Jon Pertwee Biography

Fast Facts

• Served in the Royal Navy during World War II and briefly worked in Naval Intelligence with future Prime Minister Jim Callaghan
• Studied at the Central School of Dramatic Arts and at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts
• Made his screen acting debut in the film "A Yank at Oxford" in 1938
• Started out in repertory theatre and music halls with one of his early roles being in the West End's "To Kill a Cat" with John Salew, who one day sent him to a radio commitment he couldn't attend and eventually becoming his permanent replacement
• Quote: "Somehow I seem to have been gently bypassed as a serious actor․ Too long enjoying life and working in Light Entertainment perhaps․"
• Best known for his role as the Third Doctor in "Doctor Who" and as the title character in "Worzel Gummidge․"
• Spent 18 years on the radio series "The Navy Lark" beginning in 1959
• Did voice-over work for the cartoons "Superted" in the 1980s and "The Little Green Man" in 1985
• His debut episode as The Doctor in January 1970 was the first of the series to be made in color
• The car known as "the Whomobile" in the "Doctor Who" was his own personal custom car