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29th October 2017 @ 6:06am – by Webteam
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Robert Hardy

Born 29th October 1925 in Cheltenham.
Died 3rd August 2017 in Northwood, London.

Timothy Sidney Robert Hardy was born in Cheltenham in 1925 to Jocelyn (née Dugdale) and Henry Harrison Hardy, the headmaster of Cheltenham College and later of Shrewsbury School. He was educated at Rugby School and Magdalen College, Oxford, where his studies were interrupted by service in the Royal Air Force during World War II. He trained as a pilot, receiving part of his instruction in Terrell, Texas, in the British Flying Training School Programme. While he visited Los Angeles when on leave from flight training at Terrell, his later acting career never gained a foothold in Hollywood. After service in the RAF, he returned to gain a BA (Hons) in English. On BBC Radio 4's Desert Island Discs he described the degree he obtained as "shabby", although he treasured the time spent studying under C. S. Lewis and J. R. R. Tolkien.

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. 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 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 Albert, Prince Consort in the award-winning 13-hour serial Edward the Seventh (known as Edward the King to the American audience), 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."

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

Hardy played both Winston Churchill and Franklin D. Roosevelt, each on more than one occasion. 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. 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.

Hardy was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 1981 Birthday Honours.

on Daniel Craig "I don't think he's a good actor, but he's very good at jumping."


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