William Hartnell

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
Died	23 April 1975(1975-04-23) (aged 67) Marden, Kent, England
Alma mater	Italia Conti Academy
Years active	1925–1973
Known for	First Doctor in Doctor Who
Spouse	Heather McIntyre ​ (m. 1929)​
Children	1
Relatives	Norman 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

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. 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. 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. 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

Hartnell in 1950

Early career

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, 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, 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 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".

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 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, 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." His first episode of Doctor Who aired on 23 November 1963.

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

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

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 and antisemitic. 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. 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!"

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. 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. 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." Hartnell departed the show in the serial The Tenth Planet where the First Doctor regenerates into Troughton's Second Doctor.

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. His appearance in the story was his final piece of work as an actor due to his declining health.

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

Hartnell was married to Heather McIntyre from 9 May 1929 until his death. They had a daughter, Heather Anne, and two grandchildren. After living at 51 Church Street, Isleworth, next door to Hugh Blaker, the Hartnells lived on Thames Ditton Island. 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.

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.

Later life and death

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.

Legacy

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.

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.

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

Filmography

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	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

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 4 (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	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	Season 1 (42 episodes) Season 2 (39 episodes) Season 3 (44 episodes) Season 4 (8 episodes) Season 10 (4 episodes)
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"
1970	Crime of Passion	Henri Lindon	Season 1, Episode 6: "Alain"

Theatre

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

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

• William Hartnell at IMDb
• William Hartnell at the BFI's Screenonline