William Russell, Original 'Doctor Who' Companion Ian Chesterton, Has Died At 99
William Russell, Original 'Doctor Who' Companion Ian Chesterton, Has Died At 99
Russell was the show’s first male companion, starring from the premiere to 77 of 81 episodes across the 16 of 17 serials in two seasons with the First Doctor
William Russell, the English actor of stage and screen big and small best known for playing Ian Chesterton, the original male companion on the long-running British sci-fi series Doctor Who from 1963 to 1965, died on Monday, June 3, at the age of 99.
Born William Russell Enoch on November 19, 1924 in Sunderland, County Durham, the acting bug came early. He attended Wolverhampton Grammar School and Oxford University. A RAF officer in the later years of World War II, he was the entertainment organizer. He would then go into repertory theater after, including a 1951 run of Hamlet with Alec Guinness, and a film career that began the year before. Russell’s big break was in the title role in The Adventures of Sir Lancelot, which ran from 1956 to 1957, where he was lauded for his strong build and air of “dashing bravado about him”. He followed that up starring in a live 18-episode 1957 television adaptation of Nicholas Nickleby. Some of his other notable roles included playing a servant in 1952’s The Gift Horse and several World War II-set movies including 1954’s Lewis Milestone-directed They Who Dare, where he met his first wife, French model and actor Balbina Gutierrez, as well as 1956’s The Man Who Never Was. He was also apparently the 8th Elder in the original Christopher Reeve Superman film and had a 46-episode stint on Coronation Street in the early ‘90s. He became William Russell to appease one of his co-stars who objected to his surname because he felt that it would reportedly publicize a vaudevillian rival of his whose name was that surname, although he had a reversion period in the ‘80s.
On Doctor Who, his character Ian Chesterton was a science teacher at Coal Hill School, who, along with history teacher Barbara Wright, played by Jacqueline Hill, investigate their student Susan Foreman, played by Carole Ann Ford, for her advanced knowledge, and come upon the Doctor (William Hartnell)’s TARDIS in a junkyard, and are essentially kidnapped upon learning of his and Susan (his granddaughter)’s alien origins. After 16 serials comprising 77 episodes of adventures with cavemen, the Aztecs, the French, the Daleks, and more, Ian and Barbara took themselves home via a Dalek time machine at the end of the penultimate serial of the second season The Chase. Russell’s legacy and importance to the show’s history resulted in a cameo in the docudrama An Adventure in Space and Time, about Doctor Who’s creation, playing a BBC Commissionaire named Harry. It wouldn’t be until 2022 that he reprised his role as Ian onscreen one final time, in Doctor Who’s BBC centenary special “The Power of the Doctor”, attending the companion support group, and learning that indeed the Doctor could and had become a woman. The appearance earned Russell the Guinness World Record for the longest gap between television appearances for a character.
Nicola Bryant, who played Fifth and Sixth Doctor companion Peri Brown, tweeted “What sad news to say farewell to William Russell. What a wonderful man with a delightful family an extraordinary life & career. The most charming smile and twinkling eyes, he always lit up the room. I hope there will be many celebrations of this beautiful man.” Anneke Wills, who portrayed later First and Second Doctor companion Polly urged everyone to light a candle in tribute to the “lovely man”. Current showrunner Russell T. Davies recalled a 2018 encounter on a train, calling him a “fine, nimble, witty, heartfelt actor who absolutely sold the truth of those early years”. He also recognized the “undersold” fact that he was a “star booking” for the show at the time. Calling him lovely as well, he remarked on the “fine, long life. Well done, sir, well played.” Seventh Doctor Sylvester McCoy lamented that they’ll no longer be residing near one another or bumping into each other. No more “beautiful generous smile of welcome”. Katy Manning, who played Third Doctor companion Jo Jones (née Grant) tweeted “This beautiful funny gentle man #WilliamRussell has sadly find on his awfully big adventure ♥️a wonderful actor, always with such an impish little twinkle in his eye. so grateful to have known him my heartfelt thoughts to his wife Etheline & dear family”.
Etheline is Russell’s second wife, a doctor whom he married in 1984. They have one son, Alfred, who would go on to play Dean Thomas in the Harry Potter movies, and Wes Gibbins on the ABC drama How to Get Away with Murder as a series regular for its first three seasons. His other children, Vanessa, Laetitia, and Robert, are from his marriage to Balbina. He has four grandchildren, James, Elise, Amy and Ayo.
Sources: Guardian, CultBox, Nicola Bryant, Katy Manning, Sylvester McCoy, Anneke Wills