William Hartnell
Acting • Born 1908-01-08 – Died 1975-04-23
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.
Filmography
132 credits
Carry On Sergeant
Movie • 1958
Sergeant Grimshawe
The Mouse That Roared
Movie • 1959
Will Buckley
Brighton Rock
Movie • 1948
Dallow
The Way Ahead
Movie • 1944
Sgt. Ned Fletcher
Escape
Movie • 1948
Inspector Harris
Double Confession
Movie • 1950
Charlie Durham
Doctor Who: Galaxy 4
Movie • 2021
The Doctor (voice)
Odd Man Out
Movie • 1947
Fencie - the barman
Yangtse Incident: The Story of H.M.S. Amethyst
Movie • 1957
Leading Seaman Leslie Frank
Hell Drivers
Movie • 1957
Cartley, Hawlett Manager
That's Carry On!
Movie • 1977
Sergeant Grimshawe (archive footage)
This Sporting Life
Movie • 1963
'Dad' Johnson
The Magic Box
Movie • 1952
Recruiting Sergeant
Private's Progress
Movie • 1956
Sgt. Sutton
Appointment with Crime
Movie • 1946
Leo Martin
Temptation Harbour
Movie • 1947
Jim Brown
Date with Disaster
Movie • 1958
Tracey
Headline
Movie • 1943
Dell
Murder Will Out
Movie • 1939
Dick
Now Barabbas
Movie • 1949
Warder Jackson
The Dark Tower
Movie • 1943
Jim Towers (as Bill Hartnell)
And the Same to You
Movie • 1960
Walter 'Wally' Burton
Piccadilly Third Stop
Movie • 1960
Colonel
Will Any Gentleman...?
Movie • 1953
Detective Inspector Martin
The Night We Dropped a Clanger
Movie • 1959
Sgt. Bright
Midnight at Madame Tussaud's
Movie • 1936
Stubbs
The Perfect Flaw
Movie • 1934
Vickers
The Bells Go Down
Movie • 1943
Brookes
The Lost People
Movie • 1949
Barnes
Heavens Above!
Movie • 1963
Major Fowler
The World Ten Times Over
Movie • 1963
Dad
Talking Doctor Who
Movie • 2023
Self / The Doctor (1) (archive footage)
The Ringer
Movie • 1952
Sam Hackett
Doctor Who: The Daleks in Colour
Movie • 2023
The Doctor (archive footage)
Doctor Who: The Celestial Toymaker
Movie • 2024
The Doctor (voice)
Doublecross
Movie • 1956
Herbert Whiteway
The Desperate Man
Movie • 1959
Smith
Shake Hands with the Devil
Movie • 1959
Sergeant Jenkins
Strictly Confidential
Movie • 1959
Grimshaw
To Have and to Hold
Movie • 1963
Insp. Roberts
The Hypnotist
Movie • 1957
Inspector Ross
The Agitator
Movie • 1945
Peter Pettinger (as Billy Hartnell)
Doctor Who: The Day of the Doctor
Movie • 2013
The Doctor (1) (archive footage)
Doctor Who: The Aztecs
Movie • 1964
The Doctor
The Crimson Circle
Movie • 1936
Follow the Lady
Movie • 1933
Mike Martindale
Suspected Person
Movie • 1942
Detective Saunders
The Dark Man
Movie • 1951
Superintendent of Police
Jackpot
Movie • 1960
Supt. Frawley
They Flew Alone
Movie • 1942
Scotty
Farewell Again
Movie • 1937
Minor Role
Doctor Who: The Edge of Destruction
Movie • 1964
Dr. Who
Doctor Who: Marco Polo
Movie • 1964
The Doctor
Doctor Who: The Keys of Marinus
Movie • 1964
The Doctor
Doctor Who: The Sensorites
Movie • 1964
The Doctor
The Guv'nor
Movie • 1935
Car Salesman
Doctor Who: The Reign of Terror
Movie • 1964
The Doctor
Doctor Who: Planet of Giants
Movie • 1964
The Doctor
Doctor Who: The Dalek Invasion of Earth
Movie • 1964
The Doctor
Doctor Who: The Rescue
Movie • 1965
The Doctor
Doctor Who: The Romans
Movie • 1965
The Doctor
Doctor Who: The Web Planet
Movie • 1965
The Doctor
Doctor Who: The Crusade
Movie • 1965
The Doctor
Doctor Who: The Space Museum
Movie • 1965
The Doctor
Doctor Who: The Chase
Movie • 1965
The Doctor
Doctor Who: The Time Meddler
Movie • 1965
The Doctor
Doctor Who: Galaxy 4
Movie • 1965
The Doctor
Doctor Who: The Myth Makers
Movie • 1965
The Doctor
Doctor Who: The Daleks' Master Plan
Movie • 1966
The Doctor
Doctor Who: The Massacre of St Bartholomew's Eve
Movie • 1966
The Doctor / Abbot of Amboise
Doctor Who: The Ark
Movie • 1966
The Doctor
Doctor Who: The Celestial Toymaker
Movie • 1966
The Doctor
Doctor Who: The Gunfighters
Movie • 1966
The Doctor
Doctor Who: The Savages
Movie • 1966
The Doctor
Doctor Who: The War Machines
Movie • 1966
The Doctor
Doctor Who: The Smugglers
Movie • 1966
The Doctor
Doctor Who: The Three Doctors
Movie • 1973
The Doctor
Tons of Trouble
Movie • 1956
Bert
Freedom Radio
Movie • 1941
Radio Location Aerial Operator (uncredited)
They Came by Night
Movie • 1940
Undetermined Role
Strawberry Roan
Movie • 1944
Chris Lowe
Doctor Who: Twice Upon a Time
Movie • 2017
The Doctor (1) (archive footage)
Footsteps in the Fog
Movie • 1955
Herbert Moresby
The Holly and the Ivy
Movie • 1952
Company Sergeant Major
Tomorrow at Ten
Movie • 1963
Freddie Maddox
The Goose Steps Out
Movie • 1942
German Officer at Station
Doctor Who: The Tenth Planet
Movie • 1966
The Doctor (1)
Doctor Who: An Unearthly Child
Movie • 1963
Dr. Who
Doctor Who: The Daleks
Movie • 1964
Dr. Who
Doctor Who: The Five Doctors
Movie • 1983
The Doctor (1) (archive footage)
Murder in Reverse?
Movie • 1945
Tom Masterick
They Drive by Night
Movie • 1938
Bus Conductor
Creation of the Daleks
Movie • 2006
The Doctor (archive footage)
Josephine and Men
Movie • 1955
Detective Sgt. Parsons
The Pickwick Papers
Movie • 1952
Irate Cabman
The Peterville Diamond
Movie • 1943
Joseph (as Bill Hartnell)
Doctor Who: Earthshock
Movie • 1982
The Doctor (1) (archive footage)
Sabotage at Sea
Movie • 1942
Jacob Digby
An Adventure in Space and Time
Movie • 2013
The Doctor (1) (archive footage)
Masters of Sound
Movie • 2006
The Doctor (archive footage)
Inside the Spaceship: The Story of the TARDIS
Movie • 2006
The Doctor (archive footage)
The Sets of Marinus
Movie • 2009
The Doctor (archive footage)
Remembering 'The Aztecs'
Movie • 2002
The Doctor (archive footage)
Vision On
Movie • 2012
The Doctor (archive footage)
Don't Lose Your Head: The Making of 'The Reign of Terror'
Movie • 2012
The Doctor (archive footage)
The Lure
Movie • 1933
Billy
Parisian Life
Movie • 1936
Doctor Who: The Savages
Movie • 2025
The Doctor (voice)
Doctor Who at the Proms
Movie • 2024
The Doctor (1) (archive footage)
Doctor Who: The Next Doctor
Movie • 2008
The Doctor (1) (archive footage)
Doctor Who: The Husbands of River Song
Movie • 2015
The Doctor (1) (picture) (uncredited)
Doctor Who: Mawdryn Undead
Movie • 1983
The Doctor (1) (archive footage)
Doctor Who: The Power of the Daleks
Movie • 1966
The Doctor in the mirror (uncredited)
Doctor Who: Day of the Daleks
Movie • 1972
The Doctor (1) (picture) (uncredited)
Doctor Who: The Brain of Morbius
Movie • 1976
The Doctor (1) (picture) (uncredited)
Doctor Who: Resurrection of the Daleks
Movie • 1984
The Doctor (1) (archive footage) (uncredited)
The Ties That Bind Us
Movie • 2008
The First Doctor (archive footage)
Doctor Who: Wish World & The Reality War
Movie • 2025
Dr. Who (archive footage) (uncredited)
Doctor Who: Origins
Movie • 2006
The Doctor (archive footage)
Future Memories: Making 'The Dalek Invasion of Earth'
Movie • 2003
The Doctor (1) (archive footage)
Mounting the Rescue
Movie • 2009
The Doctor (1) (archive footage)
On the Run
Movie • 1958
Tom Casey
A Defeated People
Movie • 1946
Commentator (voice)
What's a Carry On?
Movie • 1998
Sergeant Grimshawe (archive footage) (uncredited)
Ghost Squad
TV • 1961
No Hiding Place
TV • 1959
Doctor Who
TV • 1963
The Doctor
Doctor Who: Lost in Time
TV • 1965
The Doctor
Tales of the Tardis
TV • 2023
The Doctor
Doctor Who: The Doctors Revisited
TV • 2013
Self
The Army Game
TV • 1957
Sergeant Major Percy Bullimore
Doctor Who: Galaxy 4
TV • 2021
Doctor Who