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William Hartnell
Sign in to saveEnglish actor (1908–1975)
OverviewAI-generated
William Hartnell (1908–1975) was a British actor, television actor, film actor, and explorer. Born in St Pancras, he was educated at the Italia Conti Academy of Theatre Arts and began his work period in 1928. His career included performances in Shakespearean comedy and roles in productions such as *Doctor Who*, *The Gunfighters*, and *The Massacre*. Hartnell served in the British Army during World War II.
He was a citizen of the United Kingdom and identified with Judaism. Hartnell died in Marden from natural causes, with heart failure, multiple sclerosis, and stroke listed as causes. He had one child and spoke English.
Synthesized by Vinony from 38 facts across 8 sources: Wikidata, Open Library, MusicBrainz, Crossref, Last.fm, TMDb, Wikiquote, Vinony graph. Generated from structured data (not the Wikipedia text) and checked against those facts — may still contain errors.
Film & TV
Saint Pancras, London, England, UK
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…
Known for
- Doctor Who: The Savages — The Doctor (voice)2025
- Doctor Who: Wish World & The Reality War — Dr. Who (archive footage) (uncredited)2025
- Doctor Who: The Celestial Toymaker — The Doctor (voice)2024
- Doctor Who at the Proms — The Doctor (1) (archive footage)2024
- Talking Doctor Who — Self / The Doctor (1) (archive footage)2023
- Doctor Who: The Daleks in Colour — The Doctor (archive footage)2023
- Tales of the Tardis — The Doctor2023
- Doctor Who: Galaxy 4 — The Doctor (voice)2021
- Doctor Who: Galaxy 4 — Doctor Who2021
- Mission to the Unknown — Dr. Who2019
via TMDB
Key facts
- 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
- Occupation
- Actor
- Years active
- 1925–1973
- Known for
- First Doctor in Doctor Who
- Spouse
- Heather McIntyre ( married</span>"}]]}'>m. 9 May 1929</span>"}]]}'>1929 )
- Relatives
- Norman Hartnell (second cousin)
via Wikipedia infobox
Wikidata facts
- Instance of
- human
- Given name
- William
- Gender
- male
- Citizenship
- United Kingdom
- Place of birth
- St Pancras
- Place of death
- Marden
- Occupation
- stage actor
- Languages spoken
- English language
- Religion
- Judaism
- Genre
- Shakespearean comedy
- Conflict
- World War II
- Military branch
- British Army
- Image
- William Hartnell, 1946 (halftone filtered).jpg
- Number of children
- 1
Show 8 more facts
- date of birth
- 1908-01-08
- date of death
- 1975-04-23
- cause of death
- stroke
- manner of death
- natural causes
- Commons category
- William Hartnell
- birth name
- William Henry Hartnell
- name in native language
- William Hartnell
- start of work period
- 1928-00-00
Sources (7)
via Wikidata · CC0
~12 min read
Encyclopedic overview
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
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “William Hartnell” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.