Stephen Thomas Dartnell (died 1994) was a British

actor An actor or actress is a person who portrays a character in a performance. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. The analogous Greek term is (), li ...

, who appeared in several television programmes. He is best known for his two 1964 appearances in the first season of ''

Doctor Who ''Doctor Who'' is a British science fiction television series broadcast by the BBC since 1963. The series depicts the adventures of a Time Lord called the Doctor, an extraterrestrial being who appears to be human. The Doctor explores the u ...

''. He portrayed Yartek, leader of the

Voord The Voord are a fictional extraterrestrial race of mutants portrayed in the British science fiction television programme '' Doctor Who''. Both "Voord" and "Voords" have been used as the plural form. The Voord were conceived by science-fiction w ...

, in ''

The Keys of Marinus ''The Keys of Marinus'' is the fifth serial in the British science fiction television series '' Doctor Who'', which was first broadcast on BBC TV/BBC1 in six weekly parts from 11 April to 16 May 1964. Written by Terry Nation and directed by Joh ...

'' and John, a mineralogist who has been driven to mania, in ''

The Sensorites ''The Sensorites'' is the seventh serial in the British science fiction television Science fiction first appeared in television programming in the late 1930s, during what is called the Golden Age of Science Fiction. Special effects and othe ...

''. Dartnell also made appearances in the 1960 feature films '' Circle of Deception'' and ''

Oscar Wilde Oscar Fingal O'Flahertie Wills Wilde (16 October 185430 November 1900) was an Irish poet and playwright. After writing in different forms throughout the 1880s, he became one of the most popular playwrights in London in the early 1890s. He is ...

''. He was also a theatre director and was active with the

Citizens Theatre The Citizens Theatre, in what was the Royal Princess's Theatre, is the creation of James Bridie and is based in Glasgow, Scotland as a principal producing theatre. The theatre includes a 500-seat Main Auditorium, and has also included various s ...

in Glasgow.

Personal life

As a gay young man during the early 1950s, Dartnell found himself the victim of homophobic abuse when a youth threw paint over him. The youth went home and told his father that the actor had propositioned him. The father went to the police and when it came to court, the judge threw it out for being indefensible and the father and son were fined for wasting police time and perjury. As a result, Dartnell was kicked out of

Joan Littlewood Joan Maud Littlewood (6 October 1914 – 20 September 2002) was an English theatre director who trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, and is best known for her work in developing the Theatre Workshop. She has been called "The Mother of M ...

Theatre Workshop Theatre Workshop is a theatre group whose long-serving director was Joan Littlewood. Many actors of the 1950s and 1960s received their training and first exposure with the company, many of its productions were transferred to theatres in the West En ...

(as was Harry Greene for sticking up for him) but was supported throughout this ordeal by

Harry H. Corbett Harry H. Corbett OBE (28 February 1925 – 21 March 1982) was an English actor and comedian, best remembered for playing rag-and-bone man Harold Steptoe alongside Wilfrid Brambell in the long-running BBC television sitcom ''Steptoe and Son'' ( ...

Filmography

Film

Television

References

External links

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Stephen DartnellSteven Dartnell
at Theatricalia 1995 deaths English male television actors English male film actors 20th-century English male actors English gay actors Date of birth missing {{UK-screen-actor-stub