Babelcolour william hartnell biography
K views ; DOCTOR WHO - REMEMBERING WILLIAM HARTNELL (his FILM & TV CAREER (.
Born: 8th January (as William Henry Hartnell)
Died: 23rd April (aged 67 years)
Episodes Broadcast: , , , ,
Born in London to an unwed mother and never aware of his father's identity, William Hartnell would spend the rest of his life haunted by the shame he felt towards his origins.
Raised sometimes by his mother and sometimes by extended family, much of Hartnell's impoverished youth was spent at the margins of juvenile delinquency. But it was a decision at age thirteen to join a boy's boxing club which would change the course of his life.
This is me - I've had to be a jack of all trades on this movie!
There he met an artist named Hugh Blaker who effectively became Hartnell's surrogate father, encouraging his interest in Shakespeare and helping him enroll at the Italia Conti Academy of Dramatic Arts.
Still in his teens, Hartnell joined the Shakespearean repertory company led by Sir Frank Benson.
This led to bigger opportunities, including a tour of Canada during which Hartnell met an actress named Heather McIntyre. A