BFI Screenonline: Hartnell, William (1908-1975) Biography (original) (raw)

Before playing the first Dr. Who, William Hartnell was a familiar face in British cinema portraying tough sergeants and underworld types. However, despite stereotyped roles, the actor often delivered varied inflexions to his part.

Born in St Pancras, London, on 8 January 1908, and a former jockey's apprentice, he first appeared on stage in 1924 and appeared in films from the early '30s onwards. He could play both light leads and character roles. He came to notice playing the firm sergeant in The Way Ahead (d. Carol Reed, 1944), which led to a brief period as leading man in the crime dramas Murder in Reverse? (d. Montgomery Tully, 1945) and Appointment with Crime (d. John Harlow, 1946), as well as playing the title role in the political morality film The Agitator (d. Harlow, 1945).

During the '50s, Hartnell soon became stereotypically cast as a sergeant in serious films and comedies such as Private's Progress (d. John Boulting, 1956) and Carry on Sergeant (d. Gerald Thomas, 1958), but with some interesting character variants from time to time, like soft-spoken Dallow in Brighton Rock (d. John Boulting, 1947) and the ambivalent hanger-on to the football star in This Sporting Life (d. Lindsay Anderson, 1963).

Bibliography
Jessica Carney, Who's There? The Life and Career of William Hartnell, 1996.

Tony Williams, Encyclopedia of British Film