Patrick Troughton

Ladies and Gentleman, the (second) doctor is in the house. Most famous for stepping in as William Hartnell's initial replacement on the campy BBC time-travel series "Doctor Who," Englishman Patrick Troughton is a world-renowned character actor. Born in 1920, Troughton spent most of his young life caught between passion and duty--his knack for performing brought him to the Embassy School of Acting where he won a scholarship to a prestigious New York theater, and the onset of World War II brought him home. Enlisting in the Royal Navy, he achieved the rank of captain, and didn't return to acting again until the mid-'40s.

Ushered toward a career in film and television, Troughton notably portrayed the prince of thieves in the 1953 BBC television production of "Robin Hood," marking the first time the story had been told in that medium. He later went on to portray the evil hunchback Daniel Quilp in a TV adaptation of Charles Dickens's "The Old Curiosity Shop," before finding his most famous part. Troughton reportedly had a "whale of a time" as Dr. Who, and reprised his role several times over the years. In film, he impressed Shakespearean devotee Laurence Olivier, and was cast in minor roles in his productions of both "Hamlet" and "Richard III." United States audiences will likely recognize him as the ill-fated Father Brennan in the '70s horror flick "The Omen." Troughton also fathered two actors, sons David and Michael Troughton.