27 Facts About William Hartnell

William Hartnell is best remembered for his portrayal of the first incarnation of the Doctor in Doctor Who from 1963 to 1966.

In film, Hartnell notably appeared in Brighton Rock, The Mouse That Roared and This Sporting Life.

William Hartnell was associated with military roles, playing Company Sergeant Major Percy Bullimore in the ITV sitcom The Army Game and Sergeant Grimshaw, the title character in the first Carry On film Carry On Sergeant.

William Hartnell was born on 8 January 1908 in the slums of the district of St Pancras, London, England, the only child of Lucy William Hartnell, an unmarried mother.

William Hartnell never discovered the identity of his father, whose particulars were left blank on his birth certificate, despite his efforts to trace him.

William Hartnell was brought up partly by a foster mother, and spent many holidays in Devon with his mother's family of farmers, from whom he learned to ride horses.

Reportedly, William Hartnell had a fall and was kicked by a horse.

William Hartnell was a second cousin of the fashion designer Norman Hartnell.

William Hartnell left school without prospects and dabbled in petty crime.

Theatre being a passion of Blaker's, he paid for William Hartnell to receive some "polish" at the Imperial Service College, though William Hartnell found the strictures too much and ran away.

When William 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.

William Hartnell entered the theatre in 1925 working under Frank Benson as a general stagehand.

William Hartnell appeared in numerous Shakespearian plays, including The Merchant of Venice, Julius Caesar, As You Like It, Hamlet, The Tempest and Macbeth.

William Hartnell appeared in She Stoops to Conquer, The School for Scandal and Good Morning, Bill, before performing in Miss Elizabeth's Prisoner.

William Hartnell 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.

William Hartnell 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.

William Hartnell continued to play comic characters until he was cast in the robust role of Sergeant Ned Fletcher in The Way Ahead.

William Hartnell left after the first season and returned for the final season in 1961.

William Hartnell appeared in a supporting role in the film version of This Sporting Life, giving a sensitive performance as an ageing rugby league talent scout known as "Dad".

William Hartnell described himself as "a legitimate character actor of the theatre and film".

William 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.

William Hartnell described his character the Doctor as "a wizard", and "a cross between the Wizard of Oz and Father Christmas".

William Hartnell reprised the role of the Doctor in Doctor Who during the tenth anniversary story The Three Doctors.

An agreement was made between the crew and Heather that William Hartnell would sit down during the shoot and read his lines from cue cards.

Many of William Hartnell's episodes are missing from the archives as a result of the then-standard practice of discarding old shows.

William Hartnell was married to Heather McIntyre from 9 May 1929 until his death.

William Hartnell's health had worsened during the early 1970s and, in December 1974, he was admitted to hospital permanently.