Who played the first Doctor in Doctor Who?
It's bigger on the inside — with 2023’s season of Doctor Who, we’ll see the 14th actor to portray the Doctor.
For some, portraying the coolest Time Lord has launched their careers or made them into beloved icons that can essentially retire into a life of fan con appearances. For others, their names have been lost to the ether of time.
It’s difficult to grasp that Doctor Who first premiered back in 1963. Despite a 16-year break, the Doctor was able to regenerate yet again, and enjoys broad popularity to this day. But who was the first actor to bring this character to life?
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Correct Answer: William Hartnell
The answer is: William Hartnell. To put things in perspective here, Doctor Who has been around for so long that the first actor to play the Doctor was born in 1908. William Hartnell was born in the slums of London and never knew his father, but found a passion for acting early on. After stringing together roles throughout the ‘40s and ‘50s as primarily a character actor, a producer for Doctor Who saw one of his film performances and wanted to hire him for the new show.After a few years, Hartnell’s health forced him to leave the show — but his exit led to the idea that since he wasn’t human, the Doctor could regenerate, and they could replace Hartnell with a new actor in the same role.Source
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