Famous English television, stage and screen actor William Russell died on 3 June 2023 at the age of 99.
Born William Russell Enoch on 19 November 1924 in Sunderland, County Durham, he became interested in acting at an early age. He was educated at Wolverhampton Grammar School and Oxford University. He was involved in organising entertainment during his national service in the Royal Air Force and went into repertory theatre after university.
After graduating, he took several stage roles and had a small role in 1951 Hamlet with Alec Guinness. He also was on television in An Inspector Calls. Russell appeared in British films from 1950 onwards.
Russell landed his first notable television role in the series The Adventures of Sir Lancelot (1956–1957) but he is best known for his role as school teacher Ian Chesterton in the television series Doctor Who.
From 1963 to 1965, he was part of the original lead cast of Doctor Who, playing alongside William Hartnell (the Doctor), Jacqueline Hill (Barbara Wright) and Carole Ann Ford (Susan Foreman).
After Doctor Who, he acted in several television shows including Father Brown, The Black Adder and Robin of Sherwood. He played Ted Sullivan in 46 episodes of Coronation Street in 1992. His film credits include They Who Dare, One Good Turn, The Man Who Never Was and The Great Escape.
In 2013, Russell had a cameo role playing a security guard named Harry in the Doctor Who creation docudrama An Adventure in Space and Time as part of the programme’s fiftieth anniversary celebrations.
In 2022, Russell made a cameo appearance reprising his role as Ian in the the Doctor Who BBC centenary special special The Power of the Doctor, which garnered him the Guinness World Record for the longest gap between television appearances for a character.
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Let’s all light a candle for William Russell tonight. What a lovely man. Anneke x pic.twitter.com/L5W20UgQ6D
— Anneke Wills (@AnnekeWills) June 4, 2024
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.#RIPWilliamRussell pic.twitter.com/EgvaHquoOD
— Nicola Bryant (@thenicolabryant) June 4, 2024
William Russell is survived by his second wife, Etheline, a doctor, whom he married in 1984, and their son, Alfred, and by his children, Vanessa, Laetitia and Robert, from his marriage to Balbina, which ended in divorce, and four grandchildren, James, Elise, Amy and Ayo.