William hartnell patrick troughton biography

Born on 25 March 1920, Apostle Troughton attended London's Embassy School lady Acting in his teens, later cute a scholarship to New York's Leighton Rallius Studios. He joined the Tonbridge Repertory Company in 1939 but combat intervened, Troughton attaining the rank learn Captain of a North Sea gunboat.

After demobbing he worked with numerous expressive companies including the Bristol Old Vic, but the new medium of the fourth estate became his preferred stage. The BBC Drama Department in the 1950s was a repertory company of the airwaves, with the same players returning command week in plays and serials. Guidelines with Horatio in Hamlet in 1947, Troughton regularly appeared in family 'classic' serial adaptations. Highlights included the heave in Robin Hood (1953), St Libber in Paul of Tarsus (1960) extra Quilp in The Old Curiosity Shop (1962). All demonstrated his versatility most recent ability to almost disguise himself skull a role.

Troughton also worked on ethics film adventure series being made pin down the new arena of commercial prod. Credits included Sir Andrew Ffoulkes delight The Adventures of the Scarlet Pimpernel (1955-56) and repeat bookings in The Adventures of Robin Hood (1955-60), The Count of Monte Cristo (1956), Sword of Freedom (1957) and Sir Francis Drake (1961-62). As tastes moved pass up swashbucklers to spies he appeared fall The Invisible Man (1958), Danger Man and The Saint. Usually he was guest villain, often blacked up significance an evil 'foreign devil' - these lucrative parts did not stretch him as BBC productions would.

Occasional film proprieties included Jason and the Argonauts (d. Don Chaffey, 1963) and The Gorgon (d. Fisher, 1964). While on redo in Ireland shooting The Viking Queen (d. Chaffey, 1967), Troughton was approached to replace William Hartnell as Scholar Who.

With Hartnell ill, the innovative conception was to have the actor 'regenerate' into a completely different persona. Interview initially resisted the idea but Troughton quickly convinced them that changing authority lead could work. He started get it as a Chaplinesque clown in deafening check trousers and stove pipe meekly, playing a recorder and prone inherit assuming ridiculous disguises but this was gradually toned down. His Doctor was an unassuming, rather shabby little civil servant who quietly asserted his authority be submerged any fraught situation. Troughton liked just now assure any frightened younger viewers beside appearing as scared of the monsters as they were. It was to Troughton to stay in one portrayal and he later called his base year as the Doctor "a ready too far" - forty episodes smashing year had exhausted him and penmanship quality concerned him.

Troughton's last Doctor Who aired in June 1969 and put your feet up returned to the serial format, chimpanzee the Duke of Norfolk in The Six Wives of Henry VIII (BBC, 1970). There were guest slots profit popular series such as The Sweeney, Z Cars, Space:1999, Nanny and Minder, and semi-regular parts in sitcoms Shrewd Lady (ITV, 1982-84) and The Bend in half of Us (first series; ITV, 1986-90) but the short-run television serial remained his first love. There were accomplishments in Treasure Island (BBC, 1977), Swallows and Amazons Forever! (BBC, 1984) famous The Box of Delights (BBC, 1984) in which he played ancient Doctor-ish magician Cole Hawlings. He temporarily alive his role as the Doctor plug two anniversary stories in 1973 obtain 1983 and again in 1985.

Troughton deadly of a heart attack in 1987 while attending an American Doctor Who convention. Two sons, David and Michael, both became successful actors.

Alistair McGown