Patrick George Troughton ( TROW-tən; 25 March 1920 – 28 March 1987) was an English actor. Best known for playing character roles on television, he starred as the second incarnation of the Doctor in the BBC science fiction series Doctor Who from 1966 to 1969, and reprised the role three times between 1972 and 1985.
Troughton was classically trained at the Embassy School of Acting, and later enlisted with the Royal Navy during World War II. His early work included appearances in Laurence Olivier's Shakespeare film adaptations Hamlet (1948) and Richard III (1955). Troughton later appeared in the fantasy film Jason and the Argonauts (1963) and the horror films The Gorgon (1964), Scars of Dracula (1970) and The Omen (1976), as well as the fantasy television series The Box of Delights (1984).
Patrick George Troughton was born on 25 March 1920 in Mill Hill, Middlesex, to Alec Troughton, a solicitor with a shipping firm, and Dorothy (née Offord). He had an elder brother, Alec, and a younger sister, Mary.
Troughton made his first foray into show business when he attended a kindergarten ballet class run by Pearl Argyle. Troughton boarded at Bexhill Prep School for five years, then attended Mill Hill School. As a teen he acted in school productions, such as J. B. Priestley's Bees on the Boat Deck in March 1937. Mill Hill School later named their Patrick Troughton Theatre after him. Troughton was tutored by Eileen Thorndike at the Embassy School of Acting at Swiss Cottage. He was later awarded an acting scholarship at Leighton Rallius Studios in New York, United States, from June 1939.
Troughton was studying in the United States when the Second World War broke out. He left the country on a Belgian ship to return home, but the ship hit an enemy sea mine and sank off Portland Bill in the English Channel. All aboard were rescued. On his return to England in 1939, Troughton briefly worked with the Tonbridge Repertory Company, playing Nick Bottom in a production of A Midsummer Night's Dream.In June 1940, Troughton enlisted with the Royal Navy, receiving a commission with the Royal Navy Volunteer Reserve in November 1941. He was deployed on East Coast Convoy duty from February to August 1941, and then with Coastal Forces' Motor Gun Boats based at Great Yarmouth from November 1942 to 1945, operating in the North Sea and English Channel. During his service with the MGBs, he was on one occasion involved in an action against Kriegsmarine E-boats which resulted in one of the enemy craft being destroyed by ramming, whilst Troughton's boat and another destroyed two more with their gunfire. His decorations included the 1939–1945 Star, the Atlantic Star, and he was mentioned in dispatches "for outstanding courage, leadership and skill in many daring attacks on enemy shipping in hostile waters". He was nicknamed "Lieutenant Cosy" because he used to wear a tea cosy on his head in cold weather in the North Sea. Troughton met fellow naval sailor and future Doctor Who co-star Jon Pertwee several times during the war.
After demobilisation, Troughton returned to the theatre. He worked with the Amersham Repertory Company, the Bristol Old Vic Company and the Pilgrim Players at the Mercury Theatre, Notting Hill Gate. He made his television debut in 1947. In 1948, Troughton made his film debut with small roles in Laurence Olivier's Hamlet, the Joseph L. Mankiewicz directed Escape (one of the stars of which was First Doctor actor William Hartnell), and a minor role as a pirate in Disney's Treasure Island (1950), appearing only during the attack on the heroes' hut.
In 1953, Troughton became the first actor to play the folk hero Robin Hood on television, starring in six half-hour episodes on BBC Television in the series Robin Hood, broadcast from 17 March to 21 April. Troughton would also make several appearances in The Adventures of Robin Hood, starring Richard Greene. He appeared as the murderer Tyrrell in Olivier's film of Richard III (1955). He was also Olivier's stand-in on the film and appears in many long shots as Richard.
Troughton's other notable film and television roles included Kettle in Chance of a Lifetime (1950), Sir Andrew Ffoulkes in The Scarlet Pimpernel (1955), Vickers in the episode entitled "Strange Partners" in The Invisible Man (1958, the series also featured one of his future Doctor Who co-stars, Deborah Watling, as Sally), Phineus in Jason and the Argonauts (1963), Paul of Tarsus (BBC 1960, title role), Dr. Finlay's Casebook (BBC 1962, semi-regular), and Quilp in The Old Curiosity Shop (1962–63). He voiced Winston Smith in a 1965 BBC Home Service radio adaptation of Nineteen Eighty-Four. Prior to Doctor Who he appeared in numerous TV shows, including The Count of Monte Cristo, Ivanhoe, Dial 999, Danger Man, Maigret, Compact, The Third Man, Crane, Detective, Sherlock Holmes, No Hiding Place, The Saint, Armchair Theatre, The Wednesday Play, Z-Cars, Adam Adamant Lives! and Softly, Softly.
Troughton turned down the role of Johnny Ringo in the Doctor Who story The Gunfighters (1966).
In 1966, Doctor Who producer Innes Lloyd looked for a replacement for William Hartnell in the series' lead role. The continued survival of the show depended on audiences accepting another actor in the role, despite the bold decision that the replacement would not be a Hartnell lookalike or soundalike. Lloyd later stated that Hartnell had approved of the choice, saying, "There's only one man in England who can take over, and that's Patrick Troughton". Lloyd chose Troughton because of his extensive and versatile experience as a character actor. After he was cast, Troughton considered various ways to approach the role, to differentiate his portrayal from Hartnell's amiable-yet-tetchy patriarch. Troughton's early thoughts about how he might play the Doctor included a "tough sea captain", and a piratical figure in blackface and turban. Doctor Who creator Sydney Newman suggested that the Doctor could be a "cosmic hobo" in the mould of Charlie Chaplin, and this was the interpretation eventually chosen. Troughton was the first Doctor to have his face appear in the opening titles of the show. In one serial, The Enemy of the World, Troughton played two parts: as the protagonist (The Doctor) and the antagonist (Salamander).
In a rare interview with Ernest Thompson from Radio Times, Troughton revealed that he "always liked dressing up, and would have been happy as a school teacher as children keep one young". Troughton was popular with both the production team and his co-stars. Lloyd credited Troughton with a "leading actor's temperament. He was a father figure to the whole company and hence could embrace it and sweep it along with him". Troughton also gained a reputation on set as a practical joker.
Many of the Doctor Who episodes in which Troughton appeared were discarded by the BBC due to archival policy. Troughton found Doctor Who's schedule (at the time, 40 to 44 episodes per year) gruelling, and decided to leave the series in 1969, after three years in the role. This decision was also motivated in part by fear of being typecast.
Troughton returned to Doctor Who three times after formally leaving the programme. The first of these occasions was in The Three Doctors, the 1972–73 serial opening the programme's 10th series. In 1983, Troughton overcame some reluctance to reprise his role and agreed to appear in the 20th-anniversary special "The Five Doctors" at the request of series producer John Nathan-Turner. He also agreed to attend Doctor Who conventions, including the show's 20th anniversary celebrations at Longleat in 1983. He also appeared around the world with Nathan-Turner. Troughton enjoyed the return to the programme so much that he readily agreed to appear one more time as the Second Doctor, with Colin Baker's Sixth Doctor in The Two Doctors (1985). He reportedly also advised Fifth Doctor actor Peter Davison to limit his time in the role to three series to avoid typecasting, and Davison followed this advice.