William Hartnell
Acting
Born: January 8, 1908 · Saint Pancras, London, England, UK
Died: April 23, 1975 (aged 67)
Highest Rated
Biography
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 Day of the Doctor
2013
Doctor Who
1963
Doctor Who: The Next Doctor
2008
Odd Man Out
1947
An Adventure in Space and Time
2013
Doctor Who: The Husbands of River Song
2015
The Mouse That Roared
1959
Doctor Who: Twice Upon a Time
2017
Brighton Rock
1948
This Sporting Life
1963
Carry On Sergeant
1958
Hell Drivers
1957
Photos (6)
Movies (116)
Doctor Who: The Day of the Doctor
The Doctor (1) (archive footage)
Doctor Who at the Proms
The Doctor (1) (archive footage)
An Adventure in Space and Time
The Doctor (1) (archive footage)
The Mouse That Roared
Will Buckley
Hell Drivers
Cartley, Hawlett Manager
Odd Man Out
Fencie - the barman
Doctor Who: The Husbands of River Song
The Doctor (1) (picture) (uncredited)
This Sporting Life
'Dad' Johnson
Doctor Who: Twice Upon a Time
The Doctor (1) (archive footage)
Carry On Sergeant
Sergeant Grimshawe
Footsteps in the Fog
Herbert Moresby
Private's Progress
Sgt. Sutton
Heavens Above!
Major Fowler
The Way Ahead
Sgt. Ned Fletcher
That's Carry On!
Sergeant Grimshawe (archive footage)
What's a Carry On?
Sergeant Grimshawe (archive footage) (uncredited)
Will Any Gentleman...?
Detective Inspector Martin
The Crimson Circle
1936
Doctor Who: Wish World & The Reality War
Dr. Who (archive footage) (uncredited)
The Magic Box
Recruiting Sergeant
Temptation Harbour
Jim Brown
Doctor Who: The Next Doctor
The Doctor (1) (archive footage)
Doctor Who: Resurrection of the Daleks
The Doctor (1) (archive footage) (uncredited)
The Agitator
Peter Pettinger (as Billy Hartnell)
Doctor Who: The Chase
The Doctor
Shake Hands with the Devil
Sergeant Jenkins
Brighton Rock
Dallow
The Pickwick Papers
Irate Cabman
The Guv'nor
Car Salesman
Masters of Sound
The Doctor (archive footage)
The Lost People
Barnes
Now Barabbas
Warder Jackson
Yangtse Incident: The Story of H.M.S. Amethyst
Leading Seaman Leslie Frank
Doctor Who: Origins
The Doctor (archive footage)
Strictly Confidential
Grimshaw
Doctor Who: Day of the Daleks
The Doctor (1) (picture) (uncredited)
Doctor Who: The Brain of Morbius
The Doctor (1) (picture) (uncredited)
They Came by Night
Undetermined Role
Piccadilly Third Stop
Colonel
They Flew Alone
Scotty
Doctor Who: The Romans
The Doctor
Doctor Who: The Five Doctors
The First Doctor (archive footage)
The Ties That Bind Us
The First Doctor (archive footage)
Creation of the Daleks
The Doctor (archive footage)
Josephine and Men
Detective Sgt. Parsons
Doctor Who: The Dalek Invasion of Earth
The Doctor
Doctor Who: The Daleks in Colour
The Doctor (archive footage)
The World Ten Times Over
Dad
Doctor Who: The Reign of Terror
The Doctor
Doctor Who: Mawdryn Undead
The Doctor (1) (archive footage)
Doctor Who: The Daleks' Master Plan
The Doctor
The Peterville Diamond
Joseph (as Bill Hartnell)
Doctor Who: The Crusade
The Doctor
The Goose Steps Out
German Officer at Station
Doctor Who: The Power of the Daleks
The Doctor in the mirror (uncredited)
Doctor Who: The Time Meddler
The Doctor
The Bells Go Down
Brookes
Doctor Who: The Space Museum
The Doctor
The Night We Dropped a Clanger
Sgt. Bright
Doctor Who: The War Machines
The Doctor
Escape
Inspector Harris
Doctor Who: The Tenth Planet
The Doctor (1)
Doctor Who: The Myth Makers
The Doctor
Doctor Who: Galaxy 4
The Doctor (voice)
Murder in Reverse
Tom Masterick
Doctor Who: Marco Polo
The Doctor
And the Same to You
Walter 'Wally' Burton
Appointment with Crime
Leo Martin
Doctor Who: The Keys of Marinus
The Doctor
Doctor Who: The Sensorites
The Doctor
Doctor Who: Planet of Giants
The Doctor
The Hypnotist
Inspector Ross
Doctor Who: Earthshock
The Doctor (1) (archive footage)
Doctor Who: The Ark
The Doctor
The Ringer
Sam Hackett
Doctor Who: The Celestial Toymaker
The Doctor (voice)
Doctor Who: The Daleks
The Doctor
Doctor Who: The Savages
The Doctor (voice)
To Have and to Hold
Insp. Roberts
Double Confession
Charlie Durham
Doctor Who: An Unearthly Child
The Doctor
Tomorrow at Ten
Freddie Maddox
The Holly and the Ivy
Company Sergeant Major
The Dark Tower
Jim Towers (as Bill Hartnell)
Future Memories: Making 'The Dalek Invasion of Earth'
The Doctor (1) (archive footage)
Freedom Radio
Radio Location Aerial Operator (uncredited)
Jackpot
Supt. Frawley
Doctor Who: The Smugglers
The Doctor
Doctor Who: The Rescue
The Doctor
The Dark Man
Superintendent of Police
They Drive by Night
Bus Conductor
Doctor Who: The Massacre of St Bartholomew's Eve
The Doctor / Abbot of Amboise
Doctor Who: The Gunfighters
The Doctor
Suspected Person
Detective Saunders
The Desperate Man
Smith
Doctor Who: The Edge of Destruction
The Doctor
Doctor Who: The Aztecs
The Doctor
Doctor Who: The Web Planet
The Doctor
Strawberry Roan
Chris Lowe
Doctor Who: The Three Doctors
The Doctor
Midnight at Madame Tussaud's
Stubbs
Vision On
The Doctor (archive footage)
Date with Disaster
Tracey
Tons of Trouble
Bert
Farewell Again
Minor Role
Mounting the Rescue
The Doctor (1) (archive footage)
Headline
Dell
A Defeated People
Commentator (voice)
Doctor Who: The Savages
The Doctor
Sabotage at Sea
Jacob Digby
Doctor Who: Galaxy 4
The Doctor
Inside the Spaceship: The Story of the TARDIS
The Doctor (archive footage)
Doctor Who: The Celestial Toymaker
The Doctor
The Sets of Marinus
The Doctor (archive footage)
Don't Lose Your Head: The Making of 'The Reign of Terror'
The Doctor (archive footage)
Remembering 'The Aztecs'
The Doctor (archive footage)
TV Shows (7)
Doctor Who
The Doctor · 138 eps
No Hiding Place
1 eps
The Army Game
Sergeant Major Percy Bullimore · 50 eps
Tales of the Tardis
The Doctor · 2 eps
Ghost Squad
1 eps
Doctor Who: Lost in Time
The Doctor · 3 eps
Doctor Who: Galaxy 4
Doctor Who · 8 eps
