William Russell (actor)
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William Russell (born Russell Enoch on November 19, 1924 in Sunderland, England, UK) is a British actor, mainly known for his television work.
Russell appeared in British films from 1950 onwards, appearing in well-known productions such as The Man Who Never Was (1956) and The Great Escape (1963). He also later had a minor role in Superman: The Movie (1978).
His big break was the title role in The Adventures of Sir Lancelot on ITV in 1956, which for sale to the NBC network in the USA became the first British television series to be shot in colour. Following this, he won a role in Doctor Who as one the Doctor's companions, science teacher Ian Chesterton, appearing in the bulk of the first two seasons of the programme.
He has subsequently played a number of roles in theatre and on television, perhaps the highest-profile being Disraeli, Testament of Youth and the part of Ted Sullivan, the short-lived second husband of Rita Sullivan in Coronation Street. (Ted already had a terminal illness when he married Rita in 1992, and died peacefully while watching a cricket match). He also had a small part in an episode of the first series of Blackadder (1983), as a late replacement for Wilfrid Brambell, who had become impatient with delays to his scene and left the set before shooting it.
In 1999 he returned to the role of Ian Chesterton for the video release of the Doctor Who serial The Crusade, from which two episodes are currently missing. Russell provided linking narration to cover the gaps, in character as an aged Ian reminiscing about the events of the story.