Hussein left the show.[30][31] Hartnell's granddaughter, Jessica Carney, wrote that Hartnell was very bigoted and often made xenophobic comments but that "all those loudly expressed opinions were contradicted by his behaviour on a personal level". Val Speyer said that while Hartnell claimed not to like foreigners, "as one of his greatest friends on the show was half Greek and half Maltese, I didn't see how this could figure. However, if he liked someone, they weren't a foreigner, they were a friend!"[32]

Hartnell's deteriorating health (undiagnosed arteriosclerosis) began to affect his ability to learn his lines, with the problem increasing as his time on the series progressed.[33] In addition, he had a poor relationship with a new production team on the series following the departure of Lambert. He left Doctor Who in 1966.[24][34] When he departed, Lambert came up with the idea that, since the Doctor is an alien, he could transform himself physically, thereby renewing himself. Hartnell suggested his successor; "There's only one man in England who can take over, and that's Patrick Troughton."[35] Hartnell departed the show in the serial The Tenth Planet where the First Doctor regenerates into Troughton's Second Doctor.[36]

Hartnell reprised the role in the tenth anniversary story The Three Doctors from 1972 to 1973. When Hartnell's wife Heather found out about his planned involvement, she informed the show's crew that his failing memory and weakening health would prevent 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.[37] His appearance in the story was his final piece of work as an actor due to his declining health.[38]

Many of Hartnell's episodes are missing from the archives as a result of the then-standard practice of discarding old content in order to make room for newer ones. However, there is still a possibility of these episodes being rediscovered as other lost episodes have been since, but all of Hartnell's episodes do exist in audio form.

Personal life

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Hartnell was married to Heather McIntyre from 9 May 1929 until his death. They had a daughter, Heather Anne,[8] and two grandchildren.[23] 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.[39]

Asked about his religious beliefs in an interview for The Sunday Times in 1966, Hartnell claimed to "have a natural belief there is something or someone great that exists beyond [his] comprehension", further stating that he did not believe that going to church should be a duty and that he himself preferred to visit church in solitude.[40]

Later life and death

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Hartnell's health had worsened during the early 1970s and, in December 1974, he was admitted to hospital indefinitely. In early 1975, he suffered a series of strokes, brought on by cerebrovascular disease, and he died in his sleep in hospital from heart failure on 23 April 1975, at the age of 67.[41][42]

Legacy

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Hartnell's granddaughter, Judith "Jessica" Carney, published a biography entitled Who's There? The Life and Career of William Hartnell, 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.[43]

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, which had David Bradley portraying Hartnell.[44][45][46]

A blue plaque marking Hartnell's work in film and television was unveiled at Ealing Studios by Carney on 14 October 2018.[47]

Filmography

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Film

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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 Seeing Is Believing Ronald Gibson
The Perfect Flaw Vickers
Swinging the Lead Freddy Fordum
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 Detective 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 Powers 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 Credited as "Billy Hartnell"
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 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 Tracey
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
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 Freddie Maddox
The World Ten Times Over Dad

Television

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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
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 Smith 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"
1963 Edgar Wallace Mysteries Inspector Roberts Season 4, Episode 15: "To Have and to Hold"
  • 1963–1966
  • 1972–1973
 Doctor Who First Doctor
1966 Abbot of Amboise 4 episodes: The Massacre
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"[48]
1970 Crime of Passion Henri Lindon Season 1, Episode 6: "Alain"

Theatre

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Year Title Role Notes
1927 The Man Responsible Dr. Ronald Warden Theatre Royal, Grand Pier Pavilion, Weston-super-Mare, and other locations
1934 Good Morning, Bill Bill Paradene Richmond Theatre
1936 The Late Christopher Bean Tallent Victoria Palace Theatre
Family Affairs Nevil Madehurst
1937-8 Power and Glory First Journalist Savoy Theatre
1939-40 Nap Hand Customer Aldwych Theatre, London, Opera House and other locations
1942-3 Brighton Rock Dallow Garrick Theatre, London, Grand Theatre and other locations
1950 What Anne Brought Anne Douglas Purdie Royal County Theatre, Bedford
1950-4 Seagulls Over Sorrento Petty Officer Herbert Apollo Theatre (Shaftesbury Avenue), London, Duchess Theatre, London, and other locations
1955 Treble Trouble George Knowles Richmond Theatre
1956 Ring for Catty John Rhodes Coliseum Theatre, Harrow, Lyric Theatre (Shaftesbury Ave), London, and other locations
1961 The Cupboard Alf Thompson Arts Theatre, London
1966-7 Puss in Boots Buskin the Fairy Cobbler The Gaumont Theatre Ipswich, The Odeon Theatre, Southend, Cheltenham and Taunton
1967-8 Brother and Sister William Brazier Bristol Old Vic
1968 Lord Arthur Savile’s Crime Baines Ashcroft Theatre, Croydon, King’s Theatre and other locations

References

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  1. ^ "UPI Almanac for Monday, Jan. 8, 2018". United Press International. 8 January 2018. Archived from the original on 8 January 2018. Retrieved 21 September 2019. …actor William Hartnell in 1908
  2. ^ Carney, p. 20
  3. ^ Carney, p. 21
  4. ^ Carney, p. 20-21
  5. ^ a b c d Carney
  6. ^ Carney, p. 37-38
  7. ^ Keay, Douglas (26 July 1957). "Off Parade – At the Hartnell Home". TV Times. London.
  8. ^ a b c Meyrick, Robert (2004). "Hugh Blaker: Doing His Bit for the Moderns". Journal of the History of Collections. 16 (2): 173–89. doi:10.1093/jhc/16.2.173. ISSN 0954-6650
  9. ^ 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.
  10. ^ a b c "Hartnell, William Henry (1908–1975)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Oxford University Press. September 2004. Retrieved 2 November 2007.
  11. ^ Carney, Jessica (1996). Who's There? The Life and Career of William Hartnell. London.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  12. ^ a b c "Obituary: Mr William Hartnell – An actor of varied talents", The Times, 25 April 1975.
  13. ^ Craig Cabell Who Were the Doctors (John Blake, 2013)
  14. ^ "BBC Genome Project, 11 May 1931". BBC. Retrieved 5 March 2018.
  15. ^ Carney, p. 91
  16. ^ Hoare, Philip (1995). Noël Coward: A Biography. New York: Simon & Schuster. ISBN 978-0-684-80937-3.
  17. ^ Norton, Charles (22 August 2013). "Doctor Who: the rediscovered William Hartnell interview". The Guardian. Retrieved 8 October 2013.
  18. ^ Allen, Christopher (5 October 2013). "Hartnell: 'The Daleks were difficult to play to'". DoctorWho.tv. BBC. Retrieved 8 July 2021.
  19. ^ 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.
  20. ^ Sweney, Mark (16 October 2013). "Doctor Who director exposes William Hartnell as reluctant first Time Lord". The Guardian. Retrieved 13 November 2013.
  21. ^ Haining, Peter. Doctor Who: The Key to Time. A Year-by-Year Record. London: W. H. Allen, 1984, 151.
  22. ^ 2-entertain (2006). Doctor Who: Origins. YouTube. Retrieved 28 July 2013.{{cite AV media}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  23. ^ 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.
  24. ^ a b Doctor Who. "A Brief History of a Time Lord". British Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 28 July 2013.
  25. ^ Howe, Stammers & Walker (1993), pp. 16–17.
  26. ^ Howe, Stammers & Walker (1993), p. 19.
  27. ^ Harmes, Marcus K. (2014). Doctor Who and the Art of Adaptation: Fifty Years of Storytelling. Lanham, Maryland: Rowman & Littlefield. p. 40. ISBN 978-1442232853. Retrieved 4 September 2014.
  28. ^ Big Finish Talks Back: The Nicholas Courtney Memoirs (A Soldier in Time)
  29. ^ Mulkern, Patrick (1 April 2008). "Interview: Nicholas Courtney". Retrieved 27 July 2013.
  30. ^ Mulkern, Patrick (16 October 2013). "Doctor Who's Waris Hussein on William Hartnell, Bette Davis, & Peter Cook loathing David Frost". Radio Times. Retrieved 18 May 2024.
  31. ^ Lawrence, Ben (30 January 2024). "Waris Hussein: 'I am so angry the BBC sold Television Centre. They destroyed the world they had'". The Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 13 June 2024.
  32. ^ Carney, p. 171
  33. ^ Howe, Stammers & Walker (1993), p. 17.
  34. ^ Haining, p. 39
  35. ^ Howe, Stammers & Walker (1993), p. 68.
  36. ^ "The Tenth Planet". Doctor Who. Season 4. Episode 2. 29 October 1966. BBC.
  37. ^ Doctor Who (7 February 2012). "Exclusive First Look: Hartnell's perseverance – Doctor Who – The Three Doctors". British Broadcasting Corporation. Archived from the original on 11 December 2021. Retrieved 28 July 2013.
  38. ^ Smith, Neil (16 July 2017). "All the Doctors, from William Hartnell to Jodie Whittaker". BBC News. Retrieved 13 November 2024.
  39. ^ Cabell, Craig (27 November 2011). The Doctors Who's Who – the Story Behind Every Face of the Iconic Time Lord: Celebrating its 50th Year. Kings Road. ISBN 9781843585763.
  40. ^ Barnes, Alan (28 March 2024). "The Tell-Tale Hartnell". Doctor Who Magazine. Panini Comics. p. 47.
  41. ^ "BBC – Archive – The Changing Face of Doctor Who – 'Radio Times' Letters Page, 24 November 1966". www.bbc.co.uk.
  42. ^ "BBC News - Doctor Who, William Hartnell's Death - 23 April 1975". YouTube.
  43. ^ Retter, Emily (22 November 2013). "Story of the first Doctor Who: How illegitimate thief and womaniser William Hartnell became the original Time Lord". Daily Mirror.
  44. ^ Jones, David (29 January 2013). "Doctor Who: Mark Gatiss reveals casting for An Adventure in Space and Time". Radio Times. Retrieved 30 January 2013.
  45. ^ Zemler, Emily (24 July 2013). "'Doctor Who' celebrates 50 years with biopic". CNN. Retrieved 27 July 2013.
  46. ^ Cornet, Ron (22 July 2013). "Comic-Con: Doctor Who's 50th!". IGN. Retrieved 27 July 2013.
  47. ^ "DWAS honours William Hartnell". Doctor Who News. 14 October 2018. Retrieved 14 October 2018.
  48. ^ nwhyte (18 April 2015). "William Hartnell as Cliff Richard's father".

Bibliography

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