Richard Hurndall

Infobox actor
name = Richard Hurndall


imagesize = 110px
birthdate = birth date|1910|11|3|df=y
location = flagicon|ENG Darlington, England
deathdate = Death date and age|1984|4|13|1910|11|3|df=yes
deathplace = London, England
notable role = The First Doctor, "Doctor Who"

Richard Gibbon Hurndall (November 3, 1910 – April 13, 1984) was an English stage, radio, film, and television actor.

Brief biography

BBC radio

Hurndall was born in Darlington. After training at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts, he appeared in several plays at Stratford-upon-Avon. Hurndall acted with the BBC radio drama repertory company from 1949 to 1952.

Radio Luxembourg

In 1958 he became the third host of the Radio Luxembourg program called "This I Believe". (This show had originally been hosted by Edward R. Murrow on the U.S. CBS Radio Network from 1951 to 1955 and it was then edited in London for rebroadcast on 208 with a British style of presentation at 9:30 PM on Sunday evenings.)

Television work

Hurndall appeared in numerous radio and stage plays, films and television series over the course of his lengthy career, including "The Avengers", "The Persuaders!", "Whodunnit!", and "Bergerac". He played the suave London gangster Mackelson in the 1968 drama series "Spindoe", had a recurring role as a senior civil servant in the final series of "The Power Game" and did a camp turn as a gay antique dealer who takes a shine to Harold Steptoe in the comedy "Steptoe and Son". In the early 1970s he was a priest in "Public Eye"

"Doctor Who"

In 1983, to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the long-running BBC science fiction television series "Doctor Who", producer John Nathan-Turner planned a special event, "The Five Doctors", a 90-minute episode to feature the five actors who had at that point played the role of the Doctor.

William Hartnell, the actor who originated the role, had died in 1975. The show's unofficial fan consultant, Ian Levine, had seen Hurndall in "Blake's 7", another BBC science fiction series, and suggested him to the producers as a possible replacement. Hurndall eventually won the role of the recast First Doctor, playing him as acerbic and temperamental but in some ways wiser than his successors. When the Fourth Doctor, Tom Baker, decided not to appear in the programme, Hurndall's role was beefed up slightly to have the First Doctor take a greater part in the actionFact|date=April 2008.

Death

Richard Hurndall died at the age of 73 in London, less than five months after the first broadcast of "The Five Doctors".

ee also

*"This I Believe" - 1957 second season on Radio Luxembourg

External links

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