Richard Hurndall(1910-1984)
- Actor
- Additional Crew
A gaunt, intense character actor of striking presence, Richard Gibbon
Hurndall was educated at Scarborough College and trained at the Royal
Academy of Dramatic Art. He acted professionally from 1930, initially
in repertory theatre and later with the Royal Shakespeare Company in
Stratford-upon-Avon, his roles including Orlando in "As You Like It",
Bassanio in "The Merchant of Venice" and Laertes in "Hamlet". Richard's
powerful voice and precise diction were also perfectly suited to
working in radio. Between 1949 and 1952, he was a member of the BBC
radio drama repertory company. In October 1958, he took over as host of
Radio Luxemburg's half-hour British version of
Edward R. Murrow's "This I Believe". A
year later, he was well cast as Sherlock Holmes in a BBC radio
adaptation of Arthur Conan Doyle's
"The Sign of Four", transmitted over five weekly episodes.
From 1946, Hurndall made sporadic television appearances, but did not
fully take to the medium until the mid 1960's. His incisive
personality, combined with a natural ability to adopt diverse accents
and dialects, led to him being cast as doctors, magistrates,
aristocrats, and other authority figures of various ethnic backgrounds.
By contrast, he was equally effective as a debonair underworld figure,
Henry Mackleson, in Spindoe (1968).
On the humorous side, he essayed a campy, effete antiques dealer in an
episode of
Steptoe and Son (1962) ("Any
Old Iron?"); and alternated being sinister and droll, as Carne, a
German general masterminding a rather unusual invasion of a Cornish
fishing village at the onset of World War I, in the hilariously funny
Ripping Yarns (1976) adventure,
"Whinfrey's Last Case" .
His best known role was also destined to be one of his last. On the
strength of his appearance in an episode of
Blake's 7 (1978), Hurndall was cast as
the First Doctor (formerly played by the late
William Hartnell) in the 1983 feature
length Doctor Who (1963) reunion
special The Five Doctors (1983). The series' continuity adviser, Ian Levine, had spotted a
resemblance between the two actors, an opinion with which
Hartnell's widow apparently concurred. By his own admission, Hurndall
entered the project with a measure of ambiguity, having had limited
exposure to science fiction, or Doctor Who (1963), for that matter.
Ultimately, he conformed perfectly to Hartnell's precise idiosyncratic
mannerisms and intonation - a performance which proved more than
adequate to the original. Sadly, Hurndall died within a few
months of The Five Doctors (1983) going to air.
Hurndall was educated at Scarborough College and trained at the Royal
Academy of Dramatic Art. He acted professionally from 1930, initially
in repertory theatre and later with the Royal Shakespeare Company in
Stratford-upon-Avon, his roles including Orlando in "As You Like It",
Bassanio in "The Merchant of Venice" and Laertes in "Hamlet". Richard's
powerful voice and precise diction were also perfectly suited to
working in radio. Between 1949 and 1952, he was a member of the BBC
radio drama repertory company. In October 1958, he took over as host of
Radio Luxemburg's half-hour British version of
Edward R. Murrow's "This I Believe". A
year later, he was well cast as Sherlock Holmes in a BBC radio
adaptation of Arthur Conan Doyle's
"The Sign of Four", transmitted over five weekly episodes.
From 1946, Hurndall made sporadic television appearances, but did not
fully take to the medium until the mid 1960's. His incisive
personality, combined with a natural ability to adopt diverse accents
and dialects, led to him being cast as doctors, magistrates,
aristocrats, and other authority figures of various ethnic backgrounds.
By contrast, he was equally effective as a debonair underworld figure,
Henry Mackleson, in Spindoe (1968).
On the humorous side, he essayed a campy, effete antiques dealer in an
episode of
Steptoe and Son (1962) ("Any
Old Iron?"); and alternated being sinister and droll, as Carne, a
German general masterminding a rather unusual invasion of a Cornish
fishing village at the onset of World War I, in the hilariously funny
Ripping Yarns (1976) adventure,
"Whinfrey's Last Case" .
His best known role was also destined to be one of his last. On the
strength of his appearance in an episode of
Blake's 7 (1978), Hurndall was cast as
the First Doctor (formerly played by the late
William Hartnell) in the 1983 feature
length Doctor Who (1963) reunion
special The Five Doctors (1983). The series' continuity adviser, Ian Levine, had spotted a
resemblance between the two actors, an opinion with which
Hartnell's widow apparently concurred. By his own admission, Hurndall
entered the project with a measure of ambiguity, having had limited
exposure to science fiction, or Doctor Who (1963), for that matter.
Ultimately, he conformed perfectly to Hartnell's precise idiosyncratic
mannerisms and intonation - a performance which proved more than
adequate to the original. Sadly, Hurndall died within a few
months of The Five Doctors (1983) going to air.