
Robert Hardy
One of England's most successful and enduring character actors, with a prolific screen career on television and in films, Robert Hardy was acclaimed for his versatility and the depth of his performances. Born in Cheltenham in 1925, he studied at Oxford University and, in 1949, he joined the Shakespeare Memorial Theatre at Stratford-upon-Avon. Television viewers most fondly remember him as the overbearing Siegfried Farnon in All Creatures Great and Small (1978) but his most critically acclaimed performance was as the title character of Winston Churchill: The Wilderness Years (1981). His portrayal of Britain's wartime leader was so accurately observed that, in the following years, he was called on to reprise the role in such productions as The Woman He Loved (1988) and War and Remembrance (1988). Unlike some British character actors, Hardy was not a Hollywood name and his work in films was therefore restricted to appearances in predominantly British-based productions such as The Spy Who Came In from the Cold (1965), Mary Shelley's Frankenstein (1994) and Sense and Sensibility (1995). However, in the 21st century, Hardy came to the attention of a whole new generation for his performances in the hugely successful Harry Potter films, while also continuing to make regular appearances in British television series. His co-star from All Creatures Great and Small (1978), Peter Davison, quite simply described Hardy as an "extraordinary" actor who would "never do the same thing twice" when he was acting with him. He was awarded the CBE for services to acting. He died in August 2017.
145 acting credits
Acting · 145

Midsomer Murders
1997

Great Performances
1971

The Saint
1962

Spooks
2002

Agatha Christie's Marple
2004

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
2002

Sherlock Holmes
1984

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
2005

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
2004

Natural World
1983

Playhouse
1974

Inspector Morse
1987

Foyle's War
2002

Lewis
2007

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
2007

Buck Rogers in the 25th Century
1979

Screen Two
1985

ITV Playhouse
1967

Theatre 625
1964

The Wednesday Play
1964

All Creatures Great and Small
1978
The Alan Titchmarsh Show
2007

Upstairs, Downstairs
1971

Sunday Night Theatre
1950

The Buccaneers
1956

Churchill's People
1974
Drama 61-67
1961

Mystery and Imagination
1966

ScreenPlay
1986

Thirty-Minute Theatre
1965

Bramwell
1995

ITV Saturday Night Theatre
1969

The Duchess of Duke Street
1976

War and Remembrance
1988

The Troubleshooters
1965

Sense and Sensibility
1995

A Ghost Story for Christmas
1971

The Adventures of Sir Lancelot
1956

The 10th Kingdom
2000

An Age of Kings
1960

Manhunt
1970

Hallmark Hall of Fame
1951

Middlemarch
1994

Gulliver's Travels
1996

Raffles
1977

Bill Brand
1976

Testament: The Bible in Animation
1996

Shackleton
2002

Elizabeth R
1971

Mary Shelley's Frankenstein
1994

Strange Report
1969

Winston Churchill: The Wilderness Years
1981

General Electric Theater
1953

Supernatural
1977

Countdown
1982

The Veil
1958

The Far Pavilions
1984

Victorian Scandals
1976
Look at the State We're In!
1995

Edward the Seventh
1975

The Cleopatras
1983

Armchair Theatre
1956

The Barber of Siberia
1998

The Spy Who Came In from the Cold
1965

Death in Holy Orders
2003

Shades of Darkness
1983

Hot Metal
1986

Shoulder to Shoulder
1974

Lassie
2005

The Lost World
2001

Nancherrow
1999

10 Rillington Place
1971

Thunderpants
2002

The Lost World
2001

The Spread of the Eagle
1963

Mrs. Dalloway
1997

The Gathering
2003

Northanger Abbey
1987
The Dark Island
1962

The Zany Adventures of Robin Hood
1984

Le Grand Charles
2006

The Slap
1974

In from the Cold? A Portrait of Richard Burton
1988

Dark Places
1973

Yellow Dog
1973

Jenny's War
1985

Psychomania
1973

Torpedo Run
1958

Young Winston
1972

The Master Blackmailer
1992

The Woman He Loved
1988

Berserk!
1967

How I Won the War
1967

Demons of the Mind
1972

The Falklands Play
2002

Margaret
2009

Paris by Night
1989

Twelfth Night
1980

James Mason: The Star They Loved to Hate
1984

The Silent One
1973
European Heritage
1973

The Shooting Party
1985

Fothergill
1981

Gawain and the Green Knight
1973

The Tichborne Claimant
1999

Bertie and Elizabeth
2002

Othello
1955

Nancherrow
1999

Paying Guests (Part 1)
1986

The Gathering Storm
1974

Caesar and Claretta
1975

An Ideal Husband
1999
Elementary My Dear Viewer
2007
Ghosts in the Machine
2009

Son of Man
1969

The Incredible Robert Baldick: Never Come Night
1972

Jenny's War
1985

The Demon Lover
1986

Lucky Jim
2003

Paying Guests (Part 2)
1986

The Stalls of Barchester
1971

Blat
1987

Marcus Welby, M.D.: A Holiday Affair
1988

Bomber Harris
1989

A Feast at Midnight
1994
The Secret Agent
1975

Make and Break
1987

Joseph's Reel
2015

Marie Stopes: Sexual Revolutionary
1970

Churchill: 100 Days That Saved Britain
2015

Narnia's Lost Poet: The Secret Lives and Loves of C.S. Lewis
2013

Castle Ghosts of England
1995

Black Legend
1949
Warm Feet, Warm Heart
1970

The Death of the Heart
1987
Snapshot Wedding
2017
Old Man's Fancy
1965
Getting In
1971

Centenary: The BP Story
2009

Castle Ghosts of Ireland
1996

The Pied Piper of Hamelin
1980

Castle Ghosts of Wales
1997

Making Waves
2004

Goodbye Mr Snuggles
2006
Speed King
1979