William hartnell

[darren]

William Hartnell was born on 8th jan 1908 just south of St pancrasstation in london. In press
materials in the 40s he claimed that hisfather was a farmer and later a stockbroker it turns out that he hadactually been born out of wedlock, as his biography Who's There?states. At age 16 he was adopted by hugh Blaker a well-known artconnoisseur, who helped him to get a job wit sir Frank BensonsShakespearean Company. He started as a general dogsbody call boy,assistant stage manager, property master and assistant lightingdirector but was sometimes allowed to play small walk on parts. twoyears later he left bensons group and went off on tour working for anumber of different companies about britain.

he was the first person the play dr who and so far the oldest.
he plated the dr from 1963 to 1966.
william died 23rd april 1975 in marden kent england from the effects of strokes.

he was also in carry on sergeant from 1958.
playing sergeant grimshawe.

[FLYING SAUCER]

Re: William hartnell

I thought he played Dr Who very well.

[darren]

Re: William hartnell

I thought he played Dr Who very well.

http://youtu.be/bKg9tuSbXmk

[FLYING SAUCER]

Re: William hartnell

Yes Darren, that's the one that got you hiding at the back of the sofa on a Saturday teatime! Malevolent, the threat of the Daleks ooohhyah!

[stud1al]

Re: William hartnell

My brother met a woman in the ABC shop in Adelaide who claimed that Bill was her uncle.Apparently her side of the family didn't get on with his.She said a few nasty things about him.I guess we will never know if she was "for real" or not (my bro sure believed her ) but i did read somewhere-perhaps in an old DWM that Billy did have relatives in Australia...............Anyway,he was a good doctor.Not my fave Dr. but good.

[sf1378]

Re: William hartnell

Cannot stand the man. He hated 'Jews, Gypsies and Coloureds'....For him to play a role like Dr Who who believed in everyone being equal, had no prejudices and was a benevolent man, smacked of his own hypocrasy. Anyone who says 'he was of that time, hence his extreme views' basically excuses his attitudes. Even Nic Courtney (Brigader in UNIT) described him as having 'Nationalist views'...disgusting man. I don't even watch his Dr Who's as I hate his seething racism. He really made my blood boil.

[Richard1978]

Re: William hartnell

It's a shame that some famous people who have done much to make people look up some them can be so different in private.

When I went to Graceland a few years ago I noticed they didn't mention some of the dodgier aspects of Elvis's life.

[sf1378]

Re: William hartnell

Thats exactly my point Richard, nicely put.

[Richard1978]

Re: William hartnell

Thanks!

At least to balance things there are many actors who seem to play a lot of villans, but in real life are fairly normal.

[Nuttybott]

Re: William hartnell

Cannot stand the man. He hated 'Jews, Gypsies and Coloureds'....

Who says he did? You should always be careful about accepting heresay as solid fact. I have read many interviews with Bill Hartnell, and in none of them does he express any prejudice against anyone. And remember, Carole Ann Ford (who played the Doctor's granddaughter Susan in the series) is Jewish, and she has always spoken of the warm affection between her and Bill. If Bill indeed held certain ingrained prejudices and/or nationalist views, he was no different from most others of his generation...a generation whose only experience of foreigners in most cases was fighting them on the battlefields of World War II.

To be sure, Britain was a much more enclosed, insular society in those days. It was also a much safer, more united and cohesive society than it is today...but that's another argument, for another thread at another time...

[battyrat]

Re: William hartnell

I like William Hartnell.He was a great actor.It's was his ability to play a role and play it well that interests me as a viewer.Not his private life which really does not concern me or have anything to do with me.I suppose if people dig around hard enough you can find the dirt on anybody in the public eye real or not.But this is irrelevant when it actually comes to watching such a great on screen.

[sf1378]

Re: William hartnell

Blah, blah, blah....I knew we'd end up with a viewpoint like this. What I find disgusting is its basically defending racism - I'm Asian, my Father and Mother experienced the more extreme, overt version in the 70s, I've experienced the more clever, quieter 'you don't fit in' 'lets ignore him' variety. I even get it at Uni. Its been okay for Whites to emmigrate, go anywhere in the world but its never been the same for 'Coloureds', even the ones 'allowed' here in the 50s, 60s and so on...Do you honestly think in interviews Hartnell would have shown his racism??? Are you mad? He was clever in once sense. So your also saying Nic Courtney who played Lethbridge Stewart was a liar for saying it in his own biography? I would have thought a liable suit would have followed from the Hartnell family. I also wonder if Carole Ann Ford would have told Hartnell she was a Jew, maybe she did, the hypocrasy of racists is 'oh he/shes alright-its the rest I dislike'...

Yes, the UK may have been more cohesive, safer and upright back then but it still doesn't excuse racism. If I've ever made comments that others find racist or prejudiced I get trod on proverbially, especially by hypocritical White, so called Liberal types, but the fact is, they probably have 'few Coloured' friends themselves or actual exposure to other cultures....except for the pan-ethnic food and clothing or holidays they digest.

The only 'foreigners' the Brits fought in the last two wars where the Italians and Germans...perhaps other races sided with the so called Powers of the time but that was it, where where the Indian, Sri Lankan or Black races during these wars? Oh wait, fighting for 'the Mother Country', the Empire. An Empire that was happy to export other races produce and grow fat off their labour and yet when they dared come to 'The Mother Land' they where frankly treated like dog muck.

Its one rule for Whites, another for the Wogs. Yes, I said 'WOGS', its what a lot of White Brits think of 'my kind deep down', and comments like yours defending racism only serve to reiterate my belief that its actually still the same, just operated in a much more quieter version.

What amazes me is that its still okay to feel this way and yet, go to the 'Third World' and you'll actually find 'our lot' a whole lot more welcoming and kinder...maybe that should change too then. In one sense, its no surprise disaffected young Asians or Blacks turn to pathetic drug or gun crime or young Muslims ostracised by society and treated like turd become radicalised and burn the Union Jack out of reactionary racialist hatred and spite, which in turn reiterates the White 'kick the scum out' mentality, which adds to the Whites wanting tougher Government policy on immigration etc, etc. However, who started the racial ball rolling? Oh yes, Johnny English. A lot of Brits still today have that Colonial mentality in them...and whats the stupidest part of it? Theres only about 7 or so % immigrants in this country, comparable to the 93% White majority. As far as I'm concerned I'll stick with my view on Hartnell - he was hypocritical scum, playing a brilliant man but in actuality actually rotten and racist, and you excuse that as 'a generational thing'....Roll with it.

To be sure, Britain was a much more enclosed, insular society in those days. It was also a much safer, more united and cohesive society than it is today...but that's another argument, for another thread at another time...[/QUOTE]

[HG]

Re: William hartnell

Please to keep to discussing William Hartnell the actor or the thread will be closed, I've let SG's post stand as it seems to be a response to the last paragraph of Nuttybot's post.

If you want to discuss racism or how cosy British life used to be please start a thread in the Member's Lounge or discuss via PM. Thanks.

[Nuttybott]

Re: William hartnell

Please to keep to discussing William Hartnell the actor or the thread will be closed, I've let SG's post stand as it seems to be a response to the last paragraph of Nuttybot's post.

If you want to discuss racism or how cosy British life used to be please start a thread in the Member's Lounge or discuss via PM. Thanks.

I would just like to clear up a few points here, if I may;

1. At no point in my post was I defending racism.

2. I DID NOT call Nicholas Courtney a liar for claiming in his autobiography that Hartnell held "nationalist views". I merely stated that such "nationalist views" were quite normal for the time, especially in a country that had been recently devastated by two World Wars. I think you would find that people in most other countries similarly held "nationalist views", but somehow it seems more offensive to people like sf1378 if the British do it.

3. I think the somewhat angry and hysterical tone of sf1378's post suggests that he simply wanted to rant about a subject he clearly feels strongly about anyway. If you re-read my original post, it is quite clear that what I was trying to say was that Hartnell never expressed overtly racist views publicly, and since the man is no longer around to defend himself, it is grossly unfair to smear and besmirch his good name based on third-hand reports and heresay, which may or may not be true. Further, I wanted to make the point that it is unfair, inappropriate and just plain ignorant to use the social and moral standards of the present day to judge events and people in the past. After all, how would YOU like it if you knew that people 50 years from now were going to condemn US and the way we live, based on standards and criteria we know nothing about, and which haven't even been developed yet?

I have never, at any time, defended racism as sf1378 has accused me of doing. What I WAS doing was attempting to defend the reputation of a fine actor, who has been subjected to unfounded, unproven slurs against his name. And unfortunately, certain parts of sf1378's post do contain a number of wild accusations and a great deal of vitriol directed against the British and white people generally. This, too, can be interpreted as racism...especially when sf1378 admits that he himself has "made comments that others find racist or prejudiced".

[HG]

Re: William hartnell

And that's that ladies and gentlemen, take to pm if you want to continue discussing.