Robert Hardy | |
|---|---|
 Hardy as Cornelius Fudge inHarry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (2007) | |
| Born | Timothy Sydney Robert Hardy (1925-10-29)29 October 1925 Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England |
| Died | 3 August 2017(2017-08-03) (aged 91) Northwood, London, England |
| Alma mater | Magdalen College, Oxford |
| Occupation | Actor |
| Years active | 1949[1][2]–2017 |
| Spouses | Elizabeth Fox (1952–1956)Sally Pearson (1961–1986) |
Timothy Sydney Robert Hardy (29 October 1925 – 3 August 2017) was an English actor who had a long career in theatre, film and television. He began his career as a classical actor and later earned widespread recognition for roles such as Siegfried Farnon in theBBC television seriesAll Creatures Great and Small, Cornelius Fudge in theHarry Potter film series, andWinston Churchill in several productions, beginning with theSouthern Television seriesWinston Churchill: The Wilderness Years. He was nominated for theBAFTA for Best Actor forAll Creatures Great and Small in 1980 andWinston Churchill: The Wilderness Years in 1982. Aside from acting, Hardy was an acknowledged expert on the medievalEnglish longbow and wrote two books on the subject.
Hardy was born inCheltenham on 29 October 1925 to Henry Harrison Hardy,MBE,[3] of Old Farm,Bishop's Cleeve,Tewkesbury,Gloucestershire, and Edith Jocelyn, daughter of Rev. Sydney Dugdale, rector ofWhitchurch, Shropshire, a member of a landed gentry family ofWroxall Abbey,Wroxall, Warwickshire.[4][5] Henry Hardy was the headmaster ofCheltenham College and later ofShrewsbury School, and a Major in theRifle Brigade.[6][7]
Hardy was educated atRugby School andMagdalen College, Oxford, where his studies were interrupted by service in theRoyal Air Force duringWorld War II. He trained as a pilot, receiving part of his instruction in theBritish Flying Training School Program inTerrell, Texas.[citation needed] Although he visitedLos Angeles[8] when on leave from flight training at Terrell, his later acting career never gained a foothold in Hollywood.[1] After service in the RAF, he returned to gain a BA (Hons) in English.[9] OnBBC Radio 4'sDesert Island Discs, he described the degree he obtained as "shabby", although he treasured the time spent studying underC. S. Lewis andJ. R. R. Tolkien.[2]
Hardy began his career as a classical actor,[10] and made an earlyHollywood film appearance in a minor role oppositeGlenn Ford in the 1958 war filmTorpedo Run. In 1959, he appeared as The King of France inAll's Well That Ends Well in April 1959, directed byTyrone Guthrie atStratford-upon-Avon, withVanessa Redgrave andDiana Rigg indicated as supporting extras. He subsequently appeared as Sicinius oppositeLaurence Olivier inCoriolanus atStratford-upon-Avon, directed byPeter Hall.[11] In this production,Ian Holm featured as a "Third Aufidious Servant", Vanessa Redgrave as Valeria, and Diana Rigg as a "Roman Citizen".Albert Finney featured as a "First Roman Citizen". Hardy then appeared inShakespeare'sHenry V on stage and in television'sAn Age of Kings (1960), and subsequently played Coriolanus inThe Spread of the Eagle (BBC, 1963) andSir Toby Belch for theBBC Television Shakespeare production ofTwelfth Night in 1980. Over the years, Hardy 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 dramaThe Troubleshooters for the BBC, which he played from 1966 to 1970. He won further acclaim for his portrayal of the mentally-unhingedAbwehr Sgt. Gratz inLWT's 1969 war dramaManhunt. In 1975, Hardy portrayedAlbert, Prince Consort in the award-winning 13-hour serialEdward the Seventh (known asEdward the King to the American audience),[1] which he regarded as one of his best performances. "I thought I'd done a good job there, although I believe the Royal Family didn't like it all. There are always people who don't like what one does."[12]
Hardy was seen as the irascible senior veterinary surgeonSiegfried Farnon in the long-runningAll Creatures Great and Small (1978–90), an adaptation ofJames Herriot's semi-autobiographical books.[13] Hardy also made an appearance in the 1986–88ITV comedy seriesHot Metal, in which he played the dual roles of newspaper proprietor Twiggy Rathbone (who bore more than a passing resemblance toRupert Murdoch) and his editor, Russell Spam.[14] In 1993 Hardy appeared in an episode ofInspector Morse, playing Andrew Baydon in "Twilight of the Gods". In 1994, he played Arthur Brooke in the BBC production ofMiddlemarch. In 2002, he played the role of pompous and eccentric Professor Neddy Welch in a WTTV/WGBH Boston co-production ofLucky Jim, adapted from the novel byKingsley Amis. It aired originally as part of theMasterpiece series onPBS in the U.S. and starredStephen Tompkinson in the title role of Jim Dixon, a luckless lecturer at a provincial British university.[15]
Hardy played bothWinston Churchill andFranklin D. Roosevelt, each on more than one occasion. He played Churchill most notably inWinston Churchill: The Wilderness Years (1981), for which he was nominated for aBAFTA award, but also inThe Sittaford Mystery,Bomber Harris andWar and Remembrance. 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.[16] He played Roosevelt in theBBC serial,Bertie and Elizabeth, and in the French TV mini-series,Le Grand Charles, about the life ofCharles de Gaulle.[17][citation needed] He also playedRobert Dudley, Earl of Leicester, inElizabeth R and took the role of Sir John Middleton in the 1995 film version ofSense and Sensibility.[1]
Hardy's big screen roles included Professor Krempe inMary Shelley's Frankenstein andMinister for MagicCornelius Fudge in theHarry Potter films.[13]
Hardy's voice performance asRobin Hood inTale Spinners For Children, anLP from the 1960s, is considered one of the best Robin Hood renditions.[18] His voice was also the voice ofD'Artagnan inThe Three Musketeers and ofFrédéric Chopin, inThe Story of Chopin.
Hardy was appointed aCommander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the1981 Birthday Honours.[19]
Hardy's first marriage, in 1952, was to Elizabeth Fox, the daughter of Sir Lionel Fox; they had a son, Paul.[1] This marriage ended in 1956. In 1961 he married Sally Pearson, the daughter of the baronet SirNeville Pearson and DameGladys Cooper as well as a half-sister ofJohn Buckmaster and a sister-in-law ofRobert Morley. From this marriage, which ended in 1986, Hardy had two other children,[1] one of whom isJustine Hardy, a journalist, activist and psychotherapist who founded Healing Kashmir.[20][21]
Hardy was a close friend of actorRichard Burton, whom he met atOxford University.[19] He shared some memories of their wartime friendship and read extracts from Burton's newly published diaries at theCheltenham Literature Festival in 2012.[22]
While playing Henry V, Hardy developed an interest in medieval warfare, and in 1963 he wrote and presented an acclaimed television documentary on the subject of theBattle of Agincourt.[23] He also wrote two books on the subject of the longbow,Longbow: A Social and Military History[24] andThe Great Warbow: From Hastings to the Mary Rose with Matthew Strickland.[25] He was one of the experts consulted by thearchaeologist responsible for raising theMary Rose. He was Master of theWorshipful Company of Bowyers of the City of London from 1988 to 1990. In 1996 he was elected a Fellow of theSociety of Antiquaries.[26]
In February 2013, Hardy withdrew from his scheduled performance as Winston Churchill inPeter Morgan's play,The Audience, after suffering cracked ribs as the result of a fall.[27]
Hardy died on 3 August 2017, aged 91, atDenville Hall, a home for retired actors.[13]
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1958 | Torpedo Run | Lieutenant Redley | |
| 1962 | A Question of Fact | Colin Gardiner | withUrsula Jeans |
| 1965 | The Spy Who Came In from the Cold | Dick Carlton | |
| 1967 | How I Won the War | British General | |
| Berserk! | Detective Supt. Brooks | ||
| 1971 | 10 Rillington Place | Malcolm Morris | |
| 1972 | Young Winston | Prep School Headmaster | |
| Demons of the Mind | Zorn | ||
| 1973 | Psychomania | Chief Inspector Hesseltine | |
| Escape to Nowhere | Chief of M.I.5's assistant | ||
| Gawain and the Green Knight | Sir Bertilak | ||
| Yellow Dog | Alexander | ||
| Dark Places | Edward Foster/Andrew Marr | ||
| 1974 | The Slap | Robert | |
| 1984 | The Shooting Party | Lord Bob Lilburn | |
| 1988 | Paris by Night | Adam Gillvray | |
| 1994 | Mary Shelley's Frankenstein | Professor Krempe | |
| 1995 | A Feast at Midnight | Headmaster | |
| Sense and Sensibility | Sir John Middleton | ||
| 1997 | Mrs. Dalloway | Sir William Bradshaw | |
| 1998 | The Tichborne Claimant | Lord Rivers | |
| The Barber of Siberia | Forsten | ||
| An Ideal Husband | Lord Caversham | ||
| 2002 | Thunderpants | Doctor | |
| Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets | Cornelius Fudge | ||
| The Gathering | The Bishop | ||
| 2004 | Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban | Cornelius Fudge | |
| Making Waves | Father Parry | ||
| 2005 | Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire | Cornelius Fudge | |
| Lassie | Judge Murray | ||
| 2007 | Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix | Cornelius Fudge | |
| 2008 | Framed | Provost | |
| 2009 | Old Harry | Old Harry | |
| 2015 | Joseph's Reel | Old Joseph | Short film |
| 2017 | Snapshot Wedding | Donald | |
| In Familia | Ashton Leonard |
