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Robert Hardy

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Robert Hardy
CBE
Born
Timothy Sydney Robert Hardy

(1925-10-29) 29 October 1925 (age 99)
Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England
OccupationActor
Years active1958 – present
SpouseElizabeth Fox (1952–56) Sally Pearson (1961–86)
Robert Hardy's voice
from the BBC programme Desert Island Discs, 20 November 2011.[1]

Timothy Sydney Robert Hardy, CBE, FSA (born 29 October 1925) is an English actor with a long career in the theatre, film and television.

Early life

Hardy was born in Cheltenham, England, the son of Jocelyn (née Dugdale) and Henry Harrison Hardy.[2] His father was headmaster of Cheltenham College. He was educated at Rugby School and Magdalen College, Oxford University, where his studies were interrupted by service in the Royal Air Force, after which he returned to gain a BA (Hons) in English.[3] On BBC Radio 4's Desert Island Discs he described the degree he obtained as "shabby", although he treasures the time spent studying under C. S. Lewis and J. R. R. Tolkien.[4]

Career

Hardy began his career as a classical actor. In 1959 he appeared as Sicinius opposite Laurence Olivier in Coriolanus at Stratford-upon-Avon, directed by Peter Hall.[5] He then appeared in Shakespeare's Henry V on stage and in television's An Age of Kings (1960), and subsequently played Coriolanus in The Spread of the Eagle (BBC, 1963) and Sir Toby Belch for the BBC Television Shakespeare in 1980. Over the years, Hardy has played a range of parts on television and film. His first continuing role in a TV series was as businessman Alec Stewart in the award-winning oil company drama The Troubleshooters for the BBC, which he played from 1966 to 1970. He won further acclaim for his portrayal of the mentally-unhinged Abwehr Sgt. Gratz in LWT's 1969 war drama Manhunt. In 1975, Hardy portrayed Prince Albert in the award-winning 13-hour serial Edward the Seventh.

He was seen as the senior veterinarian Siegfried Farnon in the long-running All Creatures Great and Small (1978–90), an adaptation of James Herriot's novels.

Hardy also made an appearance in the 1986–88 ITV comedy series Hot Metal, in which he played the dual roles of newspaper proprietor Twiggy Rathbone (who bore more than a passing resemblance to Rupert Murdoch) and his editor, Russell Spam.

In 1993 Hardy appeared in an episode of Inspector Morse, playing Andrew Baydon in "Twilight of the Gods". Hardy played the part of the successful businessman with a murky wartime past with a characteristic blend of the vulnerable and the bombastic. In 2002, he played the role of pompous and eccentric Professor Neddy Welch in a WTTV/WGBH Boston co-production of Lucky Jim, adapted from the novel by Kingsley Amis. It aired originally as part of the Masterpiece series on PBS in the U.S. and starred Stephen Tompkinson in the title role of Jim Dixon, a luckless lecturer at a provincial British university. In 2010. Hardy appeared in an episode of Lewis, playing Sir Malcolm in "Dark Matter".

Hardy holds the distinction of having played both Winston Churchill and Franklin D. Roosevelt, each on more than one occasion. He played Churchill most notably in Winston Churchill: The Wilderness Years (1981), for which he won a BAFTA award, but also in The Sittaford Mystery, Bomber Harris and War and Remembrance. He played Roosevelt in the BBC serial, Bertie and Elizabeth, and in the French TV mini-series, Le Grand Charles, about the life of Charles de Gaulle.

Returning to his Churchill experience, on 20 August 2010, he read Churchill's famous wartime address "Never was so much owed by so many to so few" at a ceremony to mark the 70th anniversary of the speech.[6]

He also played Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester in Elizabeth R, and Prince Albert in Edward the Seventh (known as Edward the King to the American audience). He took the role of Sir John Middleton in the 1995 film version of Sense and Sensibility.

His big screen roles include Minister of Magic Cornelius Fudge in the Harry Potter films.

On radio he played Lord Malan in His Master's Voice.

His voice performance as Robin Hood in Tale Spinners For Children, an LP from the 1960s, is considered one of the best Robin Hood renditions.[7] His voice was also the voice of D'Artagnan in The Three Musketeers, and of Frédéric Chopin, in The Story of Chopin.

Awards

He was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the Queen's Birthday Honours of 1981.

Personal life

His first marriage, in 1952, was to Elizabeth Fox, the daughter of Sir Lionel Fox. This marriage ended in 1956. In 1961 he married Sally Pearson, the daughter of the baronet Sir Neville Pearson and Dame Gladys Cooper as well as a sister-in-law of Robert Morley. This marriage ended in 1986. He now lives with actor Neil Robertson in Hampshire. Robert Hardy has a son by his first wife and two daughters from his second marriage.

He was a close friend of actor Richard Burton, whom he met at Oxford University. He shared some memories of their wartime friendship and read extracts from Burton's newly published diaries at the Cheltenham Literature Festival in 2012.

While playing Henry V, Hardy developed an interest in medieval warfare, and he later wrote and presented an acclaimed television documentary on the subject of the Battle of Agincourt. He has also written two books on the subject of the longbow, Longbow: A Social and Military History[8] and The Great Warbow; From Hastings to the Mary Rose with Matthew Strickland.[9] He was one of the experts consulted by the archaeologist responsible for raising the Mary Rose. He was Master of the Worshipful Company of Bowyers of the City of London from 1988 to 1990. In 1996 he was elected a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries.[10]

In February 2013, Hardy withdrew from his scheduled performance as Winston Churchill in Peter Morgan's play, The Audience, after suffering cracked ribs as the result of a fall.[11]

TV and filmography

References

  1. ^ "Robert Hardy". Desert Island Discs. 20 November 2011. BBC Radio 4. Retrieved 18 January 2014. {{cite episode}}: Unknown parameter |serieslink= ignored (|series-link= suggested) (help)
  2. ^ Robert Hardy Biography (1925–)
  3. ^ Robert Hardy at oxford student.com. Retrieved 14 October 2012
  4. ^ BBC Radio Four – broadcast 25 November 2011
  5. ^ "ROB WILTON THEATRICALIA Stratford 1955–60". Phyllis.demon.co.uk. Retrieved 10 June 2012.
  6. ^ Lawless, Jill. "70 years on from WWII, Britain remembers 'the few'". Associated Press. Retrieved 20 August 2010.
  7. ^ "Tale Spinners for Children: Robin Hood" UAC 11001: "Starring Robert Hardy as Robin Hood with the Famous Theater Company and the Hollywood Studio Orchestra"; cf. also Arts Reformation.
  8. ^ Longbow: A Social and Military History
  9. ^ Sutton Publishing 2005. ISBN 0-7509-3167-1 ISBN 978-0750931670
  10. ^ "List of Fellows – H". Society of Antiquaries of London. Retrieved 9 May 2010.
  11. ^ "Robert Hardy withdraws from Churchill role in Helen Mirren play". BBC News. 26 February 2013. Retrieved 26 February 2013.
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