William Russell
Biography
William Russell was an English actor whose work on stage and screen covered more than seventy years, and he sometimes performed as Russell Enoch. He was born in Sunderland and went to Oxford University before entering repertory theater. His first major television part was the lead in The Adventures of Sir Lancelot, which aired from 1956 to 1957. He appeared in films such as The Great Escape (1963), The Man Who Never Was (1956) and Superman (1978). In 1963 he became one of the first Doctor Who cast members, playing the schoolteacher Ian Chesterton, the Doctor's earliest male companion, and stayed until 1965. Later he was Ted Sullivan in Coronation Street in 1992, narrated Doctor Who audio releases, and took part in the 2013 docudrama An Adventure in Space and Time. For a 2022 Doctor Who special he acted as Ian again, which brought him a Guinness World Record for having the longest gap between television appearances.
99years old at death
- Born Sunderland
- Died
- Star sign: ScorpioThe sign runs October 23 to November 21
- Also credited as William Russell Enoch
Movie Career
- Films
- 8
- Career span
- 28 years1952 to 1980
First and latest
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A first
Russell came back as Ian for a 2022 cameo in "The Power of the Doctor", 57 years after the character left. That gap between TV appearances earned him a Guinness World Record.
A first
Russell took on both Ian and the First Doctor in Big Finish's audio play The Light at the End, a fiftieth anniversary release. At 88 he was the oldest actor to play the Doctor, a record Tom Baker broke in March 2023 at 89.
Big break
William Russell joined Doctor Who in 1963, playing Ian Chesterton, a science teacher who became the Doctor's first male companion. Every episode of the program's first two seasons featured him, apart from the final four.
A role that slipped away
Russell was meant to play Ian again in the 1983 serial Mawdryn Undead, with Peter Davison as the Fifth Doctor, but scheduling conflicts left him unavailable.
Getting ready for a role
In 1999, Russell came back as Ian for The Crusade's VHS release. Its second and fourth episodes, "The Knight of Jaffa" and "The Warlords", are lost, so he recorded in-character scenes to camera that bridged the gaps between the surviving episodes.
William Russell movies on Netflix
Best known for
The films on Netflix they are best known for, with the part played in each.
Most often with
Three actors appear in two of them each. Pick a number on the chart or a name in the list to see the films they share.
Films together
Richard Attenborough's page
Sam Kydd's page
James Donald's page
Online
Official profiles and reference pages.